Art Around Town brings community, culture to unexpected venues

Local artistic talent was in the spotlight Thursday as 12 venues around the city came to life with art exhibitions, live music, painting demonstrations and more.

This year’s edition of the annual Art Around Town event, organized by JC Parks, was its biggest one yet, said Leann Porrello, special events and cultural arts program manager with JC Parks.

With six walkable downtown locations and another six scattered around town, this year’s art crawl went beyond traditional galleries and studios, adding unexpected participants like YoYums and the Runge Conservation Nature Center.

“Even though those locations aren’t normally (associated with) art,” Porrello said, “these locations just have a really deep love and respect for art as well as the local community. So they are using their place of business as a platform to be able to give back and support those artists.”

YoYums hosted a pop-up art shop and showcased a live art demonstration by Jefferson City artist Holly Brewer, who specializes in colorful geometric art. It was her first time making art in front of an audience, but she said she liked getting involved with the community in this way.

“I just am very open with my process, I like showing people how I do things,” said Brewer, who worked on an art piece featuring amoeba-like figures. “I just like being part of the community and I hope the community can be proud of a local artist that’s in their area.”

Runge celebrated nature in its different forms, including flora and fauna, wildlife and rocks. Porrello said it was a way for the center to tie back into its mission and show what they do for the community, all while supporting local arts.

“There are lots of places around town that you don’t really think of as being related to the arts — Runge is one,” said Sophie Johnson, an art history major who attended Art Around Town with her mother, Sarah Johnson, and family friend Mary Huhmann. “This event really shows you the breadth of (the art scene here).”

Huhmann and the Johnsons made it a point to visit all 12 stops within the event’s three-hour window — attendees could collect stamps to enter a raffle and win prizes, including locally made art. To be eligible, all they needed was stamps from at least six places.

Porrello said she liked that the different locations highlighted various art mediums, from paintings and sculptures to fiber art and photography.

The event also made art more accessible to the public. Baristocats Cat Cafe, which typically charges an admission fee, was included, as was the Jefferson City Museum of Modern Art, which operates on an appointment-only basis.

Museum director Chris Duren said JCMOMA has been open since 2015 and displays a permanent collection of works from artists such as Purvis Young and Thornton Dial, whose other pieces are housed in museums like the Smithsonian and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Johnson, who once visited JCMOMA as a seventh-grader on a field trip for an art appreciation class, said the museum was her favorite stop of the night.

“It brings a lot of cultural value to Jeff City,” she said. “Clearly, the art appreciation (class) had an impact — I do art history now.”