Hop 'round town
By Jillian Yalung
The Collegian
Every first Thursday of the month Fresnans come together to experience a taste of local culture at ArtHop.
Local art galleries, museums and other businesses open their doors to bring in hundreds of curious patrons. Artists open their showrooms and studios, displaying their wares to the public.
Sixty venues, (including Fresno State’s Conley Art Gallery, Veni Vidi Vici’s and Koffeeheads), in the North, Central and Downtown Fresno will be open to the public, from 5 – 8 p.m., free of charge.
The different venues will display works from various artists, with a wide range of pieces.
Maria Franco, office manager of the Fresno Arts Council explained the history of ArtHop.
“It was founded over a period of ten years by local artists. It was established for the art and for the people.”
What began as a small event in downtown Fresno in October 1996, is growing as the word is gets out.
One of the newest venues to jump on to the “Hop” stop is Koffeheads. The trendy coffeehouse will be celebrating their second ArtHop with an up-and-coming artist, Chance James.
Richard Randall, the ArtHop coordinator for Koffeeheads, said James fell right into their laps, “He (James) has been a customer of ours for awhile. As an artist myself, we got to talking about art and I found out that he was an artist, too. Now he will be having his first showcase at our downtown location.”
James will be displaying a variety of non-traditional art pieces.
“He has his own style,” Randall said, “from pastels, to oil, to acrylic, to multi-abstract pieces; it will all be at Koffeeheads this Thursday night.”
Why should Fresno State students make the drive to downtown Fresno and hop to this particular “Hop” stop?
Randall believes that it is a great experience that can’t be missed.
“It makes you think outside of the box.” Randall says, “We will show you that art can be showcased anywhere.”
Randall said, “There is a lot of undiscovered talent in the Central Valley. There are so many venues open to discuss a possible showcase.”
Having displayed his art twice for venues in Fresno, Randall said. “When you get that chance to put your art up and share it with people, it gives you a sense of direction and a feeling of success I highly recommend it to all artists.”
To find out more about this month's ArtHop venues visit www.fresnoarts.org.
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