Inhale, exhale… the weekend has arrived, but before you flop on the couch and don’t move until Monday, take some time to go to the community and look at its wonders. If any Drake University student is looking for a free and close-by place to spend their Friday night, First Friday is the way to go. 

On the first Friday of every month, Mainframe Studios, a hub for artist studios downtown on Keosauqua Way, opens its doors to the public. The event includes performances, artist demonstrations and refreshments. 

Parking, a worry of mine given the large number of people traveling downtown, was made easy through the First Friday shuttle service. I parked in a spacious lot and within five minutes, a van picked me up off the street and conveyed me directly to Mainframe Studio’s front door. In the van, the driver handed me a free drink ticket, which I was able to cash in inside the building for a Coca-Cola. 

Mainframe Studios is a gorgeous building on the outside, with vibrant colors and large text reading “inhale” and “exhale” on its sides. On the inside, it is like a labyrinth of artists, with doors every which way leading passers by inside studios. I cannot tell you how much I got lost, but it was a pleasant wander, looping around the muraled halls. 

On the first floor, I had the opportunity to create a shrinky dink in exchange for a $3 donation. I’d never made a shrinky dink before — crafters draw on a specific type of paper which they then bake. Inside the oven, it shrinks into a solid plastic-y charm that you can use as a keychain, earrings or more. Having something I created myself gave me a feeling of pride at the arts event. Plus, it looks great on my key ring! 

Vendors weren’t only selling art, though, as the event hall had food for sale too. Everything from tamales to cinnamon rolls was on sale, and all for reasonable prices and with plenty of pescatarian options for me. I had some veggie dumplings for $5 and found them delightfully rich and earthy. 

The room also had an artist playing guitar, bringing a calming yet interesting air to the room. 

Going up their five floors, I popped inside each studio, getting to meet the artists and learn more about their unique crafts. The rooms had everything from paper trees to diamond art, and the variety of mediums the artists used blew me away. It was one artist on the second floor’s impressionist work of futuristic landscapes, however, that really spoke to me. The combination of city landscapes and the pastel coloring fit in such a natural yet eye-catching way. 

Most of the artists were selling their wares, and while I was on a budget, some of them were on the cheaper side. I purchased a painted oak tree cutting for $1 that now hangs on my wall. It was so neat to meet the people who made what I can now appreciate every day. 

In the basement, glassblowers demonstrated how they create a Christmas tree, shaping and coloring a glob of molten glass until it looked as gorgeous as the ones for sale. Their technique — the precision and potential danger of it — blew me away, but they explained that with the correct knowledge of safety procedures and help from experts, anyone can blow glass, even a two-year-old. The glassblowers invited us to feel how hot the furnace was, a neat way of showing more of their art. 

Many of the artists, including the glass blowers, highlighted their classes. Outside of First Friday, Mainframe Studios hosts classes and workshops put on by the artists, a great way to get started in a new craft. 

I cannot stress how awe-inspiring the artwork was — the art I saw created, the art for sale and the art just hanging on the walls. Everywhere I looked was evidence of love and care — from the artist who showed a lineage of craft by hanging their works beside those of their grandmother to the artist who painted a Des Moines street as only someone who loved it could. 

In many of the works, I felt as though I was truly seeing the world through new eyes, eyes that saw beauty in places I had never seen. I left First Friday looking at the world with new appreciation, an appreciation only art can give.