Is The “First Friday Art Trail” for Certain Kinds of Artists Only?

By now you all are familiar with the "Nightmare on 19th Street", a local haunted attraction that has been scaring the crap out of the people of Lubbock for 6 years now. For those of us that know, Wes Nessman owner /operator and his kids at the nightmare know that you will never find a nicer, respectful or more dedicated group of people devoted to what it is they do.

They spend hours and hours perfecting their make-up and costumes and this past Friday they showed up to the First Friday Art Trail. Not as a nuisance, but just to hand out some fliers for the "Nightmare". They were not threatening, scaring people or acting crazy in any way. In fact they were walking pieces of art. But apparently they were not the kind of art welcome at the FFAT. According to several witnesses the following went down:

The actors (who are all 18 or older, by the way) were first asked to leave the Buddy Holly Center and told "maybe we can have you back for an event that’s a better fit for you guys." That's fine, understood. The actors left and nobody was upset or offended.

That all changed when they arrived at the Icehouse at 511 Avenue J. Not only did a representative for the FFAT kick them out, but she got a police officer involved who told them that during the FFAT the streets were considered "private property". They were also told that the closest they could be to the event was at the AJ building.

Since when are the streets of Lubbock "Private Property"? We have the homeless begging on the corners and selling newspapers at every loop 289 intersection on a Saturday and Sunday with no interference what-so-ever. But as soon as some "undesirables" invade the space of a bunch of uptight, wine drinking, wanna-be art connoisseurs, the streets are all of a sudden closed and private. I have a lot of friends and artists that frequently attend the FFAT and I mean no disrespect to any of them but as in most social gatherings there are all types of people.

If you have never seen the actors of the "Nightmare" in their make-up and costumes you really have no idea how detailed and stunning they look. They were the art some of those a**holes were stumbling around looking for! Since the beginning of time artists and their art, no matter what the medium have pushed the envelope, defied the social "norm" and reminded us that there are people among us that see things differently. And the cool part about that is that they have every right to do just that. To Not conform. To NOT comply. And to NOT change one single thing about themselves for any reason.

I truly hope that this ridiculous behavior by a select few in Lubbock has not discouraged any of the friends and family that is "The Nightmare on 19th Street". I hope they know they realize that a lot of Lubbock, myself included appreciate their bizarre brand of art and cannot wait to see what they have planned for us this year at the Nightmare.

I will have all your freebies right here on KISS-FM for the Nightmare so stay tuned.