Splitting Fresno’s ArtHop baby? City leaders shake up the event but not everyone is on board

This story was originally published by Fresnoland , a nonprofit news organization.

ArtHop, as Fresno has known it, is no more.

It’s not canceled, city leaders confirmed Wednesday – but it’s getting split into two different events.

The monthly event, which some said already felt like it consisted of “two different worlds,” will continue to include an indoor assortment of art galleries open to the public across downtown Fresno and the Tower District on the first Thursday of each month.

The outdoor street fair part of ArtHop, on the other hand, will move to Wednesday nights.

That new event will also be monthly but may eventually ramp up to a weekly occurrence, Councilmember Miguel Arias said at the meeting Wednesday at City Hall.

At the outdoor event, the city will cover the cost of shutting down the street for vendors to set up, garbage services, public restrooms and assigning police officers to provide security.

The only cost vendors themselves will have to front is $24 for a business tax certificate from the City of Fresno. Food vendors will have to pay for a public health permit from Fresno County as well, which Arias said also carries a “nominal” fee.

“We as a city are not interested in making money off vendors,” Arias said. “We’re interested in getting organization and structure, and having enough city support services on site to handle thousands of people on a monthly basis coming downtown.”

Mayor Jerry Dyer and Arias said they hope to see the first new street fair up and running in just about five weeks, announcing a tentative date of Sept. 4.

“We know that folks depend on the festival to be able to generate revenue, and September is basically just a 30-day delay from their usual,” Arias said of the reasoning behind the quick turnaround in an interview with Fresnoland. “It’s as fast as we can possibly do it.”

But the city is still looking for an organizer to step up to the plate and manage the street fair, which could delay the September launch, Arias added.

Why Wednesday?

Critics of the recent changes to ArtHop previously told Fresnoland they’re concerned splitting the event in two could cancel much-needed momentum ArtHop helped build for downtown Fresno.

Several community members who attended Wednesday’s meeting echoed these concerns, advocating to keep the event on the same schedule it’s been on for decades.

“People always look forward to the first Thursday of the month,” said Eddie Wutangsy, owner of ghost kitchen My Guy Market . “It’s a beautiful thing to see, especially when you’re a resident of downtown. You love to see the streets all filled up.”

“Every Wednesday seems a little bit too much,” he added. “There are events that happen daily in downtown, and they don’t get as much impact as … ArtHop on the first Thursday of the month.”

Arias and Dyer said the selection of Wednesday has partly to do with police schedules and their efforts to avoid any preventable safety issues at ArtHop.

The city consistently has an excess of officers working Wednesday nights, Arias said.

“This gives us an opportunity to put probably 15 to 20 police officers in that area,” Dyer said.

The police schedule is determined through contract negotiations with the police officers’ union, which Dyer said makes it difficult to change to accommodate a Thursday ArtHop street fair.

“Changing that day from a Wednesday to a Thursday would require their agreement,” he added.

“If I could flip a switch and say, ‘Yes we have all the police on Thursday,’ we wouldn’t be here today.”

What’s next?

The city is working to assemble a steering committee to help shape the separate street fair going forward.

The committee’s first meeting will be Friday, hosted by the Downtown Fresno Partnership, Arias said.

Folks interested in joining the committee can contact Arias’ office, he added. They have yet to determine how many members will be on the committee.

As for figuring out which organization will manage the event, that’s still up in the air, Arias said.

“It’s a really big job,” he said.

They have asked the Downtown Fresno Partnership to play a role given their status as operators of the Downtown Fresno Property and Business Improvement District.

That means they’re a public-private entity that provides services to help with the improvement of a specific commercial area, according to the Partnership’s website .

Elliott Balch, president of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, told Fresnoland the organization hopes to play some kind of role but didn’t say for sure whether they’d step up as the managers of the event.

What are vendors saying?

So far, many vendors and artists have voiced frustration with the city’s sudden change to the long-standing event.

Many first learned there were changes coming to ArtHop following a July 19 news conference , where Arias announced the city was canceling all outdoor vending at the Aug. 1 ArtHop.

At a news conference organized by artist couple and regular ArtHop vendors Crystal Rocha and Joseph Rodriguez before Wednesday’s meeting, some vendors said they feel like these decisions are creating a false hierarchy in the world of art.

“We are the hard-working entrepreneurs, who are the heartbeat of this city,” said Amy Aragon, a vendor of vintage clothing, “and do not deserve to be diminished and excluded from the art community.”

Dakari Cleveland, founder of The Alley in the Valley, said the vendors his organization works with will be missing out on vital income with the cancelation of Thursday’s outdoor ArtHop events.

“A lot of people are out on the streets because we know the simple fact that the arts spaces are limited,” he said, “and aren’t always welcoming.”