You may not realize it, but Lubbock has a pretty happening art scene, and the First Friday Art Trail is sure to expose a side of Lubbock that many Tech students have not seen.
“When visiting in the past, I was mainly surrounded by college life and football games,” Margaret Dye, a graduate student pursuing her master’s in art education, said. “It was only until First Friday that I really saw the art scene in Lubbock.”
Featured artwork at the Tornado Gallery.
On the first Friday night of each month, the hipsters, artists, and culture-seekers of Lubbock flock downtown for an evening of art. The Art Trail is a free, self-guided art expo at over a dozen different venues around the depot district. From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., rain or shine, trail goers can walk around or ride the trolley to visit various featured restaurants and galleries to take in some local artwork, live music, food, and drinks.
This first Friday of September, it wasn’t long during my walk down Buddy Holly that the rain started coming down, and continued throughout the night (to my umbrella-less dismay). But evidently, art-lovers do not hide from a few little raindrops — the turnout appeared as big as ever.
Painted rendition of Kliff’s abs.
All of the venues were unique to themselves. The Tornado Gallery’s small space was packed with people, and set itself apart from other venues with a wide variety of artworks. Wooden art fixtures, stone and tile mosaics, photographs, and colorful, lively paintings hung along the walls, and long, painted wooden sculptures, called “Tiny Dancers” hung from the ceiling for visitors to play with and spin around as they wished. Stunning jewelry and glass blown vases and bowls were also there for sale.
The Peach Tree Gallery’s assortment of paintings were covering the white walls from top to bottom, and showcased the range of local artists’ styles.
On Texas Avenue, McPherson Cellars had several food trucks outside, and the live music and wine bar inside made for an exciting, social atmosphere. There was showcase of photography prints on canvas, but the Kliff Kingsbury portraits really stood out.
Most everyone has by now seen the infamous picture of a shirtless Kliff that flooded the Internet this summer. Now, thanks to artist Lee Madrid, there is a large painted replica. Behind a pillar where Kliff’s beautifully painted abs were on display, was a canvas with a cover on it, labeled “Naked Kliff,” and said special permission was required to view. I ignored the warning and lifted the veil. As it turned out, it was actually just a painting of – literally – a bare cliff. Very punny.
Professor David Lindsay and artist Clint Whiting strike a pose at the ‘Roman Holiday’ exhibit.
The School of Art presented a new exhibition called “Roman Holiday” at the Satellite Gallery. The exhibit featured an array of detailed figure sketches by students from the Italy Study Abroad Program and paintings by artist Clint Whiting, a recent MFA graduate of the Art Academy in Rome.
Whiting and the School of Art’s Associate Professor David Lindsay were among the large crowd at the opening. They were really pleased with the turn out – especially with the downpour outside.
The most impressive crowd was across the street, at The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts. Visitors could hardly walk through the different exhibits without bumping into someone. Its main exhibition, “Narrative Rewritten: West Texas View” by artist Bridget Elpers, stole the show. Huge fixtures resembling mobiles were knitted from bright, colorful yarn and hung from the high ceiling with strands dripping to the ground, and walls of different colored yarn and textures were also set up around the room.
Piece in ‘Narrative Rewritten: West Texas View.’
Dye said Elpers’ showcase was her favorite exhibit of the night. She added that coming from the huge art culture in Austin, Texas, she worried about her move to Tech because she wasn’t sure what Lubbock’s art scene really had to offer.
“After my program interview and exposure to the art scene, thanks to First Friday Art Trail, I knew this was a place I could grow to love.”
About Nicole Crites
