Artista Vista, the Midlands’ most celebrated gallery crawl, returns Thursday, April 20, 2017. Vista galleries will open their doors from 5-9 p.m. Thursday, April 20 (for Art Night), and these special shows will also be available for viewing during regular gallery hours April 21 and 22, as part of this free, signature Vista gallery crawl.

In its 26th year, Artista Vista participating galleries will feature regionally and nationally renowned artists, as well as local artists from the Midlands. Attendees can chat with gallery owners and artists while taking in paintings, sculpture, pottery and jewelry. The Vista streets will also be filled with the sounds of musicians on the streets. Stay tuned as the Vista Guild announces its full Artista Vista schedule.

Vista Galleries

• Carol Saunders Gallery (922 Gervais Street)
• City Art (1224 Lincoln Street)
• Coal Powered Filmworks (1217 Lincoln Street)
• Ellen Taylor Interiors + Design (1012 Gervais Street)
• if ART (1223 Lincoln Street)
• Lewis + Clark (1001 Huger Street)
• One Eared Cow Glass (1001 Huger Street)
• Saki Tumi, Art Uncorked (807 Gervais Street, #103)
• Studio Cellar (912 Lady Street)
• Vista Studios/Gallery 80808 (808 Lady Street)

New for 2017

• Lantern and Light Parade: A partnership with 701 Center for Contemporary Art invites the public to bring lanterns and wearable light fixtures to participate in a parade through the Vista that begins and ends at the Lady Street side of Lincoln Street tunnel. Make a lantern, buy a lantern or create accessories and clothing with light fixtures to light up the Vista during its annual art crawl while showing off your creations during the parade. There will be prizes for best lanterns and outfits selected by an independent jury. Participants can create lanterns at home or sign up for one of two artist-led lantern workshops (April 6 at First Thursday on Main on Boyd Plaza and April 9 at 701 Whaley). For more details, see below. No lanterns or light fixtures with live fire are allowed. More information at VistaColumbia.com. 
• 25 Artists by Wade Sellers: Wade Sellers, Vista filmmaker and owner of Coal Powered Filmworks, will exhibit his interactive video installation featuring intimate interviews with 25 Columbia artists explaining the common themes and motivation behind how and why they create. Sellers will install screens throughout the Vista with this installation during Artista Vista.
• blush, installation by Leah Mulligan Cabinum: The grassy median in front of the Hilton and the USC Alumni Center on Senate Street will come to life with Cabinum’s large-scale installation. This piece will remain in the Vista throughout April.
• Body in Spirit, by Jerome Meadows: The Vista Guild will install another piece of permanent art, Body in Spirit on Lady Street, at the intersection of Lady and Lincoln Streets. The sculpture, a large, 9-foot-tall cut out of a figure with a small perched dove, is made of bronze plate, cast bronze, pink granite and treated cedar. The Vista Guild will “unveil” this piece on April 20 at 3 p.m. just before Leadership Columbia Class of 2017 dedicates “Watermarked,” the revitalized Lincoln Street tunnel just across the street from the sculpture.

Shuttles at #ArtistaVista17

To make it easy for Artista Vista attendees to head down to our growing Huger Street art scene at One Eared Cow Glass and Lewis + Clark, the Vista Guild is offering free shuttle rides from Lincoln Street at Lady Street down to Huger Street in front of One Eared Cow Glass. Attendees can board the shuttle at the corner of Lincoln and Lady Streets.

Artista Vista is free for attendees, and free parking is available in the Vista’s parking decks located on Lincoln Street near Lady and Park Street near Pendleton on Thursday, April 20 from 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.

Sponsors

Stay tuned to www.VistaColumbia.com for event maps and plans as galleries finalize their Artista Vista shows and as the Vista Guild announces installation artists and sites complete gallery and installation exhibition information. For more information about the Vista, please visit www.VistaColumbia.com or call Meredith Atkinson at (803) 269.5946. Follow the Vista Guild on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook, #ArtistaVista17.