Fourth Friday Art Walk returns

The Sisters Arts Association’s (SAA) Fourth Friday Art Walk is returning this month, focusing on featured artists and their work throughout the galleries of Sisters. This year the event is a little different. The Art Walk takes place during each gallery’s regular hours, generally 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on the Fourth Friday of each month, May through September.

Gallery Walk maps are available in any of the galleries. The maps also indicate where good food can be enjoyed. The focus is on art and artists, as galleries will not be offering food or beverage this year. To comply with safety recommendations, visitors are encouraged to take their time throughout the day to stroll through galleries and adhere to other safety guidelines including masking indoors, and not overcrowding.

Visitors can stroll through town, engaging with artists and the wide variety of methods that they use to create art. Most galleries will be hosting featured artists, doing live demonstrations and showing examples of their work. For instance, on May 28 at The Clearwater Gallery, David Mensing will be painting on and off during the day, outdoors in the gallery’s courtyard.

Growing up in Iowa, David was captivated by wide prairies and carefully groomed cornfields. He loved camping, backpacking, and biking trips. When he moved to the West as a young man, David fell in love with its raw beauty. He has worked professionally as an architect and a camp director. He has been certified as a whitewater rafting guide and at one time was a talented pole vaulter. As an artist, he draws on his life experiences, and feels the importance of compelling designs and details relating to every aspect of the presentation of his art. Even his titles reflect the character and spiritual basis of his work. David and his wife, Tina, live in Sisters with their three children.

Many of the galleries in Sisters will be featuring an artist onsite for every Fourth Friday Artwalk. Visitors will have ample opportunity to get to know more about the artists and their work, see demonstrations, participate in learning, and otherwise become more engaged with the art community in Sisters.

SAA is also bringing back its very popular Quick Draw, which gives away two $50 gift certificates each month, good in any of the participating galleries. Visitors can register once per gallery, during their stroll. The tickets are collected after the Art Walk, and two winning tickets are drawn. Winners can exchange their gift certificate for $50 worth of art or other merchandise in any one of the participating and supporting galleries. Thanks to Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty in Sisters for underwriting this year’s Quick Draw.

The Art Walk season will run from the May through September, concluding with SAA’s Fifth Annual Artist Studio Tour at the end of September.

Participating and supporting galleries on Hood, Cascade, and Main include: Hood Avenue Art, Gary Cooley Collection Gallery, Marigold & True, The Clearwater Gallery, Beacham’s Clock Company, The Stitchin’ Post, Sisters Gallery and Frame Shop, Ken Scott’s Imagination Gallery, Metals Studio Gallery, Wildflower Studio, Dyrk Godby Gallery, Cindy and Duncan Campbell Gallery at Sisters Art Works, Grizzly Ridge Makers Market, Antler Arts Gallery, and Raven Makes Gallery.

For more information, visit the SAA website, www.sistersartsassociation.org, email [email protected], or phone 541-719-8581. Maps and guides will be available on the website later this month. They will also be available at businesses and galleries throughout Sisters.