Bundle up and take a walking tour of 7 small, independently run businesses where you can sip, eat, and complete your holiday shopping with selections from over 20 different local artisan vendors. All locations are decked out with seasonal vibes, including Holiday cocktail menus, drink specials, and gifts. December First Friday in the EXR is a true Kansas City experience with something for everyone!

Participating Locations:

Lifted Spirits

Casual Animal Brewing Company

Mean Mule Distilling Company

Green Dirt on Oak

Chartreuse Saloon

King G Bar and Deli

BKS Artisan Ales — Crossroads

Bundle up and take a walking tour of 7 small, independently run businesses where you can sip, eat, and complete your holiday shopping with selections from over 20 different local artisan vendors. All locations are decked out with seasonal vibes, including Holiday cocktail menus, drink specials, and gifts. December First Friday in the EXR is a true Kansas City experience with something for everyone! 

Participating Locations:

Casual Animal Brewing Company

Mean Mule Distilling Company

Green Dirt on Oak

Chartreuse Saloon

King G Bar and Deli

Lifted Spirits

BKS Artisan Ales — Crossroads

Nicholas Clark’s work is a direct reflection of his optimistic personality. From vivid oranges to metallic silvers and golds highlighted by passionate reds, his art displays a mastery of color that cannot be taught. His mediums vary from acrylics to oils and focus on creating depth through layering and application of rich texture. As Clark notes, “I pull my inspiration from fashion family, friends and music and I love working with figures because they are always so challenging — the detail of a hand, the curves of a body and the capturing of natural movement and expression.

“My journey as an artist began with the simplest of mediums; blank paper, pencil, and pen. I quickly discovered my attraction to something I consider both cathartic and magical; the transformation of a blank sheet of paper into something aesthetically pleasing, a work of art, an 8 x 11” window of beauty in our oftentimes mundane world. Over time, the introduction of acrylics, oils, and watercolors into my work only further enhanced this process, and resultantly began my chromatic passion. Color is now the key to my creative process, and is something that remains constant throughout the continuous variance of my subject matter. Through the manipulation of color, both in its’ absence and abundance, I am able to most purely express myself and establish an authentic, personal connection with all of my artwork.”

Mark Housel a Kansas native, currently in Parsons KS, has always drawn. He cannot recall a time he did not. Painting followed in his teens. Pottery came late for some reason, despite an interest in ceramics, it was only in 2022 that he began learning about clay. From the first there was a connection. The wheel, that took time.

Mark’s work is functional, everyday pottery. Working in porcelain and stoneware he is exploring the form along with the firing. Woodfiring, soda firing, and oxidation. What can each bring to the table. The community it takes to even make it possible is just as important. Mark has taken classes and workshops at the KC Clay Guild, and recently began participating in the woodfiring’s at Big Magic Anagama in Spring Hill Kansas. Mark has been minimizing glaze application to show off the clay body and environmental
reactions. There is so much to discover in each and Mark is excited to keep learning more.

As we come to the end of 2025, join us this December First Friday at the Lexitas Gallery, 1608 Locust Street, from 5 pm to 8pm. Come in from the cold for a warm drink and enjoy a beautiful gallery of artwork created during September 2025 for the Brush Creek Art Walk 14th Anniversary. This was a 3‑day weekend of Outdoor Painting. 50 pre-registered artists participated. All works on display are for sale for you or for that special person as a thoughtful Christmas gift.