ArtWalk Nashua 2013: Bigger and Better Than Ever

FREE Patch Swag

Yes, that's right. Nashua Patch editor Carol Robidoux will be stationed at Bicentennial Park (the little park between the river and Darrell's Music) Saturday and Sunday, giving away awesome Patch canvas bags, to hold all your ArtWalk purchases! 

Where Art and Food Collide

ArtWalk Weekend coincides with Great American Downtown’s Fall Restaurant Week when local restaurants offer great dining deals and discounts from Nashua’s award-winning chefs and restaurants.

 “We are pleased that the arts scene in Nashua continues to grow and gain additional community support,” said Marjorie Bollinger Hogan, president of City Arts Nashua. “With a vibrant arts community, residents and visitors alike will benefit. ArtWalk Weekend is a great opportunity to meet and see artists at work, do some early holiday shopping, enjoy the entertainment and events and have lunch or dinner in one of Nashua’s fine restaurants.”

The annual ArtWalk 2013 runs from 12 - 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 12 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, and features around 50 area artists and entertainers in more than 30 galleries, studios and venues, drawing an audience of around 1,200 people annually.

Everything's Better When it's Fancy

The festival will kick off on September 27 with ArtWalk Weekend: The Fall Fancy Friday which, according to organizer Paul Shea, is a way of bringing fun, fanciness, and fundraising together to benefit local causes. Participants dress in their out and about finery and travel between participating restaurants and bars in Downtown Nashua. Cost is $10 for a wristband affording Fancy Friday participants generous food and drink discounts and no cover charge, plus professional portraits, fun demonstrations, and a silent auction.

The proceeds from Fall Fancy Friday will benefit City Arts Nashua. For more information see www.facebook.com/Fancyfriday. 

Click here to check out silent auction items.

Sponsors for Fancy Friday include:

• Showcase Performing Arts Center of Hudson
• Mother & Child Clothing and Gifts
• Anthony Grassetti Photography
• Industrial Solutions
• Artistic Tile
• The Persian Rug Gallery 
• Renaissance Downtowns at Nashua
• Riverside Barbeque Company
• Bellavance Beverage. 

Downtown Music Fest/Back to the '80s

On Saturday evening, from 6 - 11 p.m. the Nashua Chamber of Commerce is holding the last in its series of outdoor concerts as part of the summer Downtown Music Festival. The concert, titled '80s Revival: The Official ArtWalk Party, will take place on Main Street between High and Pearl Streets. Featured local bands are Radio Star and Best Not Broken. According to the Nashua Chamber, “we’ll have you shakin’ all night long, you material girls and boys, so don’t stop believin’ -- we’re bringing ArtWalk Nashua’s Saturday night to a total eclipse (of the heart). There will be no reason to leave downtown with such a fun-filled, culturally invigorating weekend. Come join us as we shut down Main Street and (flash) dance under the stars to your favorite hits.”

Tickets to the concert are $5 and are available at http://www.dmfnashua.com/event/dmf-80s-revival/. Even presented by the Nashua Chamber of Commerce and AutoFair.

Indie Art on Display

On Saturday and Sunday members of the Nashua Area Artists’ Association will display their works at the Hunt Memorial Building, a number of artists will open their studios in the Picker Building and Lake Street 55 Studios, and independent artists will be showing at 30 Temple Street. A variety of other downtown businesses will host independent artist as well.

PSA/View from a Cell

At 94 Main Street, Positive Street Art is displaying the photos from their third “View from A Cell” contest, and will award prizes for the best cell phone photos. All photos will be on sale to raise funds for Positive Street Art projects. ArtWalk 2013 also features a wide variety of free, special activities to add to the fun.

Wait: There's More

• Beck’s Art Express will hold children's art workshop on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at 30 Temple Street (formerly Indian Head Plaza.)  
• The Nashua Sculpture Symposium is planning a guided tour of Nashua’s downtown sculptures, beginning in The Picker Building in the Historic Mill Yard, on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.

• Nashua Historical Society will give guided tours of the Abbot Spalding House and the Speare Museum on Saturday. 

•  On Saturday the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen will feature a leather working demonstration by Claire Renaud; on Sunday a basket making demonstration by Alice Ogden. 

• At the Picker Building Cindy Goodman will give quilting demonstrations and Kim Kamshad will show visitors how to do Zentangle in their studios. Musical entertainment at the major venues will include, among others, Monument Square Brass, the Nashua Ukestra Quintet and Fate Revisited.

 “We encourage you to come downtown during ArtWalk, experience our vibrant cultural and arts scene, do a little shopping, enjoy the entertainment, participate in the events of your choice and grab a bite to eat – a full afternoon of fun for everyone,” Hogan said.

ArtWalk Nashua 2013, organized by City Arts Nashua, is sponsored in part the State Council on the Arts, the Nashua Art Commission, Nashua Rotary West, Great American Downtown, R. J. Finlay & Co – 30 Temple Street, and the Nashua Chamber of Commerce. City Arts Nashua is a volunteer, non-profit organization that promotes arts and culture in the Greater Nashua area, acts as a catalyst to help artists and arts organizations thrive, and to facilitates greater synergy among artists and arts organizations, business, government and the general public. CAN’s mission is to increase arts awareness and to build an expanded audience as a means to greater economic prosperity. It fosters cooperation, collaboration and coordination among the artistic and cultural community, including visual arts, theater arts, musicians, and writers. For additional information and updates on artists, entertainment and events, visit www.cityartsnashua.org.

A program and map will be available during ArtWalk at all participating venues.