Association/Club/Society - Nonprofit
Website: https://fairfieldfirstfridays.org
(641) 233-8883
101 N. Court St., Fairfield, IA 52556
Fairfield First Fridays mission is to Celebrate Creativity, Culture, and Community.
CREATIVITY: To continue to develop Fairfield First Fridays as a diverse celebration of all art forms: visual, performing, literary, film, ethnic and historical, accessible to all ages and cultures.
CULTURE: To continue to seek new ways to enhance Fairfield’s cultural community by creating arts-related employment, education, expression and development.
COMMUNITY: To enhance quality of life within the community of Fairfield through the facilitation of events that encourages individuals and organizations to collaborate and celebrate within the community. It has been through these events that FFF has become a significant contributor to Fairfield’s economic development by attracting visitors and tourism generating increased local spending; yet another powerful way FFF has impacted and improved the quality of life for the community.
Stacey Hurlin
Founder of the non-profit Art Life Society
In August 2002, Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk was started by Stacey Hurlin, founder of the non-profit Art Life Society. The first art walk was named “A Fun Fest Gallery Walk”. It was Hurlin’s desire to create a more interactive event within Fairfield’s art community and for the general public, especially visitors to our unique town.
The event was such a success that Hurlin and the Fairfield Arts Community were inspired to begin the monthly Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk in October 2002. It has run every month going forward and has become larger, increasingly diverse, creative and more populously attended with each passing year. FFFAW was coordinated and organized on a purely volunteer basis until its size and growth required full time staffing. In May 2007 the first Art Walk Director and assistant was hired. Currently thousands of people attend the summer events. The continuing efforts of Art Walk have garnered it two State awards, including the Iowa Tourism Event of the Year and the Tourism and the Arts Award for 2008. More importantly, these events have become a gathering for individuals from all over the community and state to share & celebrate the arts.In 2016, Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk, changed their name, logo and updated the concept. Now named Fairfield First Fridays, and the focus is on Community Events. The new logo was designed to reflect the community coming together in the heart of Fairfield, the town square. The green square represents the town square and the two interlocking F’s represent our community coming together as a whole. Having just celebrated 20 years, we are looking forward to many more!