University of Texas Permian Basin's associate professor of art and Pots-N-Prints' Mario Kiran screen prints yellow ink on a t-shirt during the downtown art tour Friday at the lot behind Lassa Optical.
Odessans were given a grand tour of downtown Odessa in an evening of art and entertainment, all on foot.
On Friday evening, the inaugural Downtown Art Tour took place. The event was a partnership between Downtown Odessa and Odessa Arts.
It was a seven-stop walking tour of downtown, which started at the Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
“This is a way to get people out and come to downtown, show them that there are so many fun things to do in Odessa,” Downtown Odessa Executive Director Casey Hallmark said. “So this is a great partnership to get people to come down here and walk downtown.”
At each stop, participants experienced a different artistic demonstration ranging from music to live theater to screen painting.
Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center’s food and beverage director Alysa Batson explains how to make a watermelon martini cocktail during the Downtown Art Tour Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
A watermelon martini cocktail made for participants in the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
“We had a whole bunch of different mediums of art,” Hallmark said. “Anything from live music to glass blowing and t-shirt printing … it’s just a full range of cultural experience.”
In addition to the artist demonstrations, participants received a commemorative t-shirt, two beverages, a mini funnel cake from cliff’s Food Wagon and a bag full of goodies.
Hallmark recently became executive director of Downtown Odessa back in January.
She said the idea to put on this event came about when she met up with Odessa Arts Executive Director Randy Ham.
“We’ve heard people talk about how there’s nothing to do,” Hallmark said. “This is a great date night or get your girlfriends together event. It’s a great way to come out and come outside and be involved.”
The event sold out with all 100 total tickets being purchased.
“I’m really excited about this because not only does it showcase our artists but it showcases the redevelopment of downtown Odessa and it demonstrates the walkability,” Ham said. “We’re not a walking town and this is a great way to entice people to come to the hotel and walk a block, do something, walk another block, do something else and all of a sudden, you’ve walked a mile without even knowing it.”
Ham was one of the tour guides for the event.
The 100 people were split up into five different tour groups of 20. Each group went to a different station every 20 minutes.
Friday’s event saw clear skies but plenty of wind.
Downtown Odessa’s Audrie Lujan, center, leads a tour to Pots-n-Prints t-shirt screen printing and Tasty Bone’s Rolling Kitchen at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Odessa City Manager Michael Marrero was also one of the guides for the event.
“We’re really excited to have this event,” Marrero said. “Wished the wind was a little bit more calm but we worked through it. This gives us a chance to highlight not only what we’ve done in Odessa but really talk about the many projects that have been completed but also give us the opportunity to talk about downtown Odessa and it gives us the ability to demonstrate how walk-able downtown Odessa is. We don’t think about downtown Odessa as being a destination point. So what we’re trying to do is change that dynamic and give people exposure of what they see when they come to downtown Odessa and give them an idea of what to expect with our revitalize project.”
One of the stops included a glass blowing demonstration led by Director of Fine Arts at Midland Trinity School Paige Gates which took place at Copper Key Realty over on Grant.
“I love blowing glass,” Gates said. “The whole point was we’re trying to bring it to the community so that’s why I brought the mobile unit so different people can see what blowing glass is like and hear and smell it, that’s what I wanted to do.”
Trinity School of Midland’s Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates heats glass during a demonstration at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Gates, who was working with Trinity School Art Teacher Amanda Repnak, showed people how to make cups and paperweights and flowers.
“I think it’s really neat that they’re putting this on and including so many different arts and all within walking distance for everyone to experience so much,” Gates said. “I think it’s really neat to be a part of it.”
People who came out to downtown Odessa were not disappointed by the tour.
“We’re really excited for all the things that have been happening in downtown Odessa,” Crystale Castillo said. “To have these events that we can come to locally and we’re just so happy to be a part of it.”
Crystale was with her husband Cruz Castillo.
Cruz Castillo is no stranger to downtown Odessa, working at JSA Architects over by the Marriott.
“I really enjoyed it,” Cruz Castillo said of the tour. “We know that there’s art happening everywhere especially here in downtown Odessa so to see the art in progress, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Fabian Lira and his wife Abril Lira were another couple that enjoyed the experience Friday and were surprised by what downtown Odessa has to offer.
“We’ve lived our whole lives here in Odessa but we’ve never explored downtown Odessa,” Fabian Lira said. “It’s really pretty and we just wanted to check out what Odessa really is.”
His wife agreed.
“I just really like how unique everything is,” Abril Lira said. “You just have to come to downtown Odessa and see for yourself. People think that Odessa is so ugly and that it has nothing but you have to put yourself out there to see what it has.”
Participants in the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts receive a free t-shirt and a gift bag Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
Participants in the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts receive a a list Hot Summer Nights events Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
A watermelon martini cocktail made for participants in the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center’s food and beverage director Alysa Batson explains how to make a watermelon martini cocktail during the Downtown Art Tour Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center’s food and beverage director Alysa Batson explains how to make a watermelon martini cocktail during the Downtown Art Tour Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
A watermelon martini cocktail made for participants in the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
Downtown Odessa’s Audrie Lujan, center, leads a tour to a performance by Odessa College Theatre at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday in near First Methodist Church.
Downtown Odessa’s Audrie Lujan, center, leads a tour to Pots-n-Prints t-shirt screen printing and Tasty Bone’s Rolling Kitchen at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Participants at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts get a free snack by Tasty Bone’s Rolling Kitchen and a free t-shirt screen printed by UTPB’s mobile studio Pots-n-Prints Friday at the lot behind Lassa Optical.
University of Texas Permian Basin’s associate professor of art and Pots-N-Prints Mario Kiran dries a logo lay out for t-shirts on a plate during the downtown art tour Friday at the lot behind Lassa Optical.
University of Texas Permian Basin’s associate professor of art and Pots-N-Prints’ Mario Kiran screen prints yellow ink on a t-shirt during the downtown art tour Friday at the lot behind Lassa Optical.
Trinity School of Midland’s Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates shapes glass during a demonstration at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Trinity School of Midland’s Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates shapes glass during the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Trinity School of Midland’s Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates shapes glass using her hand a newspapers during the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Trinity School of Midland’s Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates cuts molten glass after adding it to a larger piece during the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Trinity School of Midland’s Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates heats glass during a demonstration at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Trinity School of Midland’s Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates, left, and art teacher Amanda Repnak make a glass art piece during a demonstration at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Trinity School of Midland’s Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates heats glass during a demonstration at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Trinity School of Midland’s art teacher Amanda Repnak and Director of Fine Arts Paige Gates show a glass blowing demonstration at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Copper Key Realty garage.
Downtown Odessa’s Audrie Lujan, center left, leads a tour to a performance by Odessa College Theatre at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday in near First Methodist Church.
Odessa College Theatre performs a street performance at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday in front of First United Methodist Church
Abril Lira contributes to a community poem during the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts Friday at Noel Heritage Plaza.
Participants at the Downtown Art Tour sponsored by Downtown Odessa, Inc. and Odessa Arts enter Revival Float Spa Friday on Sam Houston Avenue.
Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center’s food and beverage director Alysa Batson explains how to make a watermelon martini cocktail during the Downtown Art Tour Friday at Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
