Alley Art Festival will an afternoon of local art along Water Street Mall and Downer Place Saturday, Aug. 29 from noon to 5 p.m.. This is the fourth in a series about the event that is ending this year.
I turned 50 this August, and I’ve been celebrating the milestone all month. In fact I’ve been celebrating most of the year; earlier this year I created a list of 50 things to do before I turn 50. I completed half, but those are 25 things I wouldn’t have done otherwise, so I consider it a win. As a 49-year-old, I wanted to give my 50-year-old self the gift of time, and I decided to host one more Alley Art Festival as an all-day event. This Saturday is the 16th and final event.
When I was 34, a small group of us started Alley Art Festival, it was always much more than an arts event. It was the fulfillment of a hope of what could be. Of what could make downtown Aurora better.
It was proof that an idea can turn into reality. It showed that people can make a difference in their world, and create the community they want. It was much bigger than a day of art. Alley Art Fest brought artists together, but it also empowered the community. Through an arts festival, we were able to connect with each other. It gave us a chance to support artists and highlight the local art scene. It brought people downtown, and welcomed everyone.
Alley Art Festival began when an ArtWorks student wrote down the idea. I hosted DAAM (Downtown Aurora Arts Mixer) at Chef Amaury’s 33 West and had pieces of paper for attendees to write down their ideas for what they wanted to see downtown. Jenn Byrne, an ARTWorks teacher at the time, brought her students to attend DAAM. ARTWorks was a student art program run by Aurora Public Art Commission.
One of those students is to thank for Alley Art Festival happening at all. Jenn is to thank for bringing them to the event, and Rena Church, former director of Aurora Public Art, is to thank for starting the student art classes. But ultimately none of that would have happened if there wasn’t funding for the arts at the time.
That was the chain of events. ARTWorks didn’t last much longer, and I stopped hosting DAAM in 2017. Things indeed come and go, but it’s more palatable when there’s a natural evolution. Maybe something isn’t needed any longer because it served its purpose. I’m not sure that’s the case with Alley Art Festival, and there is room for something new to take its place.
The arts move a community forward. The status quo never changed anything, and there’s an opportunity now to reshape and support the arts.
I think it’s important to look at our local history of supporting the arts, and when we started Alley Art Festival in 2010, the Aurora ArtWalk was still happening. The city had supportive independent organizations including a chamber of commerce and a downtown organization. Both of those organizations have been restructured along with Invest Aurora, and those changes in function and leadership can affect the arts. Where there used to be support, ideas, and collaboration, there is now a gap. There was once a nexus forming with the Paramount Theatre, the Aurora Public Art Commission, the former Aurora Downtown, and other community drivers.
Without adequate funding, staffing, and support, I’m concerned that fissures will continue to grow. The arts are important. Now is the time to invest in them.
Marissa Amoni is the owner of Marissa Bright, a public relations and event management company specializing in shining the light on nonprofits and small businesses. She coordinates Alley Art Festival and Geneva Arts Fair. Follow her on Instagram
@marissashinesbright. Visit a full calendar of art events on alleyartaurora.com/artscene.