NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY - Everyday Artists Society Founder Michael D. Davis, left, accompanied by his trusty newshound Dixie, and Toledo Economic Development Director Katherine Ollendieck, right, pose for a photo in front of one of the vacant buildings featuring local artwork as part of the ongoing Downtown Art Walk, which began earlier this month and will run through the fall.

Take a leisurely stroll around downtown Toledo, and there’s a good chance you’ll notice something new and unique inside the windows of buildings both vacant and occupied. It’s all part of the new Downtown Art Walk, a collaboration between Toledo Economic Development, STC Art Teacher Nate Doran and the Everyday Artists Society, a new collective led by the News Chronicle’s own Michael D. Davis.

After unveiling the project during the recent Stoplight Festival on July 10, the organizers plan to keep it running through the fall, and Toledo Economic Development Director Katherine Ollendieck, the objective is twofold: to showcase Tama County artists and to encourage prospective business owners to consider one of downtown Toledo’s empty storefronts.

“I think the idea just got thrown out at a council meeting one night, and Mike’s engagement really started to make the whole thing transform,” she said. “We realized we could take downtown spaces and re-engage them. We could make pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk an experience, and so then it just kind of grew from there. And the week before the Stoplight Festival, virtually every single day, Mike was bringing more and more and more artwork in.”

She credited Davis and his sister Michelle with “digging deep” to assist the economic development office in preparation for the festival, and Ollendieck hopes it will engage people and convince them to look at the buildings with a fresh set of eyes. In discussing the origins of the Everyday Artists Society, Davis said it arose out of conversations with Doran and noticing that he could use a little help.

During one of his typical late nights cranking out stories for the News Chronicle, Davis thought of connecting people like Doran, Ollendieck, and Marshalltown artist Josh Cox, and it ultimately led to him heading up the group himself and calling it the Everyday Artists Society — a name coined by Doran that Davis considers a nod to the No Jury Society in Chicago for avant garde artists, which existed from 1922 to 1958.

“It’s mainly just a point of contact so that if you’re an artist in Tama County or Tama County affiliated, then we can get together to do stuff like this or pop-up galleries for libraries, businesses or other places, and then we can say or throw in the paper that ‘Hey, so and so has art up at the Fareway.’ Then that’ll give Fareway a little traffic or something,” he said. “Someone goes in to buy a couple pears, and then they see this dude’s art. It’s just a little something, and then it brings artists together to support other artists. It just gives a little community for one another, so it’s just bringing a little bit of organization.”

As she looks toward the future, Ollendieck has dreams of a second mural and a pocket park next year. She also hopes to develop QR codes that will allow pedestrians to purchase artwork directly from the sidewalk, creating a 24/7 art gallery in downtown Toledo.

“What we love about this is that we’re celebrating local artists and their creative expression, and it’s a very inclusive way to go and view artwork without the pressure of a gallery, like (Mike) is talking about,” she said. “And then as we continue to push information out there, we pick up spaces. Within two hours of the Stoplight Festival starting, I already had two different businesses within walking blocks of me reach out and track me down and say ‘You can put art in our windows.’ So as we curate more windows, we’ll be able to introduce more artists.”

In addition to the downtown businesses, the State Bank of Toledo location out on the highway has also agreed to participate, and Ollendieck anticipates more to come.

“So far, we literally have run things through the printer and the laminating machine and a lot of elbow grease and a donation of about $50 worth of supplies in order to get all the windows cleaned up and ready to go, and we’ve got people walking downtown looking at windows,” Ollendieck said. “It’s been a really good grassroots effort that’s actually getting some good traction… It’s a cultural and an economic catalyst, and those two together are a nice pairing.”

For Davis, it’s as simple as the fact that he knows people who have created art, and Ollendieck has open windows. Featured artists include Davis, Doran, Liliana Espinoza, Jaime Sanchez, Andrew Peters and Missy Sharer-Pieters, and the addresses listed on the flyer are 132 E. High St., 112 N. Broadway St., 114 N. Broadway St. and 101 E. High St.

To learn more about the Everyday Artists Society, visit https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589986367152 or email theeverydayartistsociety@gmail.com.