Banbury place crawling with culture

The community celebrates culture and art at the sixth annual Banbury Art Crawl

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Photo by Lauren Kritter

Unique spin art on display was just one of many distinctive pieces of art at the crawl.

Story by Lauren Kritter, Staff Writer

Various people from the Eau Claire area gathered this weekend at Banbury Place for the sixth annual Banbury Art Crawl. This cultural event was high in attendance with participants “crawling” through the many floors of artists’s efforts on display.

Works of art were purchased and demonstrated all weekend.

Thread sculpture artist Grant Verdict was taking personal requests from people, and for the first time ever at the event, was demonstrating how these pieces of work are created.

This added to the event’s overall uniqueness and gave people a closer insight on the making of artists’ work.

As people walked around to the many vendors, every corner produced a glimpse at new works of art. Each artist had exclusive ideas to portray through their creations. Paintings, sculptures, photography, jewelry and pottery were just a few of the types of work shown at the crawl.

“The art crawl is a good way to immerse yourself into the culture and art around you and it seems that many took advantage of just that,” Melissa Groom, an event goer, said.

Many artists shared their passions and what inspires them to  viewers interested in their work and ideas.

Patricia Mayhew Hamm is an artist who works with watercolor and acrylic mediums and has been on the steering committee for the Banbury Art Crawl for many years.

Her love for art shows through as she teaches painting classes at the State Theater in Eau Claire to people who thirst for art.

She said she believes if someone has a passion for art, they need to continuously practice and work at it.

“There is no learning there if you are not willing to put time into your work,” Hamm said.

With the wrap up of this year’s event, the community is glad to see the crawl continue to go on because of the way it celebrates the diverse culture of arts and business in our community.