[OMS_MANAGERS] Art and Wine Walk Questions

[Office]

Astoria has been doing a 2nd Saturday Artwalk for years.  It encompasses all the galleries in town as well as any other retailers willing to have an art installation hanging in their store for one month. We average about 20 participants per month all paying $20 per month to participate.
We gather information from each venue about 2 weeks prior to the next Artwalk. That information is compiled into a listing of details and images that gets sent to Coast Weekend, a once weekly supplement to the Astorian newspaper. All the venues are listed in the paper along with some images.
ADHDA also promotes the monthly event with ads in local monthly publications and on our local radio station, along with ads in Portland Art Dealers Asociation (PADA) newsletter.  Most of our advertising is paid through a grant from the City of Astoria.
We publish a monthly map of the venues that includes times the venues are open along with descriptions of each show. The printing is done by one of our local sponsors and all the venues receive copies of the map. There is a page on our website dedicated to Artwalk that is updated every month with the new information and digital copies of the map.
Finally, Artwalk has its own Instagram where we promote the new shows heavily for the week before the event. Lots of images of all the art available to view and hopefully purchase.
Serving wine is up to the individual venue.  We neither encourage or discourage the practice. Servings are required to be small and wine can’t be carried out of the venue. Occasionally a venue will invite a vintner to do a pop-up within their space, but they don’t seem to go over well. The art is the focus for Artwalk.
We’ve been toying with the idea of a separate Wine Walk but would not connect it with Artwalk. Those plans are still being formulated.

Please reach out with any questions.

Janet Hutchings
Artwalk Coordinator
Astoria Downtown Historic District Association
PO Box 261
609 Bond St.
Astoria, OR 97103<https://goo.gl/maps/WcNZsFyoFci5WkkG7>
www.AstoriaDowntown.com<http://www.astoriadowntown.com/>

From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> On Behalf Of BCD ED Ariel Reker
Sent: Sunday, February 1, 2026 11:46 AM
To: Oregon Main Street Network Members <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>
Cc: Amy Maxwell <amy at tickettomato.com>
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Art and Wine Walk Questions

Both exist in Baker City, but only the wine events are organized by Baker City Downtown. Wine Walk has been a big part of BCD and our downtown since 2018.

First Friday Art Walk is held every first Friday of the month. No one person or group organizes or "owns" the event in Baker. A lot of the participating galleries are very proud of this fact, but it has created some significant challenges for the public/participants - mostly because you never know who is open and when, and there is no map for folks to consult. Crossroads Carnegie Art Center has taken a small leadership role in organizing some advertising for the event, but more than that it's been slow going to try and make any changes. BCD seeks to support this event, both with marketing and hosting pop-up's to help get more folks out and about and connect folks to the event.

Third Thursday (previously "unWINEd" or "Wine Walk"), will be held every third Thursday from March-December this year. BCD provides a branded glass and a map of the participating businesses for a $12 donation. The participating businesses offer small samples of wine, beer, liquor, food, mocktails, etc. to get folks in their door. We try to keep the number of participating businesses under 15, as that's a good chunk of alcohol if every location is pouring drinks. We do not limit the number of folks who get a glass and map. Since I started in 2023, we have averaged about 67 attendees, the lowest ever being 16 and the highest ever being 111. Our biggest expense though, has become our event insurance. Unfortunately, since we do it regularly, we are not covered by our main insurance. We have to purchase almost $500 of extra event insurance to cover just this event.

An important note on legality - per OLCC you cannot "sell" a glass, it must be considered a donation. This means that folks can technically go around with a solo cup and participate. We have had a number of people figure this out, so they bypass making the donation and go around with glasses from previous months. You cannot stop them, but we have started making the branded glass each year different to be obvious and we try to stress that this event is a fundraiser for not just BCD (a 501(c)3 charity) but also our partner charities. Also per OLCC, you cannot check IDs and do wristbands, it takes on the liability without the liquor license or something (this predates me, I just follow the guidelines pre-determined by the Board).

