Hop to it

Art Hop, organized by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, is a monthly, art-driven event on the first Friday of each month. Friday, the Arts Council of Greater Lansing took a contingent of Greater Lansing arts stakeholders — gallery managers, artists, journalists and arts supporters — on a trip to Kalamazoo to experience the event firsthand and discuss what a Lansing-based version of this event would look like.

The experience was perhaps a bit skewed, since the group experienced Art Hop at its apex. The June installment of Art Hop is one of the largest of the year, coinciding with both the beginning of summer and the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts’ annual Arts Fair. The art vendors even spilled out into the Kalamazoo mall, which was closed off for the event.

“It was a very different experience than when I went in November,” said Deborah Mikula, executive director of the Arts Council of Greater Lansing. “It felt very fair-like. The stores weren’t as prominent.”

Part of Art Hop’s continuing success is its partnership with local businesses. More than just a gallery walk, Art Hop transforms retail spaces and restaurants into temporary gallery spaces. Friday’s Art Hop featured art in 55 locations around Kalamazoo, including art galleries, coffee shops, businesses, retail shops and restaurants.

The event is driven by a fee-based system. Participating businesses or organizations pay $40 each month they would like to be involved. This money goes into promotion and marketing for the event — the participants are listed in the Art Hop brochure/map and receive a sign or banner to place outside, letting visitors know they are an official Art Hop stop. While the fees don’t cover all of the costs of Art Hop, it creates a sense of collaboration between the participants.

“We do it 12 months a year,” said Julie McElroy, gallery manager at Amy Zane: Store & Studio in downtown Kalamazoo. “It’s one of the best nights of the month for us, I think the other businesses would say the same.”

Art Hop began 20 years ago with only a few participating locations, but it has built itself up into one of the city´s premier cultural events.

“It’s a fun place to see people,” said Kalamazoo resident Beth Keller. “Everyone comes out. Even when it’s cold, people come out.”

Even with the success of Art Hop as a model, Mikula wants to tailor the event to the Greater Lansing community.

“We’re not going to be exactly like Kalamazoo,” she said.

Next steps for a Lansing-based event are identifying a location, finding retail partners, and securing funding. Mikula is content to start small and grow the event.

“We’re not talking about doing this overnight,” she said.

The council is looking at Spring 2016 as a likely time to launch the event. This time frame gives the council and the major players plenty of time to work out logistics, marketing and funding for the event.

“Where we start is going to be critical,” Mikula said. “Where can we go to have the impact we want?” The council has tentatively identified Old Town and East Lansing as communities that would be a good fit for an evening arts event. Both communities feature a mix of gallery spaces, retail spaces and restaurants in small areas.

Communities like downtown Lansing, however, offer a more challenging setup, with only a few galleries and retail spaces.

Barb Whitney, executive director of downtown’s Lansing Art Gallery, is concerned about geographically isolated galleries being left out.

“In many communities, the concept of an art crawl or art hop presents an opportunity for traveling on foot within walking distance,” she said. “Perhaps involving a transportation authority to travel to and from participating arts venues throughout the evening, similar to Be a Tourist In Your Own Town, could offer greater accessibility for potential attendees of an arts-specific event.”

Whitney is excited about the potential energy of an arts-driven event, but she wants to make sure that it is done well and that it is built in an inclusive way. One barrier to participation, she said, is cost.

For galleries, staying open for an evening event could require a reallocation of resources. In addition to the participation fee, the galleries would have to account for staffing, preparation and other costs associated with an evening event.

“I have to carefully weigh our resources,” said Whitney.

Mikula believes that the event would be a fruitful collaboration, but that each gallery and business will have to decide for itself whether it will be involved.

“They have choices,” Mikula said. “We can’t make them participate, but we can give them some incentive.”

While she is glad to have Art Hop as a model, Whitney stresses that a Lansing event should reflect the local community.

“It’s important to consider all the participating groups and what makes sense for this community,” said Whitney. “I believe in the importance of learning best practices but also feel very strongly that a Lansing area event should be tailored to our community´s interests, needs, history and future.”