Every second Saturday of the month, right outside of the Pizitz Food Hall on 19th Street, you’ll find yourself among artists and art fans alike as the community comes together for the Birmingham Art Crawl.
Founders Miranda McPherson and Richard Burton started Art Crawl in 2014 to provide regular community art events that serve as a way to secure profitable and unique opportunities for artists and makers and create opportunities for the Birmingham community to support the arts in the city.
You can find a variety of different artists and makers selling their work at Art Walk from spell jars by Iron and Magic Art to fashion and art prints from Darcy Schmidt of Wicked Feline. It’s also a way for new students to get off campus soon after classes start or for returning students to expand their regular rotation of weekend activities.
One artist, Walter Moore, sells a variety of sketches, paintings and stickers of apes.
“They started because I am the ape. When I was out of town, I would draw cartoons on postcards for my wife of an ape doing different things,” Moore said.
Using recycled cardboard, Moore sketches cartoon apes in endless ways. The ape could be an astronaut, a pirate, doing mundane everyday things and even as Birmingham’s beloved Vulcan statue.
“I get so much joy out of drawing them, I thought, why not make a living out of it?” Moore said.
He’s spent many years participating at Birmingham Art Crawl and has no plans of stopping. You can see Moore’s art on his Instagram @waltermooreape and purchase a range of prints or paintings on his Etsy page WalterMooreArt.
Booths range in variety so you won’t only see artists selling prints of artwork or sketches. Artists display their different talents from jewelry, drawings, clothing, ceramics and so much more.
Twins Jesika and Jelisa are selling some of the diverse wares offered at Art Crawl. They started their soy wax candle company, Gerald’s Daughters, during the pandemic while they were at home. They made candles before then but being home gave them more time to develop the possibility of selling them.
“Soy wax candles are a lot cleaner since they aren’t a toxic burn,” Jessica said. “Jelisa, my sister, has issues with other candles because they have paraffin wax in them, which is very toxic, so this is a cleaner burned candle.”
This was their second Art Crawl, and they said what they love about being there is meeting new people and explaining to those who stop by their booth the benefits of soy wax candles. Their website, geraldsdaughters.com, includes a variety of scents and you can also find them on Instagram @geraldsdaughters.
The Birmingham Art Crawl serves as a way for artist connect with the community and display their talents. If you’re in the area, be sure to check out the stalls every second Saturday of the month by the Pizitz Food Hall from 11am-4pm, rain or shine. It’s a wonderful way to discover new artists, eat some great food and have a fantastic time.
The next Art Crawl will be August 14 and the first one after classes begin will be September 11. Stop by and grab new decorations for your dorm room or just admire the works available. Find all other future dates on the website.
