Springfield Cultural Partnership Announces Return of Art Stop on April 26
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Cultural Partnership (SCP) announced the return of Art Stop, a pop-up gallery/street festival hybrid, on Friday, April 26 from 5 to 8 p.m. The SCP is partnering with venues downtown to open galleries in unexpected spaces simultaneously.
Additionally, several existing Springfield art galleries along this year’s route will also participate as stops along the Art Stop. Between the galleries, which will have the typical artist talks and receptions, there will be street performances. Art Stop was designed to activate underutilized community spaces with colorful art, create economic opportunity for artists, and bring communities together.
“Guests who attended Art Stop in the past will be pleased to see both exciting new and prior year favorites during the spring 2019 Art Stop,” said SCP Director Karen Finn. “In response to the feedback of our audience and with incredible new revitalization projects within downtown, we’ve added new venues and increased street performances. We were also able to expanded the reach to local emerging artists by utilizing our new ‘artists of Springfield’ database, which can be found on www.springfieldculture.org.”
Galleries will all be located in downtown Springfield. Each individual gallery opening will have an reception with the artist on site to both sell and talk about their work. This year, the SCP has also partnered with several downtown restaurants that will offer a discount on food to Art Stop attendees who present their Art Stop ‘passport’ on April 26.
The SCP, along with organizing the curation of art in the pop-up spaces, is hiring unique buskers to encourage attendees to walk from place to place. Guides will be strategically placed to guide attendees along the Art Stop route. The performers will showcase an array of dance, music, and entertainment. All locations are within a walkable area.
