Center City Saturday in Downtown Springfield

Join members of First Friday Art Walk for a fun, free, family-friendly holiday-themed event, 1-5 p.m. Nov. 21 in the Downtown Arts District. If you’ve never experienced Art Walk, this is your chance to find out what all the excitement’s about!Center City Saturday features live art demonstrations, giveaways, holiday open houses, kids’ crafts, holiday refreshments, raffles and more. Start out with lunch at one of our incredible downtown restaurants, spend the day visiting Art Walk galleries, then head to Jordan Valley Park for the Festival of Lights Kickoff and Lighting of the Mayor’s Christmas Tree, followed by Fireworks at Hammons Field.
Here are the highlights:
· Bodhi Salon and Spa, 431 S. Jefferson, Ste. 106, presents its Holiday Open House! Enjoy holiday cookies and 20 percent off all gift certificates. For each gift certificate purchased, the client will be entered in a raffle for a Bodhi gift basket valued at over $300. Kids can enjoy face & body painting, hair styles and polish, while mom or dad indulges in a complimentary chair massage. Plus, don’t miss Motley Achromatic, a show of photography by Ike Wever, Bodhi’s featured artist for November.
· Fitzwilly’s Gifts & Antiques, 308 South Ave., features the Art of Hailey Patten through November and will have free holiday coloring pages for kids to take home.
· Fresh Gallery, located at the southwest corner of Campbell and Walnut, will hold its holiday open house during Center City Saturday. Enjoy live painting demonstrations and view the art of Featured Artists Angel Nahon and Ann Marie Rausch, plus works by 20 other regional artists.
· Global Fayre, 324 S Campbell, features handcrafted, fairly traded art objects, clothing and more from around the world. Each child who stops by between 1 and 5 p.m. Nov. 21 will receive a free, handcrafted bobblehead animal from Mexico. Offer good while supplies last!
· Good Girl Art Gallery, 325 E. Walnut St., Ste. 101, invites visitors to enjoy holiday refreshments, personalized Christmas ornaments and the work of Artist Kristin Sholtis in her show, Rustworthy, Tales in Assemblage …
· Park Central Branch Library will host a free Holiday Movie Marathon on the big screen.
· Randy Bacon Photography and Figment Art Gallery in the Monarch Art Factory, 600 W. College St., presents two special events: Enjoy free refreshments and see the CASA Kid’s Display, featuring original artwork by local children, which was used to create this year’s CASA greeting cards, and Woodblock Paintings by Charles Lederer in celebration of 100 Years of Casper’s Chili, founded by Charles’ father Casper.
· Springfield Hot Glass Studio, 314 S. Campbell Ave., a working hot glass studio/gallery with facilities for furnace, torch and kiln work, presents live glassblowing demonstrations by glass master Terry Bloodworth and crew.
· Springfield Pottery, 416 S. Campbell Ave., presents a special Holiday Ornament miniMake. Come play in the clay between 1 and 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. For a small fee of $10, you will be guided through the miniMake project, and Springfield Pottery will have it fired and ready to pick up in 14 days. Please allow 20 to 30 minutes to complete your miniMake project!

World Vision Experience: AIDS

We’re excited to play a (small) part in the second visit of “World Vision Experience: AIDS” to Springfield.

The exhibition opened today at Remingtons, on Republic Road, Springfield, and will continue until next Sunday.

The aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness of the plight of children in Africa, and to encourage people to sponsor children in Africa. Global Fayre is delighted to contribute to the sponsorship pack; sponsors are entitled to a 25% in-store discount and will also know that every time they make a purchase at the store in 2010, 5% of their spend will go directly to World Vision.

Find out more about World Vision Experience: AIDS here.

Find out more about Global Fayre here.

First Friday At Global Fayre

It’s nearly here!

Seems like there is a lot of excitement about the First Friday Art Walk this time.

Why?

Could be the weather – it’s going to be mid-70’s, or so we are told.

Could be our line-up – we have Ashley Bery opening her exhibit ‘Shades of Black’ plus we have the Springfield debut for the Bluetones Jaz Sextet.

Then again, it could just be that everyone is ready for some much-needed relief from the doom-and-gloom that we hear 24/7 on the news.

Whatever the reason, it’s nearly here, and we’re READY!

Shades of Black by Ashley Berry

Ashley Berry is a young emerging artist from Kansas City, MO who has high hopes of bringing more “black art” here into Springfield. Ashley’s art is an analytical representation of black history and personal self -discovery. She longs to unravel the truth, not only of her own origin, but also the entire race of her people. Strong evidence of African culture is not prominent prior to slavery in American history.

Shades of Black by Ashley Berry

Without knowing the whereabouts of her ancestors she is left unfilled and disconnected, plagued with questions of where would she be if blacks were never enslaved? How would life differ? What is her destiny? Since she doesn’t know the answers to these questions, she fills in the void with her interpretation of their reality. They convey pride, oppression, and influence that have left a mark within our society. She describes their beauty and authenticity, which is shown as rich, unique, and diverse. This is her personal memoir. These are her people.