Last Fridays!

For as long as I can remember, Bigfork has had an Art Walk tradition, or maybe that should be Tradition with a capital "T". We have two Art Walks each year, one in May on the Saturday before Mother's Day, and one in November on Decorating Day (the Saturday before Thanksgiving.) They're great events, and folks come from throughout Western Montana to stroll the streets, visit the galleries and meet their friends for a night on the town. The Holiday Art Walk in November is particularly successful because the Elves have spent the day hanging lights and garlands, so the evening celebration is a nice way to wrap up, culminating with the tree lighting ceremony in front of Bjorge's Gallery.

Even so, a few of us have kicked around the idea of doing monthly art walks all year long. Let's be honest here - a few of us have kicked the idea around for literally YEARS! It seems so silly that Bigfork - long known as an Art Destination - doesn't celebrate the Arts on a monthly basis, like Missoula does with First Fridays. I was managing a gallery in Missoula in the early '90s when First Fridays really took off, and it quickly became known as THE event of the month. First Fridays is a huge success in Missoula, and nearly the whole town turns out to spend the evening downtown.

John and Molly Morton from Sacred Dancing Gallery, Christine and I, Deliah, Signe and Jill from Persimmon Gallery decided last week that we need to take the bull by the proverbial horns and just start something in Bigfork. We originally envisioned a block party, but the ultimate goal is to get everyone in the Village to participate. We've decided on celebrating the Last Friday of every month, from 5 to 8 p.m. We're inviting everyone, and in addition to having the retail shop and galleries involved, we hope to get some of the restaurants to do drink or dining specials to dovetail with the event. Next week is the first Last Friday, so please join us! At this time, the participants we know are in for sure are Bjorge's Gallery, Sacred Dancing, Frame of Reference, Donna Shanahan Interiors and Persimmon Gallery. I'm going around town tomorrow with an informational flier and we're sending email blasts out this weekend, so I hope the list will grow significantly even for this first event. We'll keep you posted!