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UID:Indybay-18740701
SEQUENCE:18846472
CREATED:20130731T062000Z
DESCRIPTION:It all began one day when  two local downtown business owners had a vision 
 to organize a Art hop in Merced . one of which  herself an artist, their 
 motivation was two-fold: economic stimulation to the  downtown  businesses 
 and to support local artists who have few opportunities to exhibit their 
 work.\n\n Meanwhile, with encouragement from the Merced Redevelopment 
 Agency, Staci Santa from the Arts Council and Tami Davidson of Diva 
 Accessories were envisioning the same thing for the same reasons. With a 
 little strategy and a lot of serendipity, the four met in August 2008 and 
 never said “we can’t.” Soon Luis and Irene De La Cruz Authors and 
 Owners of “Between Friends/Entres Amigos” a local publication, was in 
 full support, bolstering confidence and pushing our promotions efforts even 
 further.\n\nThe only trouble was, art hops require art galleries, and 
 Merced didn’t have many of those-not much “hop” to that. So, the 
 founders  went door-to-door asking businesses to stay open late for one 
 night and pretend to be a gallery, host a local artist and welcome the 
 community to come to their store for the exhibit. The organization did not 
 jury the entries; any artists not chosen may exhibit in vacant storefronts, 
 generously made available by the owners.  Performing artists were 
 encouraged to perform throughout the Art Hop, as well, making the downtown 
 community even more vibrant.\n\nToday, the Merced Art Hop is a non-profit 
 arts organization, our fiscal sponsor is United Way Merced County. To date, 
 we have presented eighteen Art Hops with support and enthusiasm from the 
 Community. The Art Hop is expanding in attendance and participation every 
 event; we have tons of art, rich in culture, live music, interactive art 
 activities and performers.\n\n\n\nhttp://mercedarthop.com/\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/07/30/18740701.php
SUMMARY:Merced Art Hop
LOCATION:Downtowm Main st Merced 
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/07/30/18740701.php
DTSTART:20131020T000000Z
DTEND:20131020T040000Z
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