The Durham Arts Council will host the Durham Art Walk Spring Market, a weekend event showcasing Durham businesses along with the latest creative endeavors of over 200 local artists. This event attracts thousands of art enthusiasts for two full days of enjoying great art, music, performances, food and all that downtown Durham has to offer. Event times are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 9th, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 10th.

“The Durham Art Walk Spring Market is a great way to walk around downtown, check out art in strange places, meet artists, buy some great art and spend time experiencing Durham’s vibrant arts and cultural community,” said Ann May Woodward, Executive Director of the local nonprofit reuse center, the Scrap Exchange. Visitors will discover new restaurants, shops and other interesting downtown businesses where artwork will be displayed.

Visitors to the Durham Art Walk Spring Market will also have an opportunity to see Durham’s own Scene of the Crime Rovers Marching Band making music in the streets and other performing artists like the W.G. Pearson Harp Ensemble and Mallarme Chamber Players. Durham Parks & Recreation hosts Durham Art Walk Rocks! all weekend at Durham Centre with diverse acts from local choirs to Latin bands. Little Jimmy and the Glendales will present Drumming for a Rain Dance, an audience-interactive performance art piece on Saturday and national cancer awareness organization drumSTRONG will present another interactive drum performance on Sunday.

Those who buy a spring plant at the Durham Arts Council will win a chance for raffle prizes including original artwork, craft classes or dinner for 2 at Washington Duke Inn. And while there, they can check out the “upcycled” art offerings of the designers in a special NC State and Scrap Exchange design program. There will also be a “parade” of food trucks along Morgan Street next to the Arts Council including: Only Burger, Pie Pushers, JAM Ice Cream, Blue Sky Dining and the Farmhand Foods Sausage Wagon.

This free event is open to the public and will be held rain or shine. All locations for the Durham Art Walk will be marked with a red dot in their window. Sites include retail stores, artist studios, cafes and other venues within a 10-minute walk from the Durham Arts Council building.

Patron-level sponsors of the event include: Carolina Theatre, City of Durham Parks & Recreation, Golden Belt, Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, Smitten Boutique, Through this Lens, TomSuey Design, Vega Metals, WorkSmart and Yelp! The Durham Art Walk Spring Market is presented and produced by the Durham Arts Council in collaboration with these and many other community sponsors.

For further information on the artists, performers, volunteer opportunities and participating businesses, visit the Durham Art Walk website at www.durhamartwalk.com or contact Barclay McConnell, Event Coordinator, at [email protected] or phone (919)560-2719.