Fri December 5, 2008
Batavia, IL: Downtown Batavia comes alive with the holiday spirit on Friday night at the December 12th Mistletoe Magic Arts Walk from 5-9 p.m. The holiday open house is anchored by the quarterly arts walk and includes ten downtown Batavia locations hosting musicians, Fox Valley artists, special sales, refreshments, and free Christmas magic show. Magician Ryne Strom performs two free Christmas magic shows - one at 7 and one at 8:00 at Gammon Corners coach house (5 S Batavia Ave upstairs). Not to be missed is the 4 E Wilson St windows, decorated by BCEC Environmental group, artists' demonstrations and signings at the new Water Street Studios (160 W Wilson St). More detailed information on an event map and program may be found online at www.downtownbatavia.com or by calling the MainStreet office at 630-761-3528.
Businesses and the artists they are hosting include: The Gallery at Allen+Pepa Architects (8 W Wilson St)/Greta Northfield and Bruce Feddema (holiday sterling jewelry); Batavia Depot Museum (155 Houston St)/Batavia A-Z; Batavia MainStreet (2 E Wilson St)/Nancy Hannah (acrylics and pastels), Kathi Luedeman (watercolors) and Sylvia Zimmerman (jewelry); Batavia Environmental Commission & BCEC/windows at 4 E Wilson depicting an earth friendly Christmas; Congressman Bill Foster (27 N River St)/Batavia High School LED lighting exhibit, Shelly Pepper (recycled wine bottle art) and Congressman Foster in person from 7-8 pm; Limestone Coffee & Tea/Chris Hodge (pen & ink drawings), Nadine Jones (metal sculpture & jewelry), Dennis Walz (photography) and Kim E. Rogers (oil pastel & pencil); Water Street Studios (160 W Wilson St)/Fox Valley artists plus poster signing by Steven Lockwood and Joe Gagnepaign (new Batavia mural), ceramics demonstration by Patt DaVoust and Batavia bracelets by Nancy Neil; Special Occasions (2 N Batavia Ave)/ Hector Rodriguez (oil still life) and Julie Boschelli (fused glass) along with live window models, Rose Photo Studio (5 S Batavia Ave, upstairs)/Michaelyn Rose, fine art photography from around the world plus Ryne Strom/magician. Live entertainment jazzes up the event featuring Rotolo Middle School orchestra students and Batavia High School brass carolers. The RendezVu Restaurant (1 E Wilson St upstairs) live musical performance of RMS's Batavia Youth String Ensemble from 7:15-7:45 pm. A schedule of other locations and performance times is available on the MainStreet web site at www.downtownbatavia.com or at any of the participating Mistletoe Magic participating businesses.
The Batavia MainStreet program is one of 58 non-profit, community based Main Street organizations in the state of Illinois. The mission of Batavia MainStreet is to enhance the identity of Batavia's downtown area as the heart of our community. MainStreet members work through the four points: Design, Economic Restructuring, Organization and Promotion to improve the downtown district. MainStreet volunteers believe the revitalization of Downtown Batavia is essential to our community's sense of pride, place, and heritage for this and future generations. For more information Batavia MainStreet or to volunteer, please contact the office at (630) 761-3528, email britta@downtownbatavia.com or check online at www.downtownbatavia.com.