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Eagle Art Walks celebrate first anniversary this Friday

Tara Novak, artist and founder of the Eagle 2nd Friday ARTWalks on Broadway, paints in her studio in Eagle. This Friday is the first ARTWalk since quarantine.
Sean Boggs | Special to the Daily

This Friday marks the Eagle Art Walk’s first anniversary. In the full calendar year, the second Friday Art Walks have gone from a small event with just a few people working together to make the event happen to a monthly celebration of the Eagle business owners on Broadway and the building arts community in Eagle.

“What we’re trying to do is to get people to think about shopping here. Not ordering something on Amazon or up to Walmart and down to Glenwood,” Tara Novak, owner of Artspace and founder of the Art Walk event. “We have so much cute stuff here. My mission overall is to bring cool stuff downtown and make it interesting and fun.”

November’s Art Walk is this Friday, Nov. 8, from 5-9 p.m. and guests are invited to stroll down Broadway and take advantage of specials at participating business, as well as view art at Artspace and peruse the Vail Valley Art Guild’s second Friday exhibition.



When Tara Novak, the owner of Artspace on Broadway, first started organizing the Art Walks, she envisioned creating an event that would bring the community together over creative endeavours and supporting the local economy. But it proved to be a challenge. She and Kat Conner, who owns Katch of the Day, started knocking on their neighbor’s doors and asked them if they wanted to participate.

“’Do you want to have a special? Do you want to be open?’” they’d ask. “’Can you be open on Friday night?’ That’s a big step.”

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Novak was joking, but it was hard for some of the businesses to participate initially because they had a small staff that couldn’t necessarily maintain those hours. Plus, the owners were worried that it would be empty.

The first Art Walk last November was a huge success and saw more guest turnout than Novak was expecting. And Art Walks just kept growing from there. As a Fourth of July celebration, the whole street was blocked off and kids could pet goats, draw in chalk on the streets while restaurants had specials and shops opened their doors.

The only month Novak said she saw a lower turnout was March 2019, and that was because there was a huge snowstorm that night.

“But people did show up in their coats and their hats and we drank wine and had music and it was good,” Novak said.

Perhaps one of the most important parts about building an arts community through events like Art Walk is the booster effect it can have on the local economy.

“It’s been proven, through other communities, that bringing arts to a community like this brings a better economy in general,” Novak said, referencing Breckenridge, Salida and Carbondale’s arts districts.

In the future, Novak hopes that Eagle can do the same and recognize that stretch of Broadway as an arts district. She knows it will likely take five or so years because of legal and zoning provisions, but making an official community of artists is something she’s passionate about.

In this month’s ArtWalk, participating businesses include Alpaca, LLC Yarn Shop, Artspace, Bonfire Brewing, Vail Valley Art Guild, Quiet Kat, Vail Valley Real Estate, Owashi Sushi & Kitchen, Katch of the Day wine bar, The Shop skate shop, Brush Creek Saloon, Brush Creek Ortho-Bionomy, Chics Couture, Everyday Outfitters, Yeti’s Grind, Fusion Hair Studio, Petals of Provence and Jules Jewelry & Collectables. The Yarn Shop will have the alpacas used to make the yarn on-site, and Conner, owner of Katch of the Day, will be bringing her goats to the party as well.

For a full list of specials offered by the businesses, find the “2ND Friday ARTwalk November 8th event on Facebook and view the event’s description. Additionally, you can contact Artspace and Novak at 970-376-4772 or visit artspaceworkshop.com.

If you go …

What: First Anniversary Art Walk

When: Friday, Nov. 8, 5-9 p.m.

Where: Broadway, Eagle

Cost: Free to attend, with specials at participating establishments

More information: Find the “2ND Friday ARTwalk November 8th” event on Facebook, or contact Artspace and Novak at 970-376-4772.


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