Festivals are starting to return after a year in the pandemic. It includes the Art Walk, which is known as Wichita Falls’ premier event. I’ve gone to a few already this year, but this was the first one I went with precisely to capture photographs of the Art Walk.
The Art Walk is always packed and on a calm and relaxed day in June. It’s the best formula for people and fun. In the above photograph, an artist paints an authentic and drivable car with spray paint. You would do a double-take because usually, you don’t see someone spray-painting a vehicle. However, there was another artist spray-painting a truck right next to the car. In the background was loud music by these guys in the following photograph.
They were singing modern songs, and his partner would do a rap between sets. He also was burning wood carvings with pictures of famous people. This street was part of a high trafficked area for the Art Walk, and I saw a lot of the action on 8th street. Just go down the block, and you’ll find more artists set up.
In the above photograph, you can see a booth with plenty of art to admire and purchase. The art quality has sure gone up at each Art Walk, and it’s nice to see more and more artists taking advantage of this unique event downtown.
Down the street in the Farmers Market where vendors set up selling both art and homemade goods. The easiest way to find it is by locating the large Kona Ice truck that’s typically parked right outside of it. Just go inside and check it out. The Farmers Market is also open up on Saturdays throughout most of the year.
Heading west and back to the rest of the Art Walk, I spotted people who lived in the apartments above Maniac’s Mansion near where the artist was spray-painting the car, just enjoying the sights. You can learn more about the video game mansion in one of my past blog posts.
It was nice to see the community out. I’ve seen downtown empty, so it was a pleasure to see so much activity, and as a street photographer, it made it a joy to capture so much fun in the crowd.
Some of the places didn’t even feel like Wichita Falls when I started to edit the photos. One of my favorites is of all these people hanging out outside of Gypsy Kit. This restaurant is at the center of 8th street. People were going in and out of the local food and bar-restaurant the whole time. As far as recommendations, if you’re in the area. Make sure you stop by and try their Kimche Burgers. They have a great menu, but that’s my go-to meal for lunch! It made for a huge town, downtown feel. I wonder how it would look if the street were closed to cars. I had to time everything since there were always cars passing through this street.
A few blocks over, Zavala had a whole block closed for their mini-festival in the Art Walk. Each Art Walk features a different country from Latin or Central America. This time it was a fusion of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Colors everywhere and a photographer’s dream environment. Old buildings with dancers and art and vendors surrounding the block.
Zavala dance groups were taking over the middle, and classic cars were on the side. If you didn’t have a chance to catch the dancers, Cabezudos were mingling around like in the photo below. They are known as giant-headed costumes and were probably one of my favorite parts of the evening. They play a considerable part in Latin American countries, mostly seen at festivals like the Art Walk. So seeing them in the Wichita Falls area gave a splash of culture for the town. Everyone was lining up to take a picture with them. I’m anxious to see what will be at the next Art Walk in July.
A J Lopez III 