Art Walk RVC promotes local arts and business

In an effort to establish the Village of Rockville Centre as the premiere art hub of southern Nassau County, a group of business owners have teamed up to introduce a bold new event, Art Walk RVC

James McDonald, the owner of Lost Dog Art & Frame on North Long Beach Road, said he was inspired to organize Art Walk RVC based on similar events held around the country.

“What we’re trying to do is really focus on artists from Rockville Centre and the surrounding area,” McDonald said. “Once we talked about it, we decided to get other businesses involved too.”

He describes the event as the “art and business” equivalent of the Rockville Centre Chamber of Commerce’s annual Playing on the Porch music festival, only instead of going to different homes around the village, the event aims to invigorate local commerce by attracting patrons to different stores throughout the community.

To help organize the event, McDonald teamed up with Mike Mutone and Danielle Barbaro of The Art Studio, Ellen White of the Backyard Players & Friends, and the Rockville Centre Chamber of Commerce to get other businesses involved.

“The Art Walk came about really serendipitously, where all three of our businesses were looking to make an impact in the arts in RVC,” Mutone said. “Then we realized we could combine forces and make it a huge deal. It just clicked that this was something we all believed had a huge opportunity for the town, artists, and businesses.”

White, co-founder of the Backyard Players & Friends, said she also wanted to host an art show and decided to reach out to McDonald about featuring some of the work from neurodiverse artists.

“So, the four of us decided to open it up to the whole community,” White said. “It’s a great opportunity to bring together our local artists and local businesses.”

The goal of the Art Walk RVC is to celebrate and support local artists by providing a way for residents to engage in the art scene while also supporting local businesses.

The event will feature more than 150 original works from 60 local artists spread out across more than 20 local businesses, schools, and public spaces in the village, which will be participating by either hosting an exhibition or event.

White said that the Art Walk will also feature several works by students at Molloy University, South Side High School, and members of the Village Art Club of Rockville Centre, who will have their original artwork on display at the Rockville Centre Public Library, as part of its annual Spring exhibition throughout the month of June. An artists’ reception is scheduled at the library on Saturday, June 22, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Organizers said their hope is the event will continue to grow over time and support Rockville Centre’s endeavors to become a major art hub in the region.

“There are so many local artists that are (considered) “underground” because there just isn’t enough in Nassau for artists,” Barbaro explained. “We see this event as a major opportunity to get those artists coming out. With local businesses supporting these artists, we can really create a growing art scene and community.”

Since there is not much taking place to promote the arts in communities around south Nassau County at the scale the organizers have envisioned, Art Walk RVC is an opportunity to start and help cultivate a new scene by creating ongoing opportunities to support local artists.

Ed Asip, president of the Rockville Centre Chamber of Commerce, said that when he was approached with the idea, he was immediately on board with the plan.

“I think it’s a clever idea to pull people into town and it brings them directly into the businesses,” Asip said.

With the help of the chamber, the organizers were able to expand their reach to the entire Rockville Centre community and accrued 13 additional business sponsors to help put the event together.

“We want everybody to know that the chamber is a good place to promote and leverage each other’s events,” Asip said.

He said that because the upcoming Art Walk coincides with the annual Vintage Car and Fire Truck show on Saturday, June 1 and RVC Restaurant week, which takes place between May 31 and June 6, the Chamber of Commerce has been busy promoting the first week of June as “Junefest” in Rockville Centre.

Art Walk RVC will take place throughout the entire month of June, with special events Saturday, June 1 to Sunday, June 2, and from Saturday, June 8 to Sunday, June 9.

For more on the upcoming Junefest events, including Art Walk RVC, visit RockvilleCentreChamberofCommerce.com/Art-Walk-RVC.