Dog Days of Summer - August 9th, 2007

Enjoy ArtWalk Thursday, August 9th from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. Bring your four-footed friends downtown for a howling good time! ArtWalk is sponsored this month by Lads and Lassies.

Join the dog parade that begins at 6:00 p.m. in front of the Wooten at Third and Cypress Streets. Line up by 5:45 to parade up Cypress to Everman Park. Prizes will be awarded for Best Costume, Best Personality, Most Clever and Most Unusual. Judges this year are Wendy Logan of Lads and Lassies and Paul Washburn of Rescue the Animals. Prizes have been donated by Jackson Brothers Feed and Seed, Big Country Farm and Home, and PetSmart.

Want to see Washington, D.C. from a dog's point of view? Follow Splash and his Senator through one whirlwind day on Capitol Hill at the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature. Visit the many places in Caldecott winner David Small's world. HOT DOG! Kids can create their own dogs in the art studio.

Make a My Poodle to celebrate "Dog Days of Summer" in Make It and Take It - a free, hands-on art activity for kids of all ages available from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at The Grace Museum.

Look for Patty Rae Wellborn in front of the Center for Contemporary Arts providing puppy portraits for just $10.

The Historic Paramount Theatre presents The Queen at 7:30 p.m. This critically acclaimed film tells the story of the death of Princess Diana and the subsequent conflict between Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the British people. $6 for adults, $5 for students, senior, military and children. Rated PG-13.

Ruth Jackson invites you to her opening for Children of India, an exhibition of paintings based on her visit there. She will be upstairs at the Center for Contemporary Arts, joined by Mehndi artist Amanda Pettit providing henna body art.

The Abilene Public Library will display the winners of their July Anime/Manga art contest.

Galleries and Museums

The Center for Contemporary Arts, 220 Cypress St.
Jane Adams Breed Gallery: Two for the Show - Signature Artist Members Marian DeBerry and Becky Tubbs feature a collection of paintings. Both artists enjoy experimenting with new versions of traditional realism.

Gallery 2: Portraits by Abe Aronow. In an ongoing project, Aronow captures the spirit of fellow photographers, curators and others who have influenced the medium. See the faces of photographers whose work you know and love including Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz and many others.

Gallery 3: Focus on Our World - West Texas Photographic Society. The WTPS meets at the Center and welcomes area photographers from the beginning hobbyist to the experienced professional. See landscapes, portraits, and travel photography.

Gallery 4: Dirty Draw-ers - Annual Exhibit - The Dirty Draw-ers have been meeting, drawing, and carrying on for over twenty years. The exhibit is a compilation of work the artists have produced over the last year.

Cockerell Galleries and Studios, 1133 N. 2nd St.
The 2nd St. Gallery proudly presents, Kaleidoscope: a Colorful Palette of Ever-changing Imagery, by artist T. M. Gand. The public is invited to the reception for the opening of her show, held during ArtWalk. At the galleries and studios enjoy featured artist Jennette Rasch as well as pieces by artists Ash Almonte, Nancy Capra, Hannah Capra, T. M. Gand, Doug Hodel, Samantha Manski, and Jessica Natalee Templeton. You are also invited to come and enjoy a visit with Certified Hypnotherapist, C. Kahl.

Frontier Texas!, 625 N. 1st St. - Open until 6 pm.
Meet people who played out their lives on the Texas frontier. Cutting-edge technology puts visitors in the middle of attacks by Indians and wolves, stampeding buffalo and more!

The Grace Museum, 102 Cypress St.
Main Gallery: David Bates: Paintings from Texas Collections. This is an exhibition of twenty major works drawn from little-seen private collections, recent gallery works, and museum collections, including Great Horned Owl II.

Second Floor: Gallery A - Randy Bacon: A Sense of Place. Native Abilenian Randy Bacon's oil paintings take us to familiar places and, in the process, remind us what it felt like to be there. Bacon's carefully staged scenes combine time-warped evidence of past prosperity with a keen sense of the present.

