Frequently Asked Questions

In the galleries...An art walk is an event enjoyed in many communities around the country and the world. It is a designated day and time on which local galleries and art studios… and very often shops and restaurants too… all join forces to create a festive time for visitors to go from place to place, feasting both their eyes, ears, and taste buds as they stroll through town enjoying the best of what is offered by that creative community. The most vibrant of these established events include other free entertainment treats and activities in addition to the visual delights in the art galleries and venues.

...and in the streets1st Fridays Art Walk of Fairfield is unique in that it happens all 12 months of the year – even in the winter months – on the first Friday of any given month, from 6:30 to 9:30 PM. Because Fairfield is home to over 22+ galleries and art venues, plus 300+ resident artists, musicians, writers, photographers, and theatre people, 1st Fridays Art Walk has offered an astounding variety and quality of art and entertainment to our attendees since its creation in October of 2002. Because of the breadth and abundance of our creative resources, Fairfield offers one of the best art walks anywhere. There's something new and different every month.

Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk was named the 2005 Iowa Tourism Event of the Year by the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Iowa Tourism Office, and the Travel Federation of Iowa. And we only keep getting better!

Go to the Fairfield Google mapFairfield is at the intersection of Iowa Highway 1 and US Highway 34 in southeast Iowa. Check out this Google map.

From the following cities, here’s the drive time:

• Iowa City - 1 hour
• Des Moines - 2 hours
• Cedar Rapids - 1 and a half hours
• Burlington, Iowa - 1 hour
• Chicago - 4 and a half hours
• St. Louis - 3 and 3/4 hours
• Kansas City - 4-5 hours
• Minneapolis - 6 hours
• Omaha - 4 hours
• Indianapolis - 5-6 hours

If you’re flying to Fairfield, your closest commercial airports are in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, the Quad Cities and Burlington.

Join the art lovin' horde...If it's during 1st Fridays Art Walk hours of 6:30 to 9:30 PM, head straight to the Central Park, our town square. Our headquarters is at the Jefferson County Civic Center Artisans Cooperative Gallery at 56 South Main Street, on the west side of the square. We'll have maps and information there, and will be happy to answer any and all of your questions. Or simply look for the yellow triangular pennants hanging outside each gallery, stop in, and pick up a complimentary map of galleries.

Once you get your map, begin anywhere, go in any order you like, and visit as many exhibitions as you like. Each venue has a presentation independent of any other, featuring different artists, working in a variety of different art media.

Jammin' in the streets...Fairfield's 1st Fridays Art Walk is free. All galleries and art venues are open to everyone, and all our street entertainment and outdoor concerts are also free. Sometimes there are indoor concerts or plays happening during Art Walk for which there may be a modest charge, but usually everything is free and open to the public.

A known exception occurs during our annual February Film and Video Festival. Although the art venues are still free to visit, some of our film and video venues may either have a very small cover charge, or a free will donation. This is because we're still figuring out how to show all the films for free, when many of them are expensive for us to procure.

1st Fridays Art Walk has a free map of all the art venues, available at our headquarters at 56 South Main on the west side of the square, at the Jefferson County Civic Center Artisans Cooperative Gallery. Additionally, the map is available in many art venues on the square. Also, most of our art venues have a golden yellow triangular pennant hanging outside each gallery. Look for the yellow pennants.

Street art... literallyFairfield's 1st Fridays Art Walk celebrates all the arts: visual, music, dance, theatre, photography, and other performance arts. The bedrock of 1st Fridays Art Walk is our dear galleries and other art venues, which open their doors to the public during every art walk and offer a wide array of visual art. We feature the work of both our 300+ resident artists, plus other national and international artists. The quality is exceptional, and the variety is exuberating.

Additionally, there is usually live music, poetry, theatre, or film and video in one or more venues. In the warm weather months, we have a wide variety of street performers including acrobats, jugglers, magicians, musicians, dancers, graffiti artists, and much, much more. There is usually a band playing family-friendly rock&roll in the town square gazebo most of the evening. The past two Februarys featured an ice sculptor creating a work from a giant block of ice on the square!

Fairfield's 1st Fridays Art Walk was started by Stacey Hurlin, founder of the non-profit ArtLife Society, as a manifestation of her desire to create a more interactive event within Fairfield's arts community and for the general public, especially visiting guests to our unique town of just under 10,000.

Stacey started it all...A FunFest Gallery Walk in August 2002 inspired Hurlin and the Fairfield arts community to begin the monthly 1st Fridays Art Walk in October 2002. It has run every month since then, becoming larger, more diverse and creative, and more populously attended with each passing year.

The event has been so successful that in May of 2004, 1st Fridays Art Walk formed a Board of Directors to insure it's sustainability over time.

In October 2005, 1st Fridays Art Walk was named the Outstanding Tourism Event of the Year by the Iowa Tourism Office and the Travel Federation of America.

All Things Edible ItalianFairfield has more restaurants per capita than San Francisco. And the cuisine choices are mind boggling: French, Indian, Thai, Mexican, Asian, Mediterranean, Italian, and Greek, along with lots of standard Midwestern fare. Many eateries are around the square within easy walking distance. For a complete listing, visit www.fairfieldiowa.com and click on the Visitor Information link.

French fare open air...Prices are very affordable, and there are buffet options in many restaurants, so you can afford to be adventurous trying some new foods. Fairfield is also known for its abundance of organic, locally produced foods that are available in the restaurants and grocery stores. Dining or snacking in Fairfield is always a treat!

Music abounds daily...We highly recommend staying for the entire 1st Fridays Art Walk Weekend, because there are almost always many other great events happening on Saturday and Sunday too.

Even time travelers stop by Fairfield...In the warm weather months, Fairfield's Live on the Square concert series frequently has a free concert and street dance on Saturday evening. Our vibrant Saturday morning Farmers Market at nearby Howard Park features activities for children, free music, cooking and craft lessons, along with fantastic fresh produce, fresh-baked goodies, and homemade crafts for sale.

During the rest of the year, you'll have your choice of live music or theater from which to choose. Fairfield has four theatre companies and over 200 musicians living and playing here. There is always live entertainment on the weekends in Fairfield!

Stores galore...If you're a fitness enthusiast, come enjoy the 14 completed miles of our Jefferson Country Trail System by hiking or biking the wheel chair accessible trails under sunny skies, around lakes, and over rolling hills. Fairfield has four public swimming pools, including an in-door pool with whirlpool and sauna, plus our fresh water, in-town lake with sandy beach.

For shoppers, we have a wide variety of wonderful shops around our square offering unique and affordable treasures: gourmet kitchenware, antiques, herbal remedies, new and used hard-to-find books, art supplies, giftware, crafts, boutique clothing, wholesale diamond jewelry, and gourmet confections.

There is SO MUCH more available! Please visit the following site and it's links to explore and discover the richness of Fairfield's entertainment/activity possibilities:
www.fairfieldiowa.com.

Young and young at heart welcome...For all the reasons listed above, we think your whole family will enjoy Fairfield's 1st Fridays Art Walk. Our goal is to have something for everyone at all 1st Fridays Art Walks. The very highest quality of all art forms, visual, music, dance and performance, plus activities specifically for children, and all our special events such as our December-January Gingerbread Extravaganza, February’s 3-day Film and Video Festival and July’s Great American Art Scavenger Hunt.

Please come visit us soon. We look forward to meeting you!