Atlanta Dawn, left, a Quad Cities artist, listens to speeches on Wednesday, Nov. 20, during the grand opening of Arts Alley in downtown Rock Island. Her mural can be seen on a wall in the background. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
The grand opening of Arts Alley in downtown Rock Island was much like a Hallmark TV channel Christmas movie. It had music, a gathering of friends, a big Christmas tree, wintry weather and a happy ending, according to Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms. “This is a perfect Hallmark movie. …. Hopefully, it ends the same […]
The grand opening of Arts Alley in downtown Rock Island was much like a Hallmark TV channel Christmas movie. It had music, a gathering of friends, a big Christmas tree, wintry weather and a happy ending, according to Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms.“This is a perfect Hallmark movie. …. Hopefully, it ends the same way as the movies because they all end the same way,” Mr. Thoms said late Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 20, during a celebration to honor more than $500,000 in improvements to the downtown outdoor event space.
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Santa Claus and other visitors look over candles for sale in the Buttercupp Candles pop-up shop during the grand opening celebration of Arts Alley in Rock Island on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Arts Alley features two retail vendor stalls for local businesses. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms, left, and Dave Herrell of Visit Quad Cities are shown at the celebration.
Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms welcomes guests to Arts Alley in downtown Rock Island on Wednesday, Nov. 20. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
That celebration attracted more than 100 people who braved the cold temperatures with windy conditions and a few snow flurries.
That celebration attracted more than 100 people who braved the cold temperatures with windy conditions and a few snow flurries.
Atlanta Dawn, right, a Quad Cities artist, gives a speech on Wednesday, Nov. 20, during the grand opening of Arts Alley in downtown Rock Island. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Jack Cullen, executive director of the Rock Island Downtown Alliance, welcomes people to the celebration.
KC Cupp, left, visits with a customer inside the Buttercupp Candles store set up in Arts Alley in downtown Rock Island. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
These two art creations have been selected to cover the walls in Arts Alley, Rock Island. The top art was created by local artist Atlanta Dawn. The bottom art was created by artist Nicole Salgar.
This mural created by artist Nicole Salgar has been selected to go on the walls of Arts Alley in Rock Island. The artist said in part, "I wanted to create a design that seamlessly blends elements celebrating local biodiversity and heritage." CREDIT CITY OF ROCK ISLAND
This mural created by local artist Atlanta Dawn has been selected to go on the walls of Arts Alley in Rock Island. The work titled "Luminary Voyage" includes this statement: "There is a knowing within. Listen, a wisdom born of both light and shadow. Press onward amid the darkness for the light is not external, but inside you." CREDIT CITY OF ROCK ISLAND
That celebration attracted more than 100 people who braved the cold temperatures with windy conditions and a few snow flurries.That Arts Alley space, located at 1919 Second Ave., features two large-scale murals on building walls, decorative lighting, a colorful walkway, two small vendor buildings for retailers, special lighting and even a large Christmas tree to get people into the holiday spirit. (The celebration included a tree-lighting ceremony.)The total budget for Arts Alley was $534,000, with half of the project being funded by a $267,000 State of Illinois Tourism Attractions grant. The City of Rock Island primarily funded the remaining costs with a combination of Downtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District funds and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.“We are proud to show off this space and its recent improvements as part of the $9 million Rebuild Downtown Project,” said the mayor. “The city created Arts Alley in 1994 to fill a gap left by a demolished building and to establish a colorful gateway between Rock Island’s riverfront and the business district.”For many attending Wednesday’s event, the two big stars of the show were the colorful murals created by artists Atlanta Dawn of the Quad Cities and Nicole Salgar of Miami.Ms. Dawn’s 1,600-square-foot mural, entitled “Luminary Voyage,” depicts a girl, owl and three moths. Ms. Salgar’s art shows a bird and flowers near an old home.“Thank you for supporting public arts in the Quad Cities,” Ms. Dawn told the crowd.Dawn Wohlford-Metallo, visual arts director at Quad City Arts, located next to Arts Alley, called the murals “lasting symbols of the community’s pride.”Even though the two murals are impressive, they won’t be the only works of art on display. In the coming months, more art will be added to Arts Alley, said Jack Cullen, executive director of the Rock Island Downtown Alliance.In addition, Arts Alley also features businesses in two small retail vendor structures called the Arts Alley Holiday Market. The market will be open weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Nov. 29 and Dec. 22. The businesses in those two vendor buildings will change every weekend through the holidays. (Go here to see a schedule of the businesses that will be in the Arts Alley Holiday Market.)During the Wednesday celebration, Buttercupp Candles and Lagomarcino’s were doing business in the vendor buildings.Buttercupp Candles’ owners, the husband-wife team of KC and Jennifer Cupp, were kept busy showing customers some of their many candles for sale including scents of salted caramel cookie, honey glazed pear, harvest cider and cozy cashmere.“It smells so good in here,” was probably the most repeated phrase uttered on Wednesday as customer after customer walked into the small shed-like building.Across the alley, Lagomarcino’s staff members also were busy selling candy. Some of the popular items for sale included host chocolate bonbons, peanut brittle, hot fudge sauce and cherry sour bites.Mr. Cullen said that he hopes the new Arts Alley Holiday Market will help attract people to the downtown area when they do their holiday shopping. Plus, he hopes the dozen or so businesses that set up temporary shops in the two retailer stalls will see the community is a good place to do business and consider setting up a permanent storefront in the downtown area.“This is all part of the unique charm of Rock Island," he added.
