While galleries and shops open their doors to summer visitors during the first Wiscasset Art Walk of the season on Thursday, June 29 from 5 to 8 p.m., Village sidewalks will also be pulsing with activity from community groups who have something to say to visitors.

Tracey Whitney, president of Friends of the Wiscasset Public Library, will be inviting sidewalk strollers to sign up for a library card as part of the group’s “literacy initiative.” The Friends supports the library with programs and fundraising, and also promotes the library’s services to the community. This will be the Friends’ first appearance at Wiscasset Art Walk (WAW).

Alissa Eason, Wiscasset Creative Alliance president and organizer of the upcoming Wiscasset Homes on Tour on July 8 will be greeting visitors and encouraging them to buy their tour tickets on the spot. “We have some fascinating homes on the tour this year,” she said, “all located in or near Wiscasset Village. We think people will be really interested in seeing them, so we are making it easy for visitors to buy tickets. At the Homes on Tour table, we will also have a game for children, complete with prizes.”

Garden Club of Wiscasset, a WAW participant since 2016, will be selling home-grown, hand-picked floral bouquets. Sales have become a significant and steady source of funds for the club’s many community projects. For Jan Flowers, the garden club’s liaison to WAW, “I love participating in our art walk. It’s a wonderful evening to see neighbors and the talented artists in the area including our floral designers.”

These and other neighborly groups are part of the rich fabric of the Wiscasset community and offer a glimpse into how a small Maine coastal community celebrates itself and the web it has woven of mutual support. Village walking maps, which highlight the evening’s participants, are available in shops with sparkling streamers in the doorway. Free parking is plentiful; park once and enjoy an evening stroll through historic Wiscasset Village.

The generous sponsors who support the many free WAW activities and performers are Lead Sponsor Fogg and Dalton Art Restoration and Major Sponsors Ames True Value, Big Barn Coffee, Bradbury Art & Antiques, Carriage House Gardens, Cod Cove Inn, First National Bank, J. Edward Knight Insurance, Jodie’s Café & Bakery, Peter Eaton Antiques, Red’s Eats, Rock Paper Scissors, Sherri Dunbar/Tim Dunham Realty, IndustrialME, BIRCH Home Furnishings & Gifts, and Water Street Kitchen & Bar.

For more information about WAW, visit www.wiscassetartwalk.org or email wiscassetartwalk@gmail.com. Wiscasset Art Walk is a program of Wiscasset Creative Alliance.