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(Lander, WY) – The Lander Art District is currently being established to encourage both locals and visitors to “Eat, Shop, Create and Stay” in downtown Lander. The district encompasses the entire northside of Main Street’s 200 block with 202 Main Street being the anchor building.
The opening of the Lander Art District will be celebrated with a street fair on June 4th & 5th. At 1 pm on the 5th, Lander Mayor Monte Richardson will ceremoniously mark the occasion with a ribbon-cutting at N 2nd and Main.
Spearheading the district formation is a local business owner and artist Lori Hunter who purchased the district’s anchor building (former Forge) as an investment property with her husband last October.
Alchemy: An Artists’ Cooperative approached them about space in their new building and have since moved into the front portion. The back kitchen area of the building is being used by both the Lander Bread Share and Speedgoat Market. Lori will also open her store, Rebound, which sells upcycled items like journals and jewelry in the back portion of the building.
In addition to the building becoming a creative hub, there are several businesses and organizations on that block such as the Lander Art Center, the Grand Theatre, Fremont Frameworks, private artist studios, and Red White Buffalo among others that also have strong creative ties.
Lori noted she saw all of these creative things happening and started playing around with the “Art District” concept and meeting with businesses on the block to gauge interest.
The goal is to have the block placemaking downtown to get people into local businesses.
The LOR Foundation along with two TAD grants will help fund larger-scale art projects happening on the block. A Lander Art District sign will go on top of the anchor building – a mural rotation is also planned for the side of the building facing 2nd Street as well as an interactive chalkboard. In addition, a custom art piece bench will be installed.
While Lori’s focus is on this block for now, she does hope to inspire others downtown to get creative.
Learn more about the Lander Art District here and County 10 will share updates about the opening weekend events.