Media release from the Pittsburg Arts Council
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Officers and members of the Pittsburg ArtWalk Association unanimously voted to rename the group Pittsburg Arts Council during its board meeting Saturday, March 4 in order to change the focus to promoting more artistic events, besides the ArtWalk, across the city.
After a large portion of the downtown area was named the Pittsburg Arts District in October 2022, members of the Pittsburg ArtWalk Association decided it was time to rebrand the organization in order to expand and generate more art-related events and activities.
“The ArtWalk Committee often hosts additional fine art forward events in Pittsburg, in addition to the ArtWalk,” Pittsburg Arts Council President Crista Cunningham said. “We just can’t help ourselves. Changing the name of the group broadens our focus and allows us to facilitate events all year and anywhere in the city.”
Cunningham said the group is working on future events such as an artists’ garage sale, and others, but the flagship event of the council remains the ArtWalk, which happens twice a year. Creating more events, however, brings new challenges, she added.
“It takes a village to create and coordinate events of this magnitude,” Cunningham said. “Our small group has brilliant ideas to showcase artists in our area, but those ideas often lay dormant because we can only do so much. We will definitely need to concentrate on recruiting new members.”
The Pittsburg ArtWalk event originally began in 2006 and was run by a group of individuals who wanted to highlight the work of artists in the Pittsburg area. In 2019, the committee became an official 501c3 non-profit organization titled, the Pittsburg ArtWalk Association. Since then, the Pittsburg ArtWalk Association hosted additional events including paint and sips, drink and draws, and the holiday art market, which were focused on encouraging creativity within the community.
For more information about the Pittsburg Arts Council, contact pittsburgartscouncil@gmail.com or 620-719-7077.
