First Friday Art Walks are back for the summer

The First Friday Art Walks start again next week with the opening on June 7, taking place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The event, sponsored by the Niwot Cultural Arts Association and hosted by Osmosis Gallery, helps local businesses associated with the arts and many local artists display their work. It also corresponds with the last day that the artists in the Boulder County Plein Air Festival challenge can complete their work.

"It lets people know who we are, what we do and to attract customers, not only to our business but to Niwot in general," Fatima Chelghoum, manager of the Osmosis Gallery said. "And [it] gets people familiar with what Niwot has to offer, leading more people to explore the businesses in Niwot," she said.

At Osmosis Gallery, there will be free food and drinks, as well as live music. With every Art Walk, Osmosis highlights a different artist, and June's artist at Osmosis is Dianna Fritzler. Osmosis will also be unveiling Fritzler's gallery opening of bright paintings called, "It's a Colorful Life." Fritzler is based out of Grand Junction and is also an art instructor at the Art Students League of Denver. "It's a Colorful Life" will also be present at the July and August Art Walks.

"'It's a Colorful Life' encapsulates Dianna's perspective on the world-chaotic yet joyful, vibrant yet contemplative," according to Osmosis Gallery's description of her work. "Her paintings are created with an intricate patchwork of vibrant paints and bold mark-making. Through this dynamic process, Dianna invites the painting to lead her through a journey of shapes, textures, and colors. Each piece is a dance of creativity, challenging her senses and reflecting the unpredictable beauty of life itself."

Also during the First Friday Art Walk, there will be a community mosaic craft in the Niwot Emporium's courtyard. The event is hosted by Karin Antoni, and there will be ice cream provided at the event, courtesy of realtor Deborah Fowler.

Niwot-based Mogli Technologies will also be putting on their own event for the Art Walk. In the courtyard at Mogli Technologies, 104 2nd Avenue, Jessica Trusty has organized an experimental nature craft for those participating in the Art Walk.

Pebble Art Jewelry will also be open from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. during each Art Walk to display its jewelry-based art.

Lightwell Architecture, located in the space formerly occupied by the Wandering Jellyfish Bookstore, will feature the art of Suzanne Frazier, a Longmont artist who describes herself as a contemplative artist. On her website, she states, "To me, contemplative art is the product of creative expression rising from the pure joy of creating, grounded in a meditative connection to the radiance and perfection of spirit known only through one's experience of being fully human. During a contemplative experience one does not observe anything specific but rather a feeling emerges from the meditation. Likewise, I choose to create work that does not refer to any specific location or time. I choose instead to invite the viewer into my meditation of my collected emotional responses from residing since 1972 in Colorado."