Kelsey Ford
Contributing Writer
If you need a reason to crawl out of bed early on a Saturday, look no further: Polk Museum of Art is having its first Art Crawl that day.
On Saturday, Nov. 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., local and emerging artists will be showing and selling their artwork at very affordable prices.
Two of the participating artists are Sarah Putnam, a Florida Southern College alumna and Cole Jaques, a current Florida Southern freshman and Harrison School for the Arts graduate.
“It’s really cool to have the opportunity to sell my art alongside other great artists,” Jaques said. “I think there are very few opportunities to actually feel like an artist and sell work, and it’s such a neat feeling to have strangers walk away with something you made and possibly hang it on their wall or display it somewhere.”
iNK Screen Printing will be doing screen printing demonstrations, and the first 200 people will print and receive a free Art Crawl T-shirt.
If you sleep in, you can also BYOS (bring your own shirt), and iNK will help you screen print it.
For the truly lazy FSC student who just can’t pull themselves out of bed early in the morning, the fun continues into the afternoon when several local bands take the stage.
There will be live musical performances courtesy of New Granada Records in Tampa and Swan City Sounds in Lakeland featuring The Careful Ones, MRENC, Pilgrimage and Rec Center from noon to 4 p.m.
The food and drink vendors for this event will be Red Door Wine Market and Drica’s Specialty Coffee.
Red Door Wine Market is a restaurant right across from the Lakeland Public Library and the Polk Museum of Art, and their goal is to bring the experience of a California vineyard to Lakeland with a variety of unique food options, including fresh baked bread and various cheese options.
Drica’s Speciality Coffee Boutique is Lakeland’s first mobile café serving fresh specialty coffee in a variety of flavors and fresh baked goods such as bread, muffins and biscuits.
If you are one of the many college students constantly on the lookout for something entertaining to do in Lakeland, this free event is the perfect way to spend a lazy Saturday.
“This event was created just for people in their 20s and early 30s who might be interested in starting their own art collection. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, especially when you are buying works from local and emerging artists,” Sandra Horan, public relations and marketing manager for Polk Museum of Art, said.
In addition to the artists, a number of visual arts organizations will have booths at the event.
These organizations include 1026 SoFlo Fine Art Gallery & Market Place, Arts Ensemble Education Foundation & Healing Arts Center, Frostproof Art League & Gallery, Gessford Studio, Paint Along Studios/Loft Art, Platform Art, Polk Arts Alliance, Polk County Kids Tag Art and Rick Olivo Studios.
Art Crawl caps off the Museum’s Fall for Art festival, which runs Nov. 14-16.
On Nov. 14, there will be a Gems & Jewels holiday artists’ market from noon to 8 p.m.; the Holiday Soiree, a festive cocktail party and fundraising art auction; and the Art2 Sale, a sale of original, donated, and very affordable square art.
On Nov. 15, there will be a panel discussion on art collecting called “Got Art?” from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free for all events.
Polk Museum of Art is located on Lake Morton behind the Lakeland Public Library, just one block north of the Florida Southern campus.
All Fall for Art events will be held at the Museum and Art Crawl will take place in the Museum’s parking lot.
For more information on Art Crawl and the Fall for Art festival, visit PolkMuseumofArt.org.
