Lawrence Art Guild opens 20-stop studio tour across Douglas County

Homes, studios and a rented display space at Art Emergency became part of a free weekend market for local art as the Lawrence Art Guild spread 20 stops across Lawrence and Douglas County, with more than 50 artists taking part. The self-guided Art Spaces tour opened Saturday and ran from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and continued Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., giving visitors a chance to buy work directly from the artists and see how the pieces are made.

The Guild said artists could open their own homes or studios, another artist’s space, a public art space or a rented display space at Art Emergency. Eligibility was limited to artists 21 or older, and each participant showed only their own work. The 2026 tour included painting, drawing, pastels, mixed media, sculpture, fine woodworking, fiber arts and glass, a mix that turned the route into a walk-through of the county’s creative economy as much as an art outing.

This year’s featured artist was Nick Schmeidler, whose Old West Lawrence home and sculpture-filled yard sat on the route. Schmeidler said much of his work came from salvaged parts gathered from scrapyards, alleys and riverbanks, and he has spent years keeping the house and yard changing so the pieces stay fresh. He and his wife bought the house about 30 years ago, and the property was featured on HGTV’s Home Strange Home in 2012.

The event fits a longer Lawrence tradition. The Lawrence Art Guild said it was founded in 1962 by a small volunteer group of residents who wanted to support local artists and build an annual show that became Art in the Park. Guild history materials say the organization formed in early 1962, and a Douglas County Community Foundation profile says it became a Kansas nonprofit in 1990. Art in the Park, which dates to 1964, remains the Guild’s premier fundraising event.

The county’s arts numbers show why that matters. The City of Lawrence said a 2015 Arts & Economic Prosperity study found the nonprofit arts and culture sector in Lawrence-Douglas County generated $30.8 million, supported 1,061 full-time equivalent jobs and produced $2.8 million in local and state government revenue. Local tourism data also show visitors spent $296.3 million in Douglas County in 2023, up 6% from the year before, underscoring how a studio tour can feed both neighborhood culture and the broader weekend economy.