On the FIRST FRIDAY of each month

May through December


STROLL THE STREETS OF THE SQUARE

Meet and purchase directly from our dozens

and dozens of artists and crafters

who'll show you their locally crafted wares.


ENJOY THE LIVE MUSIC!
     

SAVOR AND SIP FREE SNACKS AND

BEVERAGES ​INSIDE THE MAC! 
    

LOTS OF FUN all over downtown!


DECORATE YOUR HOME and SHOP FOR GIFTS

FROM OUR ARTISTS' WORKS!

   May through December!       5 PM - 8 PM       Rain or Shine!

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The Murphy Art Walk is produced by

the Valley River Arts Guild

and its volunteer members' Art Walk committee.


​Our First Friday Art Walk provides our community

of artists and crafters, musicians and performers,

a platform for exhibiting and selling

their original artworks, while supporting

our local businesses.

Our purpose is to give our visitors

a chance to experience

the fullness of the arts at the neighborhood-level.

We encourage all to explore our downtown

and see our talented artists and musicians

at our Murphy Art Walk!


Come downtown and join in the FUN...

When: First Friday of each month 
 
May through December!

 5 PM - 8 PM - rain or shine
  
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There will be arts, crafts, music, performances, art

demonstrations, and interactive experiences for the

kids and entire family throughout downtown.


Downtown merchants are open late, until 8PM,

on Art Walk evenings.

Come downtown to shop, experience the arts, listen

and dance to the music,

dine in our restaurants and cafes,

​and explore our shops, galleries and boutiques. 


​There is no admission charge

​and lots of good, small-town FUN!

​
Our Music at The MAC funded in part by

​The North Carolina Arts Council. 

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Art Walk: How does it happen?

Who puts on Art Walk? Since 2011 when Art Walk was created, volunteers from the Valley River Arts Guild at the Murphy Art Center (the MAC) have done 100% of the legwork to produce the Art Walk events each month. The guild is a North Carolina 501-c3 non-profit charitable organization. The MAC is owned by the Arts Guild organization and not by any single individual.

Who issues the permit for downtown events? The Murphy Police department. An organization that wishes to hold an event downtown must submit a permit request. The chief of police and the town mayor approve the permit requests. Permits are free. Two permits on the same dates are not granted. The Town of Murphy owns all of the sidewalks throughout downtown, not the business or building owners. The Arts Guild is given permission to use all of the sidewalks for the Art Walk event each month.

​How do you become a vendor at Art Walk? As with any festival, vendors must fill out a registration form in advance, located on the Arts Guild website or at The MAC. No unregistered walk-on vendors can be accepted. When the form is received by the VRAG, the vendor is assigned a reserved space at Art Walk to guarantee a spot. If an unregistered vendor walks in on the day of Art Walk, we ask that they fill out the registration form for next time and do everything we can to accommodate them by moving them into an unassigned spot. There is no fee or charge to be an Art Walk vendor. No percentage of sales is taken. Art Walk has always been free for vendors.

How is Art Walk promoted? The budget for Art Walk is $11,000 per year. Those promotions include multiple billboard ads, four regional newspaper ads each month, many highway signs, flyers and rack cards distributed regionally, magazine ads, social media promoted ads, and music bands on the Square.

How are these promotions funded? Through grants awarded from NC Arts Council, the Tourism Development Authority, Cherokee Casino, private donations, patron support, and merchant support.

How much does Valley River Arts Guild earn from Art Walk? Zero. Not one single penny. Art Walk funds are in a separate account, untouched by anyone or anything other than for paying Art Walk expenses. Volunteers are not paid a single cent.

What work is involved in producing Art Walk each month? Grants are applied for very early in the year. Budgets are put together to allocate funds. Ads for newspaper, magazine, posters, and rack cards are designed and sent in. Merchants are contacted. Billboard ads are reserved. Bands are booked months in advance. Vendors are contacted and assigned spots. (This is the biggest and most stressful of all of the Art Walk jobs). Highway signs are placed one week before, then removed right after Art Walk each month. There are just six members volunteering on the Art Walk committee to do all of this work. It is a huge job.

