WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — For four years now, businesses on State and Meeting Streets in West Columbia participate in a community wide event the first Friday of the month.
The event is is about bringing people to the community and is driven by arts.
Mark Plessinger, owner of Frame of Mind, started this event.
"Basically its to help State and Meeting grow and become kind of an anchor for West Columbia," Plessinger said.
The event is called "State Street Art Crawl." Businesses and galleries in the community host different artists, and people can walk from one gallery or business to another. Plessinger says the art isn't the only thing they encourage people to come out and experience.
"We encourage people to hit our restaurants. The Black Rooster just opened up, Al's Upstairs, Terra, of course Cafe Strudel," Plessinger said, "One of the things we're trying to do different with our area is we're not just focusing on a restaurant or a bar, we're making it kind of a destination overall."
Plessinger helped pioneer this event after originally starting up the similar event 'First Thursdays on Main.' He says the stories for these events mimic one another.
Plessinger said he fell in love with the Main Street community that was in the middle of renovating. He saw that the more art and community came together, the more business came in as well.
He did the same thing in West Columbia. The event is designed to bring everyone to a crossroads.
"Obviously State Street and Meeting Street is a growing area, so it's a matter of, alright its worked once over there, how do we not necessarily compete, don't necessarily mimic but how do we do something that's similar and help this area grow over here," Plessinger said.
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According to their Facebook event, some of the artists that will be featured are Lindsay Wiggins, Dylan Fouste and Pascale Bilgis, among others. Plessinger's Frame of Mind will host Asheville artist Tarah Singh with music by Preach Jacobs. Rhythm on the River will be going on at the Riverwalk Amphitheatre with The Get Right Band and Jeff Lucero. New Brookland Tavern will be hosting comedian Carmen Morales.
"Come over, have some fun, have some food, check out some art, buy some art, check out all the shops that are over here and come and interact with the community as a whole," Plessinger said.
Events start around 5 p.m. on October 4. Click here for more info.
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