Caroline Mecklin’s studio in the JAX Building. Photo courtesy of the artist and Lowertown First Fridays on Facebook

On the first Friday of each month, six artists’ spaces in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood join forces to present an easily walkable assortment of arts events. In honor of Valentine’s Day, the February 7 Lowertown First Friday happenings are themed “art and romance.” Stop by Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar at the start of the evening and look for the “welcome kiosk;” there you can pick up a map to to guide you through the art shows, wine tastings and various live performances going on in and around the participating sites.

Yuya Negishi. Photo courtesy of the Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar

At the Black Dog, there will be live jazz – midcentury swing, bop and funk by the Kronick Quartet starts at 8 p.m. – as well as on-site art-making by Yuya Negishi. In addition to open studio shindigs and gallery exhibitions (work by 60-some artists will be on view in the evening’s various art shows), this month’s iteration of the Lowertown mini-festival includes flamenco performances and fusion belly dancing demos at various sites in the neighborhood by Sendero Flamenco and Kamala Chaand Dance Company, puppet shows at the Tilsner Building, and classical guitar by Eva Beneke (including “Letters from Composers” by Minnesota’s own Dominick Argento, with tenor Max Wojtanowicz) at the Lowertown Lofts.

Lowertown First Friday participating sites: Black Dog Cafe, 308 East Prince Street Northern Warehouse, 308 East Prince Street Tilsner Artist Co-op, 300 Broadway Street Lowertown Lofts Artists Co-op, 255 Kellogg Boulevard East 262 Studios, 262 East 4th Street JAX Building, 253 East 4th Street

Photo courtesy of Studio Sendero

Lowertown First Friday events run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. The next event, themed “Art and Romance,” will be February 7. For current information on this and other upcoming Lowertown First Friday mini-art crawls, visit lowertownfirstfridays.org and www.facebook.com/LowertownFirstFriday.