Final Alley Art Festival in downtown Aurora brings out memories as well as plenty of art

The first time artist Chris Hodge participated in the annual Alley Art Festival 15 years ago was memorable.

“I remember being at a table with a couple of bins. I remember how hot it got that day,” said Hodge on Saturday during this year’s Alley Art Festival in downtown Aurora. “I was just sweating. It was great at the beginning of the day because I was in the shadows, but at the end of the day, I was in the sun.”

It was his very first art festival. He also remembers how much fun it was, Hodge said. He credits much of the fest’s success to event co-founder and director Marissa Amoni.

“I grew so much by meeting other artists, and with Marissa’s guidance, my planning got better every year,” Hodge said. “It’s been an amazing experience meeting so many people and artists. It’s a fun day from start to end.”

This year’s event was a bit bittersweet for those involved, since it marked the final Alley Art Festival in downtown Aurora.

Amoni said the fest’s 16th year was an opportunity to end the outdoor event and “make room for something new to grow.”

As usual, the Alley Art Festival on Saturday drew crowds who browsed at dozens of tents featuring oil paintings, sculptures, sketches, jewelry, pottery and other artwork along Water Street Mall and Downer Place.

Heather Ogilvie of Lisle says she liked the atmosphere at the Alley Art Festival.

“It’s different than other festivals. It has more regular people doing cool things. At a lot of places, you see the same stuff. Here, there’s a lot of variety,” she said.

Christopher Lucero’s Calaveras of Chicago took part in the fest on Saturday. Lucero does portraits of a calavera, which is an artist’s representation of a skull or skeleton, then photographs each person having their portrait done. He paints the calavera on each subject himself and uses three symbols representing a person’s story.

“I get to know each individual and have them tell me about themselves,” Lucero said. “Each one tells their individual story. It’s a little snippet of their life.”

He’s been participating in the Alley Art Festival for about 10 years. It’s one of the first shows he ever did, he said, and his artwork evolved along with the fest.

Saturday was a bit sad for the artists since it’s the fest’s last year.

Amoni, Jenn Byrne, Lisa Gloria and Nate Miller founded the festival in 2010.

“Alley Art Fest will still be an arts driver in the community as well as a local arts clearinghouse. The website and social media pages will remain active, but the outdoor festival will end. We’ve really become a collective after all this time, so look for things popping up in the future like small workshops and other art offerings,” Amoni said in a statement on the Alley Art Festival website at alleyartaurora.com.

“Just like life, events mutate and evolve, and new ones pop up. It’s a cycle. Alley Art Festival won’t continue as an outdoor event, but the arts community will continue to thrive. There will be new energy and new blood. Aurora will stay fun,” Amoni said.

The annual Alley Art Festival has provided a good opportunity for many artists in the area, event participants said.

Artist Jacqueline Franco did a live painting during the festival. She’s been involved with Alley Art since 2017. The festival helped her get a start in Aurora’s art community, she said.

Alley Art, itself, is like a little community, Franco said. It helped her find an audience for her art, she said.

The festival has been “one of the most foundational art opportunities I’ve had,” Hodge said.

Hodge grew up in North Aurora. He attended West Aurora High School. When he was growing up, he didn’t remember as many art events. By the time he got out of college, he started noticing a big shift and “an art buzz,” he said.

He feels that buzz around art will continue in Aurora, even with the outdoor Alley Art Festival coming to an end.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.