Shoppers invited to 'art walk, wine talk'
In brainstorming for ways to draw holiday shoppers, a cluster of downtown Arlington Heights merchants thought about what it would take to get people out.
They came up with art displays, holiday shopping promotions, and wine, and not necessarily in that order.
Consequently, they will launch their first of four monthly "Art Talk, Wine Walk" events, from 4-7 p.m. Thursday. A trail of reindeer tracks will lead patrons one participating shop to the next, underscoring the holiday theme of the free event.
Participating vendors include: Tribal Expressions, 7 S. Dunton Ave., Urban Harvest, 15 S. Dunton Ave., Holiday Essentials & Home Decor, 10 W. Campbell St. and Flaherty Jewelers, 2 N. Dunton Ave.
The merchants describe it as a progressive wine tasting, where each venue will feature special showings of a favorite artist, as well as a display of their new holiday merchandise, and the wine samplings.
Urban Harvest owner, Mary Ellen Hogan, says the event is timed with the release of the new Beaujolais Nouveau. Consequently, each store will feature a different one, and all four varieties will be available for purchase at Urban Harvest.
As far as featured artists, Tribal Expressions will have a dealer on hand from Nome, Alaska to describe come of the carvings from St. Lawrence Island, which is in the middle of the Bering Sea.
"The bones that these are carved from are decades and sometimes even centuries old," said Rob Brooke, Tribal Expressions owner. "I'm told that with global warming, we're not likely to see many more of these carvings in the future."
Holiday Essentials already has its five trees decorated in different themes, as well as an array of Christopher Radko ornaments. For the walk, they will feature the work of local jewelry artist Mary Graff, as well as the whimsical magnets, ornaments and wall art created by artist Julie Farrell.
At Flaherty's, owner Katie Flaherty will feature the entire line of sterling silver gem stone jewelry designed by Arlee Kasselman.
"She's from Scottsdale, Arizona," Flaherty said, "so it's sort of earth-toned inspired. It's all one-of-a-kind, hand made by her. We're excited to feature it."
In designing the event, store owners wanted to bring people into the village's downtown, and make shopping fun.
"We wanted to give people something different than shopping at the mall," Hogan said. "These stores are all one of a kind, where shoppers will be able to taste a variety of wines and socialize with other friends as they begin their holiday shopping."