(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) – The Warrensburg First Fridays Art Walk returns with 18 businesses and more than 40 local artists and musicians to kick off summer starting at 6 p.m. Friday, June 2 in downtown Warrensburg. The event also marks the soft open of The Gallery Artist Cooperative, owned by Art Walk organizers Jay Linhardt and Anne Steinbrunn, according to a press release.

The Gallery is located at 111 N. Holden St., formerly the Gann Gallery. With the new venture, Linhardt and Steinbrunn plan to focus on local artists and crafters, with space dedicated to artists-in-residence as well as retail.

“We’re going to, first and foremost, maintain the gallery aspect of it,” Linhardt said. “We are going to change that a little bit, to where we’re featuring multiple local artists that are constantly rotating instead of one big art show a month. We’re also going to have a retail section in the front, featuring local artisans, crafters, and the like.”

The duo also plans to include music accessories and art supplies at a reasonable cost, something Linhardt said is lacking in Warrensburg with recent store closings.

The Warrensburg Arts Commission will have one of the pianos for its Painted Piano Project in front of The Gallery Artist Cooperative to be played live by Linhardt while local artists paint it.

Gary Grigsby, Vice Chair of the Warrensburg Arts Commission, said there are several pianos involved in the project and the goal is to have multiple pianos painted by local artists and then placed throughout Warrensburg and available for the public to play.

Grigsby said the Arts Commission plans to have a piano at the Downtown Vibrations circle on Pine Street and The Gallery Artist Cooperative as well as at gazebos in the Warrensburg Parks system.

The path of the art walk makes a “U” shape from Hout Street near the courthouse, south on N. Holden Street, and then west on W. Pine Street.

The next Warrensburg Arts Collective meeting will be June 7 at 7 p.m. at The Gallery Arts Cooperative, 111 N. Holden St. in Warrensburg.

For more information, or for those who want to participate as an artist or volunteer, email the Warrensburg Arts Collective at warrensburgartscollective@gmail.com. Or for more information about the Painted Piano Project, call Gary Grigsby at 660-864- 4418 or visit the Warrensburg Arts Commission website at burgarts.com.