By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
The City of Del Rio and the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce will be partnering to offer free public transportation to all local art galleries on Friday, Oct. 2.
Lupita De La Paz, executive director for the Casa de la Cultura, talked with The 830 Times about the upcoming collaboration between the art galleries, the city and the chamber. De la Paz said free shuttle rides were offered more than 10 years ago during First Friday Art Walks, and she and the galleries wanted to bring them back to allow people to appreciate visual-art shows downtown.
“First Friday Art Walks were extremely popular (back then). It was an entire movement where people would come out and enjoy the art. At some point, they kind of died down a little bit. So this is our way of revamping them and letting people know of all the different galleries and the artists here. It’s a way to work with the chamber to create an art district and let people know about what is going on in south Del Rio,” De La Paz said.
The locations the shuttles will be stopping at include Lee-Bunch Studio at 100 W. Greenwood St., the Firehouse Gallery at 120 E. Garfield St., Marcos Mares Studio & Gallery at 205 E. Ogden St., Falcon Art Gallery at 301 E. Garfield St. and the Casa de la Cultura at 302 Cantu St.
The shuttles, which are the same transportation buses used by the city, will be rotating at each gallery. De La Paz said people can park outside the PNC bank, 535 S. Main St., or in the Casa de la Cultura parking lot, where they can board the shuttles, allowing them to avoid using gas and spending time to find parking spaces at multiple locations.
De La Paz said people are not allowed to bring alcoholic drinks or food inside the shuttles. She also said using the shuttles will not only help persons visiting the galleries for the first time but also will allow them to become familiar with how easy and accessible city transportation is to use.
“I actually rode the bus recently, and I went through all the stops. They actually do 23 stops around town, and it is actually a really cool way to transport and be able to go all around town,” De La Paz said.