Second Floor: Gallery B and C - Al Souza: Addenda. Enjoy the work of Houston artist Al Souza, known for his memorable jigsaw-puzzle works in which he removes individual images from dozens, or even hundreds of mass-produced puzzles and rearranges them to create an unexpected tapestry of juxtaposed shapes, colors, and images.

Second Floor: Children's Museum - Come play and learn in The Grace's newly renovated Children's Museum which features many new exhibits that are certain to educate and entertain!

Third Floor: History Museum - Mallouf Boot Shop / Period Rooms

NCCIL (National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature), 102 Cedar St. Visit A David Small World where you can be an inventor, an explorer or even President!

12th Armored Division Memorial Museum, 1289 N. 2nd St.
Enjoy free admission and small gifts for children donated by Vanessa Harris.

Restaurants, Coffee Shops and Cocktails

The Beehive, 442 Cedar St. Enjoy live music, free hors d'oeuvres and a happy hour drink special from 5 to 7 p.m.

The Civic Plaza Hotel, 505 Pine St. The lobby and restaurant will be open from 5 - 9 pm.

Cypress Street Station, 158 Cypress St. Margaret Hodgson will exhibit her work all month.

McKay's Bakery, 226 Cypress St. Grab a bite to eat, and try a wide variety of treats.

Monks Coffee Shop, 233 Cypress St. Step inside Monks for signature summer drinks and enjoy art by local artist Todd Clower. Live music begins at 7 pm. Open Thurs.-Sat. until midnight.

The Warehouse in the T&P, N. 1st & Pine St. Continue the fun into the night with live music & drink specials. Open 5 - 7 pm for Happy Hour. Open until midnight. 21 & up.

Specialty Shops

Cassandra's and Company, 173 Pine, St. Stop in to see a great selection of the exclusive and extraordinary including Vera Bradley. Open until 7 pm during ArtWalk.

The Leaf, 202 Cypress St. The Leaf features an espresso bar with hot and iced espresso beverages, including Italian sodas, iced tea, and sodas; tobacco, cigars, and pipes, teas and gifts.

The Honeycomb Tree, 1166 N. 2nd St. Shop until 8 p.m. You'll find the best prices on fashion jewelry, hand-crafted belt buckles, scented soaps, candles and lotions along with unique gifts, antiques, collectibles, shabby chic and country furniture.

Texas Star Trading Company, 174 Cypress St. Music and poetry will be featured from 6-7:30 on the sidewalk. Local poet and vet Jim Wilson will read from his selections of poetry, and Abilene songwriter Greg Young will sing selections from his CDs.

Park and Street Vendors

Dream On! will offer free dream interpretations in front of Busch Jewelers.

In Minter Park: Visit with Rescue the Animals, Kerry Hardwick with Mary Kay Cosmetics and jewelry by Mary Tan with Foreign Enemy Jewelry Design.

In Everman Park: Wendy Logan with Lads and Lassies. will have free water, bones, coupons and face painting plus information about pet photography and bows, hats and other pet accessories. Look for PETS: Pet Enhanced Therapy Services at Hendrick Center for Rehabilitation. Make a bandana for your favorite pet with Donna and Pat. Donna Mullins with Pet Hotline will have pet-related items and information near the fountain. PetSmart will have free dog toys!

Also in Everman Park, Bonni and Robyn Littleton will showcase framed photography and metal sculptures.

Funding and Support

ArtWalk, a major program of the Center for Contemporary Arts, is generously supported by grants from: the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council: the City of Abilene, Taylor County, and the Downtown Revitalization Program of the Tax Increment Finance District, the Abilene Reporter-News, Dodge Jones Foundation, GAP Radio and the Campbell Foundation.
ArtWalk is also funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

For more information on ArtWalk, contact The Center for Contemporary Arts at 677-8389.

Our ArtWalk Sponsor for August is Lads and Lassies.