The Pioneer Square Community Association (PSCA) has been scrambling to find a place for independent artists to sell their wares during First Thursday. On June 5, artists heard they could no longer set up in Occidental Mall, between Jackson and Main Streets [“Last Thursday,” Amy Jenniges, June 12].
Gallery owners had complained that the independent artists who flooded Occidental Mall, plus the folks who crowded in to check out their art, blocked access to the galleries. It turns out artists need a permit to hawk their creations on the street.
So the PSCA is seeking a permit on behalf of independent artists, for three months of First Thursdays. Artists will be able to set up in the cobblestone Occidental Park space just north of the old location, says Benjamin Nicholls, PSCA program manager.
Gallery owners are still worried, though, that artists will congregate in the old space on July 3, or protest the change. Indeed, one artist who works in the neighborhood says, “Everybody right now is expecting next First Thursday to be a blowup.” Rumor has it artists may do a performance piece about the First Amendment (and their “right to sell art”).
