Water Valley Art Crawl Continues To Grow Along With The Town

This Saturday, Mississippian’s and out of town travelers will descend upon Water Valley for the 9th annual town “Art Crawl.” Each year the crawl is organized by different Water Valley residents, and this year the organizers are Jacki Clevenger and Linda Scott who have tirelessly to bring their unique spin to the annual event.
“Every year the crawl grows organically, and we try to bring new things to it,” Scott said. “Everyone who has been in charge of planning has done such a great job, and we are trying to carry that on.”
While some may hear art crawl and only expect to see paintings on the wall, the Water Valley Art Crawl is sure to expand the minds of those in attendance relation to what art can be. Over 60 different artists from different backgrounds will be showcased including musicians, classic artists, fashion designers, filmmakers, photographers, Guggenheim artists and many more. One of the most unique displays will be art created using vegetables and herbs in certain home’s gardens.
“We’ve tried to pull someone from every aspect of what art can be,” Scott said. “We want to stretch people’s ideas of who artists can be and who they are in our community.”
This year, the organizers are incorporating more historic homes in the town into the crawl, which has always been a big draw, but Clevenger noted the focus on home studio artists brings a new level of personalization and storytelling to the art crawl.

“Part of the charm is the history in the houses, and some people come just for that, but each venue helps to showcase art in their own way,” Clevenger said.
As mentioned, the type of art featured on Saturday will extend far beyond the traditional concept of art, so naturally, the culinary arts are included as well. Three food trucks will be on location including the YoknapaTaco Truck, Fergndan’s Pizza, and Civatel’s Italian Ice. After the Crawl concludes, the party continues at the Yalobusha Brewery for happy hour and a performance from “And The Echo.”
Clevenger and Scott praised the Main Street Committee for allowing them to be able to put on such a diverse and grand-scale event.
“Without the main street committee and the contributions from the committee this art crawl wouldn’t happen, so we’ve done everything we can to include all of our main street businesses,” Scott said.
A full list of locations for the crawl can be seen below. The crawl begins at 5:30 p.m. and ends a 9:30 p.m. Attendees can begin at the four locations notated with a star. 

Taking a drive through the Mississippi town, attendees will notice a rebirth of the downtown area and it’s events like the Art Crawl that bring a new vibe to Water Valley.

“We’re becoming a destination, not a drive-by,” Clevenger said. “When the bypass came, people didn’t come through, but events like this bring people back. We can see a rebirth of Main Street with new stores and restaurants; we want to bring everyone off of the highway and back to Water Valley.”
For more information on the Water Valley Art Crawl, click here. 

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Steven Gagliano is the managing editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at steven.gagliano@hottytoddy.com.