Gallery Walk: celebrating local art despite road closure
Four Fridays out of the year, from 6–9 p.m., the Gallery Walk in downtown Logan transforms businesses and galleries down Main Street into a celebration of local artists’ work. The most recent occurrence happened on Sept. 19 despite interference from street blockage for the Cytiva Top of Utah Marathon.
Tanner Stephenson is the owner of The Logan Gallery, the fine art gallery located on 115 S. Main Street that showcases local artists and musicians.
“The Gallery Walk is a way for local artists to be represented in the community,” Stephenson said. “It’s an opportunity to connect to the artists with buyers, and it’s also just an opportunity for talent to be showcased.”
The gallery looks forward to the event each of the four times it occurs, taking care preparing the storefront for the community building event, according to Stephenson.
“We got a pretty good attendance,” Stephenson said. “And we always invite all of our artists to come and talk with the patrons. We represent 35 artists, so for us, it’s just kind of like ‘Come and party with the artists.’”
Chelsea Funk and her daughter own The Alley on Center, another fine art gallery located on 19 W. Center Street.
“The Alley on Center Street has been a part of downtown Logan for four years,” Funk said. “Our motto is ‘purveyors of local art and talent.’ When we were given the opportunity to showcase the art that’s already in The Alley through the Gallery Walk, it really excited us.”
The Alley still had good foot traffic during the walk despite the blockage, according to Funk.
“Logan City had shut down Center Street to get ready for the marathon, which we had no idea, which I thought was very, very distasteful on Logan City’s part, or Downtown Alliance, because they did shut down the road,” Funk said. “I mean, by all means, it didn’t hinder, but it also didn’t help.”
The Alley and the Logan Gallery featured local artists Tony Losee and Rodrigo Cortez, aka Roots, during the walk.
“Our main show, like our showstopper, is the Rodrigo Cortez room,” Stephenson said. “We have a whole room dedicated to his work. He’s got 28 paintings and a series of prints — they’re really good as far as technical proficiency.”
According to Funk, Losee’s phenomenal photography takes up the entire second floor of The Alley.
In addition to showcasing talented featured artists, the walk provides the opportunity for local artists to show their work without having to travel far, according to Funk.
“They have a place they can put it and not feel too nervous because it’s in their hometown,” Funk said.
Stephenson emphasized a thriving art scene is a key indicator of a thriving community willing to embrace new ideas and actively strive to improve itself.
“Cultures even as small as Cache Valley, you know, they stagnate and become xenophobic and just kind of lose some of their life force, so events like the Gallery Walk or any public art program in general are just really critical for the culture of the community,” Stephenson said. “The tone of the culture of the community kind of predicts the long-term success of the community.”
According to Stephenson, college students should attend the walk to learn new, useful ideas and experience different social circles within their creative community.
“Artwork is a way to explore what you think about something,” Stephenson said. “You pick a subject, and you go into it, and in the process of making an image, you’re kind of codifying your feelings and your view of that specific subject. It’s a way to kind of articulate your view of the thing, and that’s similar to the college experience. I feel like you’re going in there being exposed to a lot of new ideas, and you’re articulating your viewpoint, your worldview, in a way that you hadn’t really thought out before.”
The next Gallery Walk will take place on Dec. 5 from 6–9 p.m. Locations and featured artists for the different galleries will be posted on cachearts.org/gallery-walk closer to the date. Those interested in displaying their art in the gallery can fill out the intake form at the bottom of the website.
“It’s a great way to check out culture, whether you’re from Utah, from Logan, if you’re from Texas or out of the country,” Funk said. “It is an amazing opportunity to see what local artists do and to be a part of the community that you’re going to school in.”