Artist Alley Celebrates 10 Years of Accessible Art
What most people may have seen as a dull alley in downtown Kokomo, others saw as a blank canvas. With an end goal of making downtown a more exciting place to be, and making art accessible to the entire community, Artist Alley — which is about to celebrate its 10th birthday — was born.
Back in 2011, the Kokomo Art Association moved Artworks Gallery into the downtown space located at 210 N. Main St.
The then drive-through alley was converted into a pedestrian walkway. After two years of planning, Artist Alley was able to offer Kokomo and the surrounding area with free access to 15 paintings from local artists 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing accessible art to everyone in the community.
“Art should be accessible. Everyone has a different reaction to art, they come at it from all different perspectives but we’re thinking, we’re engaging and it inspires us to think differently about the challenges we face as a community,” said Susan Alexander from the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance.
During Artsapalooza at this year’s First Friday event in September, Artist Alley will celebrate a decade of rotational art in the once-dull space, commemorating artists and their talents for the public’s enjoyment.
Pieces are submitted by local artists interested in participating in the yearly rotation of the alley’s art, and 15 digital mock-ups are selected for that year’s display.
“Getting new artists in and new perspectives and new ideas is important,” said Sullivan.
With help from local Boy Scouts and SHAK Makerspace, boards of various sizes are cut and made available for the chosen artists to create their masterpieces.
“We rely on each other to get this accomplished this year,” said Cheryl Sullivan, president of the Kokomo Art Association.
During the last 10 years, Artist Alley has made an impact even outside of Kokomo.
“These art spaces are our community’s front windows, and if we’re good merchandisers of our community, we will make sure those windows are fresh with new art on a regular basis.” said Alexander
Artist Alley has seen a domino effect on other alleys and locations not only downtown but throughout all of Kokomo as well.
“Because of Artist Alley, we’ve had people from other cities come here to view the art. Artist Alley was the catalyst to do the other alleys downtown in some kind of art theme,” said Sullivan.
You can view the new art in Artist Alley at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 in the alley of 210 N. Main St. in downtown Kokomo.