Every month, the City of Rexburg teams up with the Romance Theater to bring art to life with the Art Stroll.
“Usually once a month during the summer months or quarterly during the winter months, we host an evening of art,” said Tyla Mahelona, the Cultural Arts Department’s resident visual artist. “We call out for artists, allowing anybody in the community to respond or submit art under a certain theme and then we provide them a space and an event opportunity to showcase their work.”
Mahelona has been working with the city for three years now and she says the Art Stroll is one of her favorite events.
“I absolutely love curating moments, so for me to be able to put something together that tells a story, not just about the art but about our community and about the artists behind the scenes connecting with people and creating something that builds bridges of connection, that is just an incredibly meaningful part of my work,” Mahelona said.
The Art Stroll is a community event that strengthens connections by showing a different, more artistic side to familiar faces people see around town.
“One of my favorite artists we featured was a farmer and his name is Al Siddoway,” Mahelona said. “He just takes these amazing photographs while he’s driving his tractor. His show was just a lot of people for the first time saying, ‘We just hadn’t seen this side of him before.’”
The Art Stroll has a different theme each month, like “Women’s Art Stroll Night,” “Whimsical Art Night” and many more.
Although the event is one night a month, the art is displayed in the Romance Theater for the entire month for community members to enjoy.
This month, the city’s theme centers around contemporary art, featuring two local artists: Danny Hawkins and Amy Clements.
Hawkins is a Rexburg local and a familiar face. He will showcase abstract artwork for the month catered toward the story of the community. Clements is from St. Anthony and tells her story through unique textiles along with a modern spin on older techniques.
This month’s Art Stroll is an event anyone in the family can enjoy.
“We have kid’s activities and family crafts giving an opportunity for people who stop by to have a hand in creating something themselves,” Mahelona said. “That’s a feature of the event that I also think is a really neat opportunity for the community, not just to see, but to experience art for themselves.”
The Art Stroll is on Friday night from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Romance Theater in Rexburg and is free for the community to enjoy.