This past Friday night we opened the doors of The 815 to welcome and serve the artist community here in downtown Lincoln.  This is not a way for us to promote 2 Pillars or to “get the word out” about who we are – it is simply a way to serve the local artists.  Since our rent is paid, we are able to offer zero-overhead gallery space to them meaning that they take full proceeds from all of their sales.

This was the first time that we have done this and it was a complete success.  We hosted the local group “Artists on the Edge” in the main level and two local photographers, Rob Liliedahl and Keri Hess, in the lower level.  We also hosted a local guitarist, Luke Sticka.  All totaled, we are estimating that over 400 artists and patrons visited The 815 Friday night.

Our desire, going forward, is to continue to host the Artists on the Edge group on a regular basis in the main level space and to rotate up-and-coming local artists that are trying to get their feet under them in the lower level.

There were a lot of people who came together to help pull this off – both from within 2 Pillars and many from outside of 2 Pillars.  I’d like to personally thank the folks from outside of 2 Pillars that helped to get the word out: Lincoln Journal Star, Star City Blog, Week Fifty Two, ToDoInThisTown.com, The Daily Nebraskan, and Channel 8 News.

If you’ve never heard of the First Friday Art Walks in Lincoln, you may find this post from my friend Thaddeus Fonck helpful: What is First Friday? You can also find a map of all of the participating galleries here.

Come check it out next month.  You can also take a little mini tour of the night by checking out our First Friday photo stream.