{"id":68129,"date":"2023-06-05T08:38:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T14:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=68129"},"modified":"2023-06-11T11:07:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T17:07:35","slug":"experiencing-provos-art-stroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/experiencing-provos-art-stroll\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiencing Provo’s Art Stroll"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Provo’s Center Street provides an alluring backdrop for the City’s monthly Art Stroll. Image credit: Sandra Houghton<\/p><\/div>\n

Downtown Provo’s Center Street boasts eclectic food, shopping, art and architecture: many buildings date between 1880 and 1930. The street\u2019s culture is an alluring backdrop to the monthly Art Stroll, a self-guided tour of the places, art and people that persuade us to get up, go out, and come see. Promises of bumping into art, artists, and other art-loving locals while strolling down a picturesque, tree-lined street scored by live music feels straight from a movie set.<\/h4>\n

Except\u2026stroll where? Checking the Art Stroll website<\/a> as well as social media, it becomes evident that maps are in participating businesses. A bright red Art Stroll banner outside Java Junkie, a local coffee shop, announces that, this is the place! Or, at least, a place. Inside, Joey Rotten sets up in the front window while customers order food and drinks, staking claim to tables for the pending open mic and live music. Quoted on turningart.com<\/a>, Joe Torres, who works under the name Joey Rotten, says, “My art will hopefully leave a message of love, lust, passion, rock and roll.” Java Junkie presents the perfect scene for his art, with its celebrity-inspired menu and vibe. Joey Rotten\u2019s works hang behind him as he paints, and the arriving musicians setting up for live music melt away the earlier frustration of trying to find the way here. This is cool, and\u2026 they have a map. Time to move on.<\/h4>\n
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Joey Rotten’s work inside Java Junkie. Image credit: Sandra Houghton<\/p><\/div>\n

A short distance away, Isaiah and Tylee Fierros of Tyleebrett Rings<\/a> are in high demand at their booth, outside The Collective Underground. Handcrafting rings on the spot for buyers, they engage in easy conversation with passersby. Instagram reveals that Isaiah and Tylee \u201cshare passion for people and outside-of-the-box creativity.\u201d This really is who they are. After learning about challenges they\u2019ve faced with tools and the adventures of finding materials, as well as some shared laughter, it\u2019s time to go inside The Collective Underground, a local market for artists and crafters. It\u2019s a little confusing figuring out where to find works by featured artists Kevin Hoertig, Shari King, and Roger Ellsworth, but the live music performed in the front window makes it easy to slow down and enjoy the diverse array of mediums, materials and ideas presented by local artists.<\/h4>\n

On the way to Writ and Vision, a family huddles around a demonstration of lace weaving outside Heindselmans Yarn and Gift shop. Dale Pomeroy, a navy veteran, retells how he sought out tatting and lace making classes as he was stationed around the world, and impressively, he lures people to sit down and rhythmically move the bobbins of thread according to his call. \u201cSee, it\u2019s easy,\u201d he promises, \u201cjust time-consuming.\u201d When asked how a navy vet becomes interested in making lace, he replies that it grew out of learning to sew, something his mother taught him to pass time while he recovered from rheumatic fever. Still fascinated with the idea that this craft form allows him to create play with the relationship of positive and negative space in his works, he now calls himself the Mad Tatter.<\/h4>\n