We partner with other nonprofits each month to share proceeds and get more folks out. The community really loves this, so that's been a big promotion piece here. Our marketing slogans for the event are "Sip. Shop. Stroll. Support." and "Raise a glass and raise some funds". The partner charity gets 25% of the proceeds if they set up a table with 2 volunteers at the starting location, and then for every 5 participants that bring in a "Supporter Ticket" they get an additional 5% of the proceeds, up to 50% of the proceeds total. This way, if they supply half of the average attendees ~ 25, they get half the proceeds. We track the number of tickets turned in and charities that bring in a lot of folks get priority for next year. Charities that don't bring in many folks get low priority or are not invited to partner again on this event but are directed to other opportunities. We have more charities interested in partnering than we have months, so this was one of the systems we established to help us negotiate that.

We order the glasses from Clearwater Gear - out of Sandpoint, ID - for the 9oz glasses, they're about $1.33 per glass. We spend about $50 per month on printing. No other real expenses. We partner with our local brewery (Barley Browns) to go in on glass orders since they have a forklift and can get a cheaper freight rate. The owner is also a great guy and tends to cover all the freight costs since they order way more glass than we do, which fills the pallet and makes it all cheaper for the both of us. Overall, it's a good event, takes about 10 hours of work total per month between myself and volunteers, and brings in roughly $400 per month after expenses and profit sharing.

Happy to answer any other questions,
Ariel

On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 2:25 PM <steve at cateringbydeangelos.com<mailto:steve at cateringbydeangelos.com>> wrote:
All,

Our findings in Downtown Tigard was when we mixed Art into the Wine Walk, The Art took a back seat, eventually, we stripped away the Art component and created two separate events.

We sell sponsorships for a take home glass that is created by a local company here called Glass tech
https://www.glasstechweb.com/

Additionally, we sell tickets through Ticket Tomato which has a data base of additional places that through Food & Beverage events for cross marketing and promotion.
https://www.tickettomato.com/
The event usually sells out and has been a good revenue generator for our Downtown association.

Kyle may be able to share more as well!

Steve DeAngelo,
Tigard Downtown Alliance
Past  President, Founding Member, Design Committee Lead
Tigard, Or 97223
503-620-9020

 [cid:image001.png at 01DC9373.EE91D8D0]

From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov>> On Behalf Of Helen Connolly
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2026 2:12 PM
To: Oregon Main Street Network Members <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>>
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Art and Wine Walk Questions

I'd love this information, also!

Helen Connolly
Downtown Manager
manager at dallasdowntownassociation.org<mailto:manager at dallasdowntownassociation.org>
(503) 967-5376

“It is not enough to stare up the steps – we must step up the stairs.” Dr. Vance Havner

Find our newsletter here: DDA Monthly Newsletter<https://www.dallasdowntownassociation.org/newsletters-more/>
Enhancing this wonderful city where we live, work and play!

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On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 2:11 PM Jennifer T. J. Hackman <jennifer at downtownklamathfalls.org<mailto:jennifer at downtownklamathfalls.org>> wrote:
Hello Everyone,

We are considering adding an art and wine walk to our list of events in Klamath Falls.

Would any communities that host art wine (or other beverage) events be willing to share your planning processes, business communication templates, or any tips you have for a successful event?

With Gratitude,

[Jenn Hackman]

[photo]

Jennifer Hackman
Executive Director, Klamath Falls Downtown Association

541-539-6212<tel:541-539-6212>  |  www.downtownklamathfalls.org<https://www.downtownklamathfalls.org>

Jennifer at downtownklamathfalls.org<mailto:Jennifer at downtownklamathfalls.org>

205 Riverside Dr. Suite F, Klamath Falls, OR 97601<https://maps.google.com/?q=205%20Riverside%20Dr.%20Suite%20F,%20Klamath%20Falls,%20OR%2097601>

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