Jefferson City’s parks department hosted its annual Art Around Town event Thursday evening, complete with drinks and cats.
The art crawl, which took place 4-8 p.m., included locations like Capital Arts Gallery, Gumbo Bottoms, Cottonstone Art Gallery and Frame Shop, Baristocats Cat Cafe, Art 101, the Jefferson City Museum of Modern Art, The Art Bazaar, The Art Gallery and Last Flight Brewing Company.
The purpose of the event is to encourage residents to be more aware of local art exhibits and artists, according to Leann Porello, the parks department’s cultural arts program manager.
Porello said Art Around Town has taken place every year for at least the last decade.
“I’ve lived in Jefferson City 10 years and we’ve always done it, so I would say we’ve done it probably around 15 or 16 years,” Porello said.
Every location was free to enter. Typically, Baristocats charges $5 per person, while the Jefferson City Museum of Modern Art is by appointment only.
“What’s special about this event, too, is some of these locations use this event as just a nice introduction back to the community for people to come and see what they’re all about,” Porello said.
She said the event originated with Capital Arts Gallery before the parks department adopted it. She encourages art-related businesses to reach out to her about participating in future Art Around Town events.
“Any business in Jefferson City can sign up to be on our map if they have something artsy going on,” Porrello said.
The event doesn’t just pertain to art studios or museums. Last Flight Brewing Company is a brewery at the Jefferson City Memorial Airport with local artists’ work on the walls and Baristocats is a coffee shop with cats that showed off local artists — Alex Eickhoff’s mural was on display and Lainie Strange’s artwork was for sale.
“Really anything art-oriented, and their only stipulation is that they have to be open from 4-8 p.m. That way the public can come in, tour their space, meet and greet any artist or just see what they offer,” Porello said.
This is Baristocats’ second year as a stop on the art crawl, according to Rescue Director Sheila Martens. The cat cafe serves coffee and pastries and has a separate room with 15-20 cats.
Eickhoff’s mural fills an entire wall in the cat lounge; the mural features a large white cat with a big, fancy purple hat and a smaller tabby kitten playing with the hat’s feathers.
“I think of this as our proudest achievement, but we didn’t do it, ” Martens joked. “We think it’s just the highlight of our building.”
Eickhoff was born in Jefferson City and currently lives in Kansas City, according to his website, eyecough.com. Martens said he came back to Jefferson City to donate his time to paint the mural on the wall.
Baristocats also showed off Strange’s paintings and rock art. She said she started painting on rocks a few years ago and found not only did she enjoy it, but people were willing to buy them. She typically likes to paint flowers on the rocks and labels them as garden stones, but said she included cats since she would be at Baristocats. She also had a white cat with an American flag theme for the Fourth of July.
Strange has worked full-time for the state since 1997 and she said she’s looking forward to retirement so she can spend more time on her art.
“It’s become my favorite thing to do, I just want to, like, crawl into my cave and do my thing,” Strange said with a laugh.
Capital Arts Gallery had a fiber arts competition and reception with each piece for sale and awards for winners; the Art Bazaar hosted a free class with demonstrations and a free succulent cutting for the first 10 customers; and Gumbo Bottoms featured local poets Mark Pottorff, Ken Gierke and Jon Freeland.
“Each location does something a little bit different. And they all do their own programming,” Porello said.
Cory W. MacNeil/News Tribune
Chris Duren, director of the Jefferson City Museum of Modern Art, pauses for a moment among the artwork of Purvis Young during Thursday’s during Art Around Town hosted by Jefferson City’s parks department. Duren said she enjoys showing Young’s artwork to visiting students as his story goes from living on the streets to becoming a well-known artist.
Stephi Smith/News Tribune
Lainie Strange shows off her painted rocks at the Baristocats Cat Cafe during the “Art Around Town” art crawl on Thursday. Strange, a local artist, has been selling garden stones since at least 2018.
Stephi Smith/News Tribune
Lainie Strange shows off her art at the Baristocats Cat Cafe during the parks department’s “Art Around Town” on Thursday evening.
Stephi Smith/News Tribune
Lainie Strange shows off her art at the Baristocats Cat Cafe during the parks department’s “Art Around Town” on Thursday evening.
Stephi Smith/News Tribune
Alex Eickhoff’s mural at the Baristocats Cat Cafe on East McCarty Street fits in well with its residents.