AMHERST — An art walk in downtown Amherst that helps promote the local creative community is returning six years after its last in-person events were held.
Amherst Arts Night Plus: A Celebration of Art in Amherst, which was unable to flourish in a virtual format during the pandemic, resumes Thursday at 5 p.m., a three-hour event being put on by the Amherst Center Cultural District and the Amherst Business Improvement District.
The inaugural Arts Night Plus will have more than 15 local artists showcasing their works at various downtown businesses and locations. As part of the evening, visitors will get free parking at all metered spaces and public lots in Amherst center, with additional parking offered by Amherst College in its Alumni Lot off Spring Street.
“Arts Night Plus reflects the Amherst BID’s commitment to championing local artists and small businesses,” Ben Coakley, arts and culture coordinator at the Amherst BID, said in a statement. “We invite everyone to come downtown, explore and experience the creativity that makes this community thrive.”
The previous iteration, begun in 2002 and held monthly, hosted more than 2,000 exhibitions, art forums and events, including a number of musical performances. But curated broadcasts on Amherst Media and “Windows Into Art” storefront displays that began in 2020 were challenging to sustain, leading organizers to close down the program in fall 2021.
Beyond Thursday, it’s not yet certain how often the new Arts Night Plus will be held. BID Executive Director John Page said if successful, staging it quarterly might be possible.
The spaces where art will be on view, and artists will interact with the public, are varied. At the north end of town, on Cottage Street, Ancestral Bridges will showcase art by more than 10 Black and Indigenous artists, including works by Kamil Peters and Anika Lopes.
On North Pleasant Street, The Toy Box will host an outdoor art-making station.
In the heart of downtown, the Unitarian Universalist Society will host artists Laura Davis and Christine Mirabal and have its The Angel of the Lilies Tiffany window illuminated, with church members present to talk about the stained glass. ReApparel, next to the Central fire station, will host artists John Higby and Nathan Palmer.
The Amherst History Center, next to the Boltwood parking garage, will be open to showcase its exhibit “Amherst Then & Now: A Pictorial Retrospective of 125 Years of Memory Keeping.”
At Town Hall, the art gallery will feature an exhibition of giclé prints of photography by Hadley artist Stephen Texeira. Music there will be performed by the Amherst Autoharp Workshop.
In the Amherst Cinema building on Amity Street, where a screening of the Bellwether film series film WTO/99 will happen, Gallery A3 will be showing “Flora & Fauna: art by Laura Holland and Nancy Meagher,” and GoBerry’n Cream will be showcasing art by Gallery A3 artists.
Heading down Main Street from Amherst center, The Closet will host artist Richard Swiatlowski, Julie Nolan Jewelry will showcase art by Sarah Reyes, LimeRed Teahouse will host artist Michelle Vigeant, The Emily Dickinson Museum will host artist Nancy Meagher and The Center Dance will host artist Kim White.
On the west side of the Town Common, the Visitor Information Center will host artists Elise Raskevitz and Hui Feng, while on the east side The Inn on Boltwood will host artist Caroline Anne James and 30Boltwood will host artist Hannah Harvester.
On the Amherst College campus, Mead Art Museum will showcase their displays “Adventures of the Quantum Soup Surfer,” “Kwame Brathwaite: Revolutionary Movements,” and “BAM: The Black Art Matters Student Showcase.”
Finally, the Mill District Art Gallery Pop-up and Amherst Recreation will host artists and games on the North Common, in front of Town Hall.
Arts Night Plus also marks the soft opening of The Hive Collective, a new multifunctional creative hub at 49 Boltwood Walk.
Operating as a pop-up studio, gallery, arts market, makerspace and event venue, The Hive Collective is dedicated to expanding community arts participation. Artists Monica Aguilar and Amy Kotel will be there for the opening.
Organizers are encouraging visitors to see other public art in town, including The Drake mural by Judith Inglese, the mural at Bistro 63 by Sharon Leshner, also known as Sharona Color, and the Amherst History Mural next to West Cemetery, completed by David Fichter.
