Alley Art Festival is an afternoon of local art along Water Street Mall and Downer Place on the last Saturday of August. This is the second in a series about the event that is ending this year.
Sixteen years is the sweet spot for me. I thought of ending Alley Art Festival last year, after the 15th year. We had a perfect day with gorgeous weather, and 15 is a nice milestone, but it didn’t seem fair to others to end it without a proper farewell, so I decided to make this year’s Sweet 16 a purposeful farewell celebration. I want everyone to have the chance to enjoy Alley Art Fest with intention this last, final year.
Alley Art Fest has always been held with intention. It was intentional that there have never been awards or prizes for artists at the event, and it was also intentional that artists have never paid a fixed booth fee, but rather 10% of their sales from the event. Both of those hallmarks of the festival helped to create a supportive artist community.
In 2021, when fellow festival founder Jenn Byrne held the position of Aurora Public Art director, she expressed the desire to host a mural event that could add to the momentum around Alley Art Festival. It would be a celebration of the arts. I thought piggybacking another arts event onto Alley Art Fest was a great idea. I had previously experienced success by building onto First Fridays with pop up shops (collaboration with Invest Aurora) and food trucks, so I was all in on the collaboration.
Byrne successfully hosted Bom’ da Lot during Alley Art Festival that year; the day was also filled with half a dozen utility box murals being painted throughout downtown. Imagine seeing the whole downtown filled with local artists and live art activities. Maybe you were there and experienced the creative energy pulsing down the streets.
Byrne said in a press release that the day would be “an unbelievably wonderful time to visit downtown Aurora and revel in the arts. Visitors can experience live painting, entertainment, and an art festival.”
I remember running over to Lot H where Bom’ da Lot was held and seeing dozens of artists spray painting their colorful street art installations on the formerly-gray concrete walls.
It had a cool vibe. Byrne, along with her team of collaborators, helped to cultivate synergy with her intention to combine forces and build upon the arts in downtown Aurora.
The following year, Bom’ da Lot branched off on its own. It was held in early October. There was a DJ and a temporary skate ramp where skateboarders were displaying tricks. The event continued for a few years, and has not been held since Aurora Public Art has been without a director.
We still get to enjoy the vibrant, now-unchanging street art at Lot H, and the several murals that Aurora Public Art commissioned in August 2021. The utility boxes were intended to rotate with new designs every few years, and they have become static.
As much as I (and Byrne, if she doesn’t mind me saying so) intended on having an engaged and active arts community in Aurora, it takes support and dedicated funding to produce longstanding results. I’m confident that our efforts have been worthwhile and appreciated, but Aurora will need a larger budget earmarked for the arts along with a staff of more than one to continue to build on the synergy that many folks have worked hard to create.
Some of those folks helped start Aurora ArtWalk prior to Alley Art Festival and First Fridays, and I will talk more about that in my next column at the end of July. I will also talk about some of these artistic community efforts during my presentation at Santori Library at 7 p.m. Monday, July 13. It is free to attend, and I hope to see you there.
Add these art events to your calendar:
July 10 Second Fridays, Water Street Studios and Sturdy Shelter, Batavia
July 13 Arts in the Fox Valley Since 1919, Santori Library, Aurora
July 25 and 26 Geneva Arts Fair, Geneva
August 29 Alley Art Festival, Aurora. alleyartaurora.com
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.