ArtWalk downtown Billings is celebrating 30 years with 31 locations to check out Friday night.
There’s a 32nd within the footprint, but you won’t find it on the map. That’s because it’s a pop-up art market, meant to coincide with the main event, and it’s packed with immersive experiences.
Among those at the market are Anne Holub, who clacks away at a typewriter on the sidewalk at Wild Wares Pop Up Market, writing street poetry on postcards for a few bucks for passersby.
"I started taking vintage postcards that I would find places and I would type poems on them and I really do it as kind of an experiment. What someone picks out of a big box of postcards, and then why they like it, what it means to them and what memory it maybe brings up," she said. "We talk about like who it's going to. Honestly my favorite moments are when I can have a 30-second conversation with somebody and I can make a little poem."
The spectacle may suck patrons into this otherwise empty space, formerly Guiccone’s Salon across from the Monte Carlo. But once inside, there’s even more to do and see with a dozen vendors and their wild wares.
"I’m a stay at home mom, so this is what gets me through the day. My business is called Needy Creature Crochet. It's mostly, like, plushies. I do hats and bags. I love it so much because my creative outlet is ginormous," said Serena Cuts the Rope, an indigenous artist originally from Fort Belknap.
She doesn’t have a storefront, making the shared creative space extra special, even if only for a day.
"It's never really about the sales for me. It's about the experiences and meeting people and being able to share my art with other people," Cuts the Rope said.
ArtWalk is held every other first Friday in downtown Billings through the year.
