Art Gallery Crawl

Five Reasons Why Artista Vista Matters: 1 - It celebrates the Vista. "The galleries have transformed the Vista into what you see today," says Lewis. "Some have been here more than 25 years. They took an early chance." 2 - It introduces people to Columbia's thriving art scene. "It's easy to be intimidated by an art gallery, particularly if you don't think you know a lot about art," says Wells. "The music, food and festive atmosphere attract people who don't normally visit galleries." 3 - You can still find terrific deals on original works of art. "We have plenty of work from young artists, which can be surprisingly affordable," notes Wells. "At Artista Vista, we'll be showing pieces from MFA students." 4 - There's a huge variety of art. Beyond paintings, you'll see sculpture, jewelry, ceramics and functional works like lamps, all from both emerging and established artists. 5 - The Vista Guild will unveil a new, large-scale sculpture titled Connecting Volumes. Klaus Hartmann and Reiner Mahrlein, artists from Columbia's German sister city, Kaiserslautern, have been in Columbia for 16 days working on the piece, which will be placed near the entrance to the Vista Greenway at Lady and Lincoln Streets. So far, the secret work has been seen only by a few privileged eyes. 2014 marks the 23rd year of Artista Vista-Columbia's oldest gallery crawl.