Aurora artists getting acts together downtown

AURORA -- Nestled in a corner of a downtown café, artists, poets, musicians and writers shared their passion for the arts and culture in Aurora.

The first in a series of "Downtown Aurora Arts Mixers" was hosted last week at River's Edge Café at 18 W. Downer Place.

The gathering gave people in the art community an opportunity to network, mingle and get to know one another.

"The art community is accessible in Aurora," said Marissa Amoni, publisher of her newly founded Downtown Auroran, a quarterly arts and culture magazine.

Downtown Auroran, together with Cultural Creatives, a networking group comprised of people from all walks of life with a passion for the arts, co-sponsored the mixer, with the goal of creating an open and inviting art community.

The two entities are passionate about the arts and culture surviving and thriving in Aurora.

"Aurora is the second-largest city in Illinois and there are a lot of creative people here. This is a way to bring people together to talk about their work and what we can do to make it a better arts community," Amoni said.

Amoni, a correspondent for The Beacon-News, had to do some digging before she could find out about the Cultural Creatives group. Several representatives were seated in the café's front bay window, talking about their love for the City of Lights.

"Aurora has a long history of contributing to culture and it tends to get overlooked," said Jeannie Norris. "This is our first purely social event -- usually we are getting together for work."

Cultural Creatives has organized three art walks in downtown Aurora over the past year.

Business owners Jeff and Cathy Jones of River's Edge Café are among the investors in the revitalization of the downtown Aurora movement, as well as proponents for the arts in their city. They invite artists to display their work in the café.

"The arts bring life to a city," Jeff Jones said. "Aurora is in the process of figuring out what art is in this city."

West Aurora High School art student Brandon Zierer has studied through Art Works, a pre-college-credit scholarship program funded through the Aurora Public Arts Commission. The 17-year old is a sketch artist eager to meet other artists.

"It's great to talk with other artists," Zierer said.

Lynne Russell, a poet, has lived in Aurora for 34 years. "This is a really good way to get creative people together -- this is good for Aurora," she said.

Downtown Aurora Arts Mixers will be held the first Thursday of most months from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at River's Edge Café. The next mixer is Dec. 3.