Middleton Arts Committee finalizes Art Walk plans, lines up pop-up events and volunteers

The Middleton Arts Committee on an evening meeting confirmed progress on Art Walk preparations and set out schedules for a series of pop-up art events that will run from spring through the summer.

Committee members said the Art Walk planning team has most logistics in place and is “pushing to get around mid April,” and reported roughly 26 artists have been invited to participate. The committee committed to a children’s activity area at Art Walk and a range of pop-up events at local parks and community gatherings in June, July and August.

The committee’s pop-up plan includes a kids’ corner featuring a bubble-wand activity and a crayon-resist watercolor project to give children a hands-on art experience. “I’ve made a sample of that bubble wand just to kind of show you guys what I did find,” said Unidentified Speaker 4, who is organizing the kids’ activities. Members offered to supply materials and to test bubble mixes before the event.

Speakers volunteered to staff the June 8 Pride event and other pop-up dates; one member said they could cover a full-day shift and organizers discussed splitting events into two-hour shifts to ease staffing. The committee emphasized recruiting high-school Key Club students and art-class volunteers, and agreed to distribute sign-up links using a sign-up tool after current travel schedules clear.

On partnerships and logistics, the committee discussed working with the city library for a “Library in the Park” event and using the library’s book-giveaway to pair a bookmark-making activity. Members also proposed having the library’s selfie station or bookmobile participate if schedules allow.

Promotion and communications were flagged as priorities. The committee discussed whether to post event details on the city’s public-arts webpage (cityofmiddleton.us/publicarts) or create a dedicated Arts Committee social-media account. Several members volunteered to draft posts and form a small working group to manage scheduling and posting.

Next steps: organizers will finalize volunteer sign-ups and supply lists, confirm pop-up dates, and circulate promotional materials ahead of Art Walk and associated events.