For eight years, Stacy Rice has been selling her handmade, crocheted items along the sidewalk at First Friday Art Crawl in downtown Tulsa.
“I have some health issues and can’t work outside the home and this pays my bills,” said Rice.
She and several other artists now feel their livelihood is in jeopardy. At October’s event, a citizen handed them copies of a recently revised city ordinance and a message.
“We were going to be kicked out and probably given a fine,” said Josh Barbee, another artist and vendor.
At issue: whether some vendors are illegally obstructing the sidewalks.
“We always make sure our tables are in the grass space, not blocking any pedestrians, we are not blocking crosswalks,” said Rice.
2 News Anchor Erin Christy spoke to four concerned artists. They told her that when the art crawl first started, only a handful of non-sanctioned artists set up along the sidewalks. These days, there can be up to 40 vendors, and some have very large tents. Rice believes the tents could be what prompted the complaint to the city.