That is whom Shannon Sylte is inviting to her First Friday eventin March.
Sylte, 22 at the time, was intimidated by the thought of presenting her visual art pieces at a gallery. So, she decided to reverse the system and get people to come to her.
While she was at it, she decided to help others display their work. She started to collect pieces from people of all ages and skill levels. In December, she piggybacked off Downtown Inc.'s First Friday, and invited the public to her house, 116 E. King St., to check out the art.
In January, more people came out. Last month, 60 people attended. Sylte is expecting an even larger crowd Friday.
"It's exploded," she said.
More artists, encouraged by the welcoming environment, have emerged, too, she added. Some are as young as 4 years old.
Friday, Sylte and her four roommates plan to fill their basement and three floors with art, live music, poetry and live art projects.
Their landlord Joshua Hankey was so excited about the exhibit that he opened a vacant apartment nearby to hold any spillover.
Each month is a little different, said Sylte's roommate Alex Dwyer, 21, and each exhibit is a learning experience. This month, the open house has a name R.A.W. - Realizing Artistic Worth - and partners.
Sylte invited Healthy World Café and Antiquita Glassworks to distribute information and accept donations Friday. And, since she supports green living, she will also provide details about alternative energies to anyone interested.
Organizer Sean Arnold said Healthy World Café is still in the fundraising and marketing stage. The café, which is planned for downtown York, would employ a "pay-what-you-want" model to provide healthy, affordable meals to the public. It would be volunteer-driven, and people could work to prepare food in order to earn free meals.
On Friday, Arnold will present a video about the café, which was recently submitted to the YorIT Social Venture Challenge for the chance to earn $20,000.
Inviting community organizations to R.A.W. will expand its web of idea sharing and networking, Sylte said.
Since First Fridays have been a hit, Sylte plans to move the open houses to the second Friday of the month soon. She figures it will give people a reason to visit York again.
Sylte, who works at Mezzogiorno and Maewyn's Irish Pub and Restaurant, and Dwyer, who works at Bistro 19, hope to boost the city's economy, creativity and diversity.
Their long-term goal is to turn the 100 block of East King Street into an artists' row, similar to Lancaster's gallery row.
But as for now, the colorful paintings, charcoal sketches and decorated mannequins await an audience at 116 E. King St. Sylte collected all of the art for Friday's event by Feb. 25.
There is no charge to submit pieces, but Sylte encourages artists to donate to that month's partner organizations.
She accepts everything and anything from scribbles on paper to poetry to pottery to light installations.
Dwyer said her younger brother will share his bleached T-shirt designs and pickles.
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