Who benefits from Art Walk? The vendors gain exposure for their arts and crafts, the downtown merchants benefit economically, the region enjoys return visitors who have experienced Art Walk and enjoyed their stay in our county. The volunteers from the Valley River Arts Guild do not benefit financially, but we gain satisfaction and pride in helping our region become an art destination.

What types of vendors are accepted at Art Walk? Anything art-related: crafts, music, theater, culinary, writing, and visual arts. As stated on our website, fundraising, promotional, and/or political groups are not accepted. Art Walk is free but not meant to be a free-for-all where anyone can set up any type of business for that evening. Art Walk has a permit for all of the downtown sidewalks, so other groups will not be permitted to set up that afternoon/evening.

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Want to be a Murphy ArtWalk Vendor? Here are some important Guidelines!
1. Vendors must have completed the application process by registering on the form below prior to participating at ArtWalk. No walk-ins accepted.
2. The following list are examples of items to be sold at ArtWalk — but are not limited to:

• Original paintings (prints are acceptable if original works were created by the artist).
• Pottery, ceramics, original glass work, jewelry.
• Photographs (prints are acceptable if original works were created by artist).
• Books, CD’s, DVD’s originally written, performed, filmed and represented by the artist.
• Clothing such as T-shirts, hats or caps, scarves when original design is by artist.
• Fabric and yarn items including pillows, throws, quilts, kitchen items when original design is by artist.
• Sculpture, drawings, paper art including handmade cards, crafted items.
• Handmade soap, bath salts, lotions, candles, etc. 
• Wood crafts, wood toys, metal art, leather craft.
• Fresh baked goods, candies, or snacks 
• No ALCOHOL of any sort may be sold, offered, or consumed at your booth, on the sidewalks, or anywhere downtown, except for inside the establishment that is selling it.  (Per Town of Murphy ordinance)

3. ​Murphy ArtWalk does encourage vendors to set-up interactive tables with children or adults. We also encourage interactive music, dance, drama, etc. 
4. The ArtWalk Director has the right to refuse, revoke or disqualify anyone at any time for any reason on the basis of vendor activity, merchandise, behavior, or not abiding by permitted regulations as the Art Walk Committee sees fit for the benefit of first Friday Art Walk. The Art Walk Committee and Valley River Arts Guild have been issued a permit by the Mayor and the Chief of Police to be in charge of this event. Examples of unaccepted vendors include, but are not limited to, the following:  political parties, patriot groups, political campaigns, religious groups, non-profits or organizations that are not engaged in art-related activities or sales. Determination of legitimate vendors at Art Walk is solely at the discretion of the Art Walk Director or Art Walk committee members. Vendors found to be not in compliance will be asked to leave.
5. Extreme Weather Conditions:  Art Walk is held the first Friday of each month May through December regardless of the weather.  In the event of extreme weather conditions such as rain, fog, heat or cold, it becomes the decision of each vendor whether to participate.  
6. After you are assigned a location, keep your email confirmation with you at all times. 
7. Vendors cannot set up before 3:30 pm on the day of the event and must move their vehicles after set-up and prior to the start of the event off of the street parking and into public lots or behind building parking. Vendors must move cars from blocking the streets after set up.  Set-up displays must not block sidewalk pedestrian flow. Vendors are not required to have a tent. Vendors must bring everything you need for your set-up. i.e.— tents, tables, chairs, trash bags, water, etc. 
8. Vendors may not block business doorways, driveways, handicap parking spaces, or handicap ramps. Displays must be limited to the sidewalk areas and not be in the road or in parking spaces. Vendors must leave their space as they found it when they arrived. We encourage you to have all trash, tables, chairs removed no later than 9:00 pm.
9. Vendors should not engage in any disputes with business owners regarding spaces, set-up, displays, or other issues.  All concerns should be directed to the Art Walk Director for resolution. Please call if there are any problems. 
10. Keep in mind that this event is a family friendly event. There will always be children around, so please be courteous, be kind, be thoughtful and please by all means enjoy yourself and spend some time meeting your neighbors. We thank you so much for participating and visiting our Murphy ArtWalk. We truly hope that you enjoy!

Questions & Inquiries:
Art Walk registrations are sent to: [email protected] and are forwarded to our volunteer Art Walk Director.
Please register well in advance of First Friday Art Walk dates.
Last day registrations may not be able to be accommodated.
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