Downtown festival is right up their alley
Before she was an artist, Shannon Dillman was a certified skydiving coach.
Some people like to dive into change.
On Saturday, she was one of many artists at Alley Islands, a Discovery District festival which celebrated local art, music and food. Holding the event in the alleys beside and behind the Blockfort Building at 162 N. 6th St. from noon to midnight was meant to make people rethink how they use alleys.
“We have all these little nooks and crannies and alleyways and the sides of dirty old buildings that don’t look like anything,” Adam Brouillette said. “Cool things can happen anywhere if you stop thinking of streets as just a place for cars.”
Brouillette co-owns the gallery and studio space Blockfort with his wife, Meghan. They organized Alley Islands in a way that would look like the first few iterations of the now-defunct Independents’ Day Festival. That event started in 2007 as a small celebration and grew to be a two-day function focused on art, music and food. But it ended in 2017 because of sustainability Vendors sell their wares in the alleys next to and behind the Blockfort building on North 6th Street during Alley Islands. The arts festival in the Discovery District on Saturday featured artists and musicians.
problems.
Dillman, who graduated with a degree in English from Ohio State University and for a time worked in the university’s transportation department, liked painting her shoes. Her helmet camera caught her shoes when she stuck them out under the canopy of the plane before she jumped, and the footage posted to her Instagram page caught the attention of other divers who asked her to paint their shoes, too.
That art eventually
evolved into Uncommonly Associated, her art business that sells hand-painted vintage clothing and accessories.
“It’s a learning process every show,” Dillman said. “I’m still learning and still growing up.”
Olde Towne East resident Katerina Harris had no expectations when she decided to visit Alley Islands, but was glad she did.
“Places like this give new artists the ability to have new customers without being overwhelmed,” she said.
Harris also works as a visual artist and in youth arts at Transit Arts.
Before Alley Islands, two similar — although smaller — events called Play Island and Zen Island piloted the new concept.
With funding from Blockfort, private sponsors, Transit Columbus, the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Discovery District, Alley Islands came about as a sort of beta test — depending on this function’s results, organizers might hold the event again.
A door fee of $5 from festival-goers went toward paying the musicians and artists who painted murals on the Blockfort building. Vendors paid a flat rate of $50 for a spot.
“The crowd is really welcoming,” Dillman said, noting the kindness of customers and fellow artists alike.
Megan Green of Craftin’ Outlaws and Stinkybomb Soap reached out to vendors at Adam Brouillette’s request. They’ve been friends for years and it’s meaningful for her to support local artists, she said.
“Our mission is community-driven,” she said, noting there was a “celebration of all the different levels of camaraderie.”
Chris Hodges works full-time at an insurance company, but he booked all the music for the day. He felt it was neat to see art literally work its way into the community, and the sheer variety of art was fascinating to see, too.
“Anything I can do to have a more interesting corner of the city available,” he said about his involvement.