The city of Bowling Green is a college town that also has a large appreciation for the arts and creativity. This weekend, an event produced by the BG Arts Council and Downtown Bowling Green proved just that.

The 23rd annual Art Walk was held in downtown Bowling Green on April 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event involved restaurants, stores and galleries holding events and showcasing artists.

Barbara Ruland, chief coordinator for the Art Walk and executive director of Downtown Bowling Green’s Special Improvement District, said that the event had a specific focus.

“The goal of the event is to support downtown businesses and property owners, so we host artists and pair them up with businesses,” Ruland said. “I helped, but the Art Council is the main point for this event.”

Sandy Wicks, arts and craft manager for the Farmer’s Market for Downtown Bowling Green, has been around since the very first Art Walk and has been involved ever since.

“When we first began the event, we wanted to focus on local artists, in the community and the middle and high schools,” Wicks said. “So we developed a community arts event that would get people to come out and for us to partner businesses and artists.”

The event included restaurants like Qdoba, Kabob-It and Vito’s Pizza and Subs showcasing jewelry artists, photographers and painters. Other restaurants and businesses hosting artists included Sam B’s, The Lofts, Farm Girls Vintage Boutique and many more. Ruland was also the spearhead of the Fashion, Food and Fine Art Luncheon that morning at Sam B’s.

“I got the idea from me being younger and going to lunch with my grandmother and seeing models from local stores at lunch,” Ruland said. “So we decided to do the same thing. The proceeds went to the Flower Fund, which helps fill our mission of maintenance and beauty. We plant 700 individual plants all in the Special Improvement district of BG, which costs $13,000 a year.”

Tom Roller and his wife, Alyce Roller, showcased Tom’s work in Ginny’s Inspired Fashions.

“I’ve been a friend of Ginny’s [store owner] for a long time, and about three years ago she asked me to showcase my work,” Roller said.

Roller began doing art in 2007 as a way to keep himself busy and to offset medical bills not covered by insurance.

“You gotta keep busy when you’re 77 and old like me,” he said. “I had a lot of medical bills and they were expensive, so I decided to make and sell art since I was always interested.”

Roller works with and pounds out 16-gage steel, which he makes into creations like cattails, owls and roses, among other things. He appreciated the art walk in its efforts to showcase local artists.

“I love what the Arts Council is doing,” he said.

Connie Miller, manager of The Busy Thimble, held a quilt exhibit in the shop on behalf of the Black Swamp Quilters.

“I was asked about two years ago to put on a quilt show and the Black Swamp Quilters agreed,” Miller said. “The Art Walk is an excellent venue to promote quilting as an art form, because art can be expressed in so many different ways and the Art Walk shows that.”

Compared to previous years, Miller says that this is one of the best Art Walk events.

“They did an excellent job with promotion this year, making sure people knew which stores and galleries to go into and having lots of radio, TV and newspaper advertisement,” Miller said.

Victoria Johnson, senior, said that the BG Arts Council does a great job of bringing the community together.

“I’m a townie and a student so I’ve seen it all,” Johnson said. “The Art Walk is a great way to support and celebrate artists and the community. The amount of participation from students is good because campus tends to be a bubble, like there’s townies and students, so it’s a great way to get students integrated and see a collaborative environment.”

Senior Anna Hughes, intern for Downtown Bowling Green, said the Art Walk was a great event to work on.

“I’m a TLEP [Tourism, Leisure and Event Planning] major, so I organized food donations for the after party and called out to venues to host artists. Being a part of such a wonderful event has been rewarding. I love that the art walk brings the community together and showcases art from locals,” she said. ‘It really gives students a look at what BG has to offer other than the university.

Grounds for Thought wrapped up the event with an after party from 6 to 8 p.m. that gave out art prize wards, served food, had raffles and let guests mingle with artists.