By Mike Armstrong
Reporter, Carbon County Comet
On October 6 and October 7, Rawlins downtown is going to be the host to many artists from many mediums and giving locals and visitors, opportunities to learn from these creative individuals.
“This is our seventh annual Art Beat, which is an artisan walk, an event in downtown Rawlins,” Pam Thayer, Director of DDA /Main Street said. “It started seven years ago when a few creative minds said ‘We need something to celebrate our artisans’. They said we need to have an art walk, we need to have a focus on our artists.”
Thayer said the first year, they worked with the Uplift Artist Guild and continued to do so until two years ago, when DDA/ Main Street took over the event.
“There have been some changes with 2023,” Thayer said. “For one, we have gone back to doing it for two days. Back in 2020, that crazy year during Covid, we did go to one day, but now we are back to two.”
She went on to say there are more sponsors and businesses getting involved in 2023.
“We have a lot of interest because we are celebrating all mediums of art,” Thayer said. “Whether you are doing photography, cooking, painting, music, just any medium. We are very happy this year because we have the Wyoming Arts Council involved.”
Thayer said Discover Carbon County has been a strong supporter of the event.
“Discover Carbon County has always been a partner in this event for us,” Thayer said. “We do have a few new sponsors this year and a wide range of them.”
She points out that last year, the DDA/ Main Street did it all and had no sponsors. Thayer is glad to see the involvement of businesses in the event.
The art walk starts Friday evening and there will be artists from all over Carbon County and Wyoming. Artwork from the schools will also be featured.
“You might be walking down the street and see Jerrod James carving out some wood statues,” Thayer said. “Then you walk a little further and you might see your own child’s artwork from their art class.”
There will be artists who work with metal, ceramics, stained glass, pottery, food and painting. Thayer said if you are an artist, you should participate in Art Beat.
The committee for this event, which is all volunteers, wanted to have it on the first weekend in October. This year it is also Rawlins High School Homecoming.
“We looked at changing the date and then we said hold on, there is a parade that will start at 3 p.m. and we will start our event at 4 p.m.,” Thayer said. “The community will have a break until 7 p.m., when the game starts and we realized it was a perfect opportunity for people to enjoy Art Beat while they waited for the game to start.”
Besides homecoming on Friday, there will be a food truck event that starts at 3 p.m. which works out well, because on Saturday there will be a lot of kids events Art Beat going on from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
“There is also going to be the Cake Wars starting at 3 p.m.,” Thayer said. “We realized we have four great events happening on the weekend of October 6 and we wanted to try it this year and see how it goes.”
Friday night there will be music from Still House Blues and a scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt gets the attendees into the businesses. She said the signatures, required for the scavenger hunt, will be a bit more tricky to get and people will have to look around in the business to get the required signature.
“People will have to spend some time in the business and that is a win/win for all,” Thayer said. “Someone will win $200 in Main Street dollars.”
Thayer pointed out that there is even more going on.
“There is going to be a carnival at the depot for the kids,” Thayer said. “We are going to have different activities Friday night and turn around and have different things to see on Saturday morning until the early afternoon.”
Thayer said they are still looking for artisans.
“We are taking all types. Do you want to only exhibit or do you want to sell your work?” Thayer pointed out. “We love it all. This is a chance for artists to get exposure and get a chance to express themselves. There is no charge for an artist to come in and be there Friday or Saturday or both. It is a creative time for all. It is a broad spectrum of art being featured.”
Thayer is excited about the 2023 Art Beat. “It is going to be fun,” she said. “It is a chance to enjoy Rawlins in a way that maybe people don’t realize they can.”
