By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

The Benicia Art Walk Committee will meet next week to discuss the evolution of what became a popular monthly downtown event last year.

The Art Walk, which gives art enthusiasts a chance to enjoy Benicia’s First Street art scene on each second Saturday, premiered in June and received largely positive feedback from participants and downtown merchants.

The committee, an offshoot of the Tourism Committee of the Economic Development Board, will discuss new ideas to enhance the experience for community members and visitors alike.

“I think the galleries have had a very good response, as far as people starting at Gallery 621 or the Plein Air Gallery and picking up a map,” said committee member Pat Ryll, a local artist who is part of the Benicia Plein Air Gallery.

“We have a lot of continued visitors saying, ‘I am here for the Art Walk again. The Plein Air Gallery had increased activity at the receptions, which I am very happy about.”

Two guest speakers will attend Tuesday’s Art Walk Committee meeting: Bob Nelson, a member of Arts Benicia’s board, and his wife Kathy.

The Nelsons had the opportunity to check out Art Walks in Sacramento and Davis in 2012, and they will present ideas that may be incorporated into Benicia’s event.

“They had so much to say about what we could do here in Benicia to enhance our visitors’ experience with our Art Walk,” Ryll said. “I asked them if they would be kind enough for the first meeting in 2013 to come and share some of their enthusiasm and some of their ideas.”

Ryll said for January’s Art Walk, she plans to make an effort to talk to each of the participating merchants “to see how they feel about the Art Walk.

“Our goal is to enhance the visitation of people from in town and out of town, to come into their stores and learn more about what the local merchants on First Street have to offer.”

Merchants’ participation is signaled by a banner flying outside their shops during the day of the Art Walk. Each shop displays an artist’s work during the Art Walk.

“We have so many artists that are interested in showing on First Street, especially during an Art Walk.

“It’s a partnership between the merchants and our local fine artists to make our Art Walk as much as it can possibly be,” she said.

One change for the new year is one of coordination: Benicia Main Street plans to schedule their Wine Walk events in February, June and September to occur on the same day as the Art Walk of those months.

“This enhances the experience for our visitors from out of town,” Ryll said. “We’ve seen that we’ve had the best amount of participation from outside visitors when the Wine Walk is going on at the same time. They seem to like that.

“Art and wine seem to be a natural partnership,” she added.

Themes are another likely addition. “In February, the events of the Wine Walk, I’m sure, will have a hearts-and-flowers, Valentine’s sort of theme,” Ryll said.

Another partnership that started a few months after the Art Walk was launched was the participation of the Benicia First Tuesday Poets Group. That group, said city Poet Laureate Lois Requist, will continue to participate in 2013.

“We’ve been heard by many more Benicians in these settings than we had before,” Requist said Thursday.

She pointed out, however, that winter weather is not optimal for reading outside. “In December, we read at Gallery 621 at 6 p.m. in a room there. Then we went across the street and read at Bookshop Benicia. This may continue to happen until the weather is more favorable,” Requist said.

Tuesday’s meeting is open to interested members of the public. “We would appreciate any suggestions or ideas to enhance the experience of the Art Walk for our local committee, and for our visitors,” Ryll said.

If You Go
The Art Walk Committee will meet Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Benicia Community Center, 370 East L St., Room 1.