Artists always are looking for a place to show their work. On the first Friday of each month, they have an entire neighborhood to display in.

The First Friday Art Crawl, which will be from 5 to 9 p.m. June 5, offers artists, working in all mediums, a chance to show their stuff. Think of it as pub crawl meets gallery showing. A different artist shows his or her work at each participating business. Maps of the artists and where they are showing are available at the businesses.

Guests can make their way through the art crawl (the bulk of which runs along Felix Street) at their own pace, viewing as many or as few of the artists as they want.

“We just have a great time,” says organizer Cheryl Simonis. “We keep it very informal, very casual, there really are no rules ...”

Although the art crawl started in the outdoor-unfriendly cold of December, it attracted a crowd. It’s continued to grow over the months, with the number of artists almost doubling and participating businesses increasing from eight to about 20.

“You know you’re doing something right when they start calling you and wanting to participate,” Mrs. Simonis says, “and they’re doing that and have been doing that since day one.”

The art crawls are a win-win situation for both the artists and the downtown businesses. For the artists, it’s a chance to show off work and interact with fellow artists.

“You occasionally sell some stuff, and people might commission you to do some art if they have a specific thing in mind that they would like,” says artist Nancy Goody, who shows at Pony Espresso. “And meeting other artists, you have things in common to talk about and inspire each other to do more art.”

The art crawls are also a chance for those viewing the art to ask the artists questions — something they might not be able to do at a gallery or museum showing.

“They usually have some questions,” she says. “They like to know what inspired you and what medium you used, like oil and acrylics...”

And for the businesses, they get an increase in foot traffic as well as some new customers.

“It’s very beneficial to everyone that’s involved,” says Nathan Karr, owner of Fosters’s Martini Bar. “You get new people that have never been in here before, kind of see what were about... some of them stay, some of them don’t.”

And perhaps a bigger benefit is bringing new people to downtown, period. Mr. Karr says many people still don’t realize how much downtown has to offer and how much it’s been revitalized over the past several years.

“They’ve got this mindset that’s not accurate anymore. It’s a vibrant community that’s coming to life, and there’s a lot of different things going on,” he says. “There’s restaurants and clothing stores and art galleries and little cafes where you can sit outside... We are pretty proud of what’s happening. There’s a lot people trying to make this downtown a vibrant place again.”

Lifestyles reporter Lacey Storer can be reached at lstorer@npgco.com