September’s First Friday was a fantastic success.
Since 2007, First Friday art crawl has been hosted every first Friday of the month in the Tulsa Arts District. During the event, local musicians perform on the Guthrie Green stage and local artists sell their art in booths around the park or display their art in nearby buildings. This past Friday was September’s First Friday, lasting from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
On the Guthrie Green itself, the Tulsa Symphony played for a large audience (one of the songs being the Harry Potter theme song), while local artists and businesses were selling their products in several booths throughout the Tulsa Arts District. Some items people were selling included their original art pieces (one booth, in particular, had a large mural featuring an alien invasion), gemstones, bracelets and crochet animals. Even Black Moth, the nature store close to TU, had a stand selling small oddities including raccoon tails, feathers and cool-looking pens.
A couple of food trucks were lined on one side of Guthrie Green serving chicken sandwiches and mexican food among other options but there were several restaurants within the Arts District that visitors could also try while looking at art. In addition to the series of booths around the area, several artists were displaying their art in buildings throughout the Tulsa Arts District as well. One building was displaying art created by the Tulsa Arts Coalition, where they unveiled the main attraction of the month: an enormous mixed-quilt created by 18 people from across the globe titled “Homeward.” Another building featured a unique gallery for the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, the second floor of which featured a looping hallway with several small rooms where artists were also displaying their art. One artist named Arthur Haywood had a room full of fantasy paintings with an overarching message that reading is important. Another artist had a room that was a bit controversial as he had displayed beautiful poems on his wall but placed AI art right next to it.
Several TU students went to experience what September’s First Friday had to offer, most of them making a point to return to the event monthly. Annie Xie commented “It was very cool to see what Tulsan artists were working on, specifically at the Tulsa Artist Fellowship. Many fun and unique vendors were selling their artwork, and the live symphony added a nice ambiance to the event. Overall, I think it’s a very fun event that many people in Tulsa look forward to every month.” Chetna Mandurai added, “Seeing everything the vendors had to offer was interesting!”
However, this past Friday was the first time some TU students got to experience the event. For Sally Thao and Rose Tran, who both hail from Vietnam, this was their first time experiencing an event in Downtown Tulsa. But, both women had good things to say about the night with Thao remarking “This was my first time coming to Downtown. The art crawl helps connect so many different people. Thanks to the event, I met several friendly people and saw so many people with unique and confident styles.” Thao added, “Exploring the art galleries, admiring the handmade goods and listening to the short symphony gave me a great first impression of the local culture. I can’t wait to experience more like this.”
Lakin Green noted that she wished she could have spent more time at the art crawl. “I appreciated all the different vendors and types of art to see. The symphony playing was beautiful, so if I could do it again I would go back and sit with them for a while. I would suggest First Friday to all incoming freshmen because it seems like a great exposure to some of the beautiful art here in Tulsa.”
Green is right – First Friday art crawl is great exposure for some beautiful art made by local artists. I also highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of art or any students looking for a fun and uniquely Tulsan experience. The next First Friday art crawl is Oct. 4, so find parking early, find some friends to experience the night with and bring some cash in case you find something you want to purchase at the booths.
