North 2nd Street to Art Alley?
The Downtown Arts Alliance, a non-profit community of artists, has been working hard to change the name of the partially blocked off portion of North 2nd Street (off DeSiard in downtown) to “Art Alley” because of its majority artist/gallery tenants. This alleyway is the home of ARENDER studio + gallery, Becton Gallery, big room gallery, Mystic Art Gallery, Sugar Gallery and UPSTAIRS. Nearby are also Livaudais Studio and Gallery and Ouachita River Art Gallery. This group of community-minded artists have been the heartbeat of downtown revitalization over the last three years. Since the the Downtown Arts Alliance began hosting the Downtown Gallery Crawl, a bi-monthly, free community arts event, restaurants and businesses have opened, new residents have laid out their welcome mats and at least once every other month, you’ll see people of all ages walking the streets of Downtown Monroe to enjoy the fruits of their labors.
To rename North 2nd Street to Art Alley has a huge impact on the entire community surrounding this little, blocked off street. To read more about the benefits, download the Art Alley Proposal that was given to the Monroe Planning and Zoning Committee recently. To show your support for this effort, come by the Monroe City Council meeting tonight, May 25. Pre-meeting is at 6pm, regular meeting starts at 7pm. If you can’t come by, leave a comment of support on the official Downtown Gallery Crawl Facebook page.
Benefits of Art Alley
• The new name Art Alley will help people identify the location of this blocked off alleyway that is separate from the
rest of North 2nd Street
• Art Alley can be used to promote the Downtown area as part of an up and coming business and cultural center.
• By naming North 2nd Street, a street with a high concentration of art galleries and artist space, the City shows its
support of the growing arts and culture movement taking place downtown.
• Art Alley will give the residents and galleries of North 2nd a permanent home that will continue to grow by helping to
attract new residents, artists and other galleries and studios.
• The new name Art Alley will be used in promotional materials the same way Antique Alley in West Monroe is used
when promoting Monroe-West Monroe for tourism, business meetings and conventions.
• Art Alley brings Downtown Monroe and West Monroe together for a common goal (many shoppers interested in items
found in Antique Alley will be interested in the offerings on Art Alley as well) and both Alleys will compliment
one another.
