The organizers of the First Friday Art event are hoping to bring families of WSU students to town with Friday’s “Roaring 20s” themed event.
Jandi Utzman, Dance in Motion and Promote Pullman owner and Promote Pullman, said this is the fifth First Friday Art, with the last one being held last spring.
“We’ll have one in September and we’ll have one in October,” Utzman said. “It’s a fun event downtown to bring in the arts, bring in some live entertainment and get people to visit downtown and see all there is to offer.”
Utzman said First Friday Art is a themed event, with a different theme each time it’s held. A few examples include a 1950s theme and Octoberfest for this October’s First Friday Art.
“This one is a Roaring 20s theme,” Utzman said. “[The idea] came about because when I go travel I love to go to art festivals, so we thought Pullman could use some more art-incorporated events.”
This First Friday Art will have about 20 vendors, Utzman said. Among some of the participating businesses, Terracotta Pullman will be having a pottery “throw down,” Studio 509 will be hosting wine glass making and throughout the day a “prohibition pub crawl” event will be held.
“The market and those activities go from 4:30–7:30 and the Prohibition Pub crawl will go from 5 p.m.–9 p.m.,” she said. “We have four actors stationed downtown and they’ll get a small glimpse almost like you’re on a travel bus, a small history bit of the prohibition and then they will give the speakeasy password to the bars near them, so they’ll use that password to get the deals on the drinks.”
The participating businesses that will be featuring drink specials for those who give the speakeasy password are The Foundry, Pups & Cups Cafe, Hotel McCoy, Esti Bravo, Pauly’s and The Black Cypress, Utzman said.
Terracotta Pullman owner Candace Baltz said Terracotta will be involved with First Friday Art this year and was also involved with First Friday Art last October.
“We brought the [pottery] wheels out and that drew a pretty sizable crowd. It was pretty exciting to see,” Baltz said. “There is a lot of good energy in Pullman and First Friday is a really nice way to bring people together and be in community together and celebrate the talents and creativity and each other.”
For Terracotta specifically, the event gives people a chance to try out pottery if they never have before and have wanted to, Baltz said. Members and instructors provide free coaching throughout the day during the throw-down contest.
“The contests are not intended to necessarily show off exceptional skill, they’re just for fun,” she said. “If you can center the clay then you can participate in the contest, too.”
There will also be a “game on area” at Pine Street Plaza, as well as a dance performance by Whitney Wanderlust and live music. Utzman said. In addition, two antique 1920s–1930s cars will be on display at High Street Plaza, along with the wine glass art and sparkle body art. Utzman said she hopes this event will encourage WSU families to visit for non-sports weekends.
Planners for the event rely in part on WSU volunteers, who usually help when setting up the event, Utzman said. They usually rely on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, to spread the word about the event.
“The week of the event we ask all the downtown businesses to repost the ads to help get the word out to all their customers too,” she said.
In keeping with the roaring 20s theme, contestants will be able to create goblets with the pottery wheels, in addition to the free wine glass painting in Studio 509, she said. There are enough wine glasses for about the first 70 people.
Baltz said their events are held outside, partially because it is easier to clean up and facilitate the crowd outside. In the past, they have done it in the parking lot and outside of the Lumber Yard.
“Sometimes we’ll have activities at the throw down like a food drive or a baby item drive, where we ask people to bring a donation for causes as a charge for the event,” Baltz said. “That’s another way to build accessibility as we see it.”
Utzman said the area should have more venues and events for people to attend in Pullman because of the positive financial impact on Downtown Pullman businesses, which is important because many of them are still recovering from the effect of COVID-19 restrictions.
