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TGIFF
Thank God it’s First Friday
By Kelly L. Watson
I’ll skip the pretenses. If you’re reading this ’zine, you probably already know about First Friday – the time when tourists and locals flood downtown Lancaster for good art and free wine. This month, Creative House of Lancaster member Jenn McMorris and I hit the streets so we could dish out the details.
With voice recorder in hand, I took the chance to speak with a stranger I often see downtown. We found him outside Prince Street Café, dabbing color onto a large white canvas. Michael Provard, it turns out, has been painting this way for 30 years. He averages one painting a day, which he then tries to sell before the day’s end. Usually, he’s successful.
“I’m here from about 9 in the morning to 11 o’clock at night,” Provard said. “If I don’t sell the painting here, I go to Annie Bailey’s. Then I have some Coronas and I sell it there.”
When asked what inspires him, he responded without hesitation.
“Madness, lately ... The way I paint, and what I’m doing right now.”
While Provard’s lifestyle might seem strange, he was a popular attraction during First Friday. Nearby, Julia Swartz’s gallery also received a steady crowd. Sitting one story above Prince Street Café, it’s the perfect detour for people needing a coffee fix.
Since opening the gallery in March, Swartz has become enamored by her surroundings. She’s even started painting a city series, highlighting familiar spots like the Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum and the Prince Street Parking Garage.
“I really enjoy doing them,” Swartz said. “I feel at home here. At first it took getting used to, but I feel like a city person now.”
Outside, Jenn and I ran into Mayor Rick Gray. Despite being surrounded by a New York film crew, he was eager to speak with us about the arts. He and his wife, Gail, have lived on Prince Street’s Gallery Row for the past 35 years.
“I don’t miss a First Friday,” Gray said. “I see a lot of people interested in the arts. ... Even better, we see a lot of people from out of town: a lot of people from Baltimore, Philadelphia, York, Reading [and] Harrisburg. More and more, we see people from outside the immediate area coming in for First Friday.”
Gray pulled a pamphlet out of his pocket and showed us Lancaster’s strategic plan. Arts and entertainment, he stressed, was first on the list of focus areas. (Only after I found the strategic plan online did I realize the list was in alphabetical order. But I can’t blame the guy for trying.)
The film crew announced their plans to start shooting, so Jenn and I headed to Gallery 141 – a whimsical place tucked behind the gas station on the corner of Prince and West Orange streets. Despite the heat, a large crowd lingered over paintings by gallery owner Alana Maubury Hunter and her father, Allan Hunter. Jewelry, handcrafts and other small artworks rested on tables nearby.
The gallery, Maubury Hunter explained, is a unique collective of artists who participate on different levels. Some show their works in exchange for a percentage of the sales. Others pay rent for gallery space.
Maubury Hunter called herself an old timer of the Lancaster arts community. “We’ve been doing First Fridays for six years,” she said, “and we’ve seen it go from hardly anyone to lots and lots of people. ... It’s really exciting to finally see the town come into its own. All the energies you’re seeing now were happening all along.”
The first artists who moved into Lancaster triggered a snowball effect. Soon, other artists found the confidence to start their own businesses. Many, Maubury Hunter said, got their start at Gallery 141.
“A lot of people, in terms of opening new businesses, were waiting to see what was going to happen with downtown and the convention center. I think a lot of people were cautious to even rent space. ... It’s been really neat seeing it expand and change and grow.”
Customers started crowding around Maubury Hunter, so Jenn and I continued down Gallery Row. We had started the evening intending to travel off the beaten path. Though Prince Street seemed to be the center of First Friday festivities, we knew other spots deserved a closer look. But by the time we walked from Prince Street Café to the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, it was nearing 10 p.m.
Along the way, we hit Red Raven Art Company and Metropolis. We missed CHL members Edwin Huddle, who has a photography studio on Chestnut Street, and Andy Musser, whose show at the Keppel Building was canceled due to a lack of air conditioning.
But September’s First Friday will be here before we know it. And with it will come another chance to hit the streets, enjoy the art and – of course – sample the free wine.