Photographer, coffee shop plan visual art gallery night

CRESTVIEW — When Dale Riley approached Casbah Coffee Company about hosting a gallery night for visual artists, he was just the spark they sought.

It all started when Riley saw a musician friend perform at Casbah; he noted the number of attendees.

From there, ideas started flowing about how to capture that energy for non-musical artists. Riley, a photographer, formed the plan to host a night that highlights Crestview’s visual artists.

“The idea is to focus on only local artists and give them a place they can show their work and people can meet the artists behind them,” Riley said.

He pitched the idea to Casbah, along with some initial plans for how the night would run.

“We’ve been tossing the idea for something like this for over a year,” Casbah owner Bill Toannon said. “When Dale came to us, we knew he was the person to get it off the ground.”

The first gallery night — 6-8 p.m. March 7 at Casbah Coffee, 196 W. Pine Ave. — will feature work from 15 Crestview-based artists, representing various mediums, both presenting and selling their creations.

Artists will display their work throughout the coffee shop for the evening and a featured artist will get to keep their work on display for a full month.

“I’m going to see what brings people in and try to perfect it while it’s small,” Riley said.

Riley and Toannon’s goal is to have the gallery show spread beyond Casbah’s walls.  Riley envisioned artists displaying along the sidewalk outside the building and increasing the number of participating artists.

“It’d be great if we could get other businesses near us to get on board and start hosting artists as well,” Toannon said. “Create an area for people to walk around and explore the different art — because people shouldn’t have to drive 20 minutes for something to do.”

Riley intends to host the event the first Tuesday of each month. Although slots for the initial show are filled, he has opened the list for April — which is already filling up.

See www.dalerileyphoto.com to contact Riley if you are interested in displaying work at an upcoming gallery night.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Photographer, coffee shop plan visual art gallery night