The River District Association announced this week the addition of a Downtown Danville Arts and Sculpture Tour in the River District app, Distrx.
This tour, through walking, photos and recorded audio, leads participants through the River District to view and learn about sculptures, murals and other art projects in downtown Danville.
“We are so excited to offer this tour,” Kirsten Aherron, communications and events manager for the association, said. “It a great way to enjoy the River District. The tour is self-guided, so participants can go at their own pace and stop part way through for lunch, coffee or shopping, before resuming again.”
The tour also features the newly installed Wanderlove: A Stitch In Time community yarnbombing project organized by the Danville Museum of Fine Art and History installed along the Riverwalk.
“This interactive winter community project, produced from January through June, celebrates, and reflects people’s many different backgrounds and experiences” museum director Elsabe Dixon said. Wanderlove was installed July 4, and will be part of downtown until September.
“RDA understands how important it is for our community to have fun, free activities for the entire family to enjoy downtown, and our latest tour is no exception. In our most vibrant communities across the nation, public art is an essential part of placemaking, and our downtown is no different,” said RDA Executive Director Diana Schwartz. “Sometimes it is easy to forget how much art we have in our downtown, and this tour is a perfect opportunity to highlight these assets, provide another opportunity for physical activity, and bring more people into our beautiful historic downtown and see all the things that have been re-imagined.”
Visitors and residents can also enjoy a Civil Rights Tour and a Downtown Revitalization Tour in the app. All three tours are available in the River District app which can be downloaded in the Google Play or Apple app stores. The descriptions for the sculptures in the Danville Arts and Sculpture Tour were created by Danville’s Department of Parks and Recreation’s Danville Art Trail project, also responsible for the installation of the sculptures.
The River District Association was organized in 1999 as the Downtown Danville Association. In May 2015, the organization was renamed the River District Association to complement the city’s River District brand and is accredited by both the Virginia Main Street Organization and the National Main Street (Main Street America).