December 19 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Downtown Fairfield set for first Art Walk

The Fairfield-Suisun City Visual Arts Association and Fairfield Arts, hoping to provide a semi-regular opportunity for local artists to share their work, are putting on Downtown Fairfield’s first ever Art Walk,

The first ever Downtown Fairfield Art Walk is coming just ahead of Christmas, giving visitors an opportunity to squeeze in some last minute shopping locally, says Dennis Ariza, FSVAA President.

Ariza had one simple goal in planning the Art Walk: “Trying to bring people downtown to enjoy art.”

Having recently opened his own gallery in downtown Fairfield, Ariza says he has seen the impact of events first-hand.

“I opened up my gallery downtown and, I mean, it’s doing OK, but when we had an event,” said Ariza. “We did fantastic.”

“Fall into Artumn” was a big motivating factor for hosting the Art Walk, he says: “A couple hundred people showed up to see the artwork and made some purchases.”

If the Art Walk is successful in bringing more people downtown, and purchasing art, then Ariza hopes to throw many more walks, quarterly or even monthly.

Since this is the first event, and it’s in the winter, some local artists were skeptical, not wanting to haul their work outside in the rain, says Ariza.

However, Fairfield’s first Art Walk will be all inside for this very reason, he says, adding that “later on, I expect to do pop-ups on the sidewalk and things like that.”

“People are hearing about it and want to participate little by little,” he says. Even just a week out from the Art Walk, he says the event is still growing, having just recently added a new location and a new artist to the lineup.

There are eight locations to visit artists on Dec. 20. While Fairfield Arts will feature eight different artists at their location, artists will be posted all around downtown. Artist JoRene Danel will be at Cedar Corner Kitchen and Bar and Lisa Imhoff and Laura Klein will be at Head Space Salon, to name a few.

The Art Walk will also have food and drinks, with several food trucks downtown and wine at Fairfield Arts from Backroads Vines, says Ariza.

Of all the things Ariza hopes to achieve in throwing Fairfield’s First Art Walk, above all he’s “looking to see a lot of people.”

If you go …

• WHAT: Downtown Fairfield Art Walk
• WHEN: Dec. 20 4-7 p.m.
• WHERE: Fairfield Arts, 717 Jackson St., Fairfield. Visit fvsaa-arts.org for more information and other locations.