Christmas Card Lane brightens downtown streets

MADISON – Two of Madison’s oldest and most charming streets became even more attractive with the opening of Christmas Card Lane.

For the past eight years, Christmas Card Lane has shared seasonal designs by local artists. Large wooden flats serve as canvases for the artwork.

Owners of historic homes along Church and Front streets have consented for placement of the ‘Christmas cards’ on exhibit in their front yards.

Sponsored by Madison Arts Council or MAC, the annual Christmas Card Lane features paintings that range from whimsical and traditional to religious themes. After sundown, the cards will be illuminated for four hours each night through the Christmas season.

MAC President Tina Clark presented awards for last year’s most popular entries in Christmas Card Lane. During a Madison City Council meeting in January 2021, Ava Kennedy and Walker Hallman accepted first-place honors.

Kennedy and Hallman are seniors at James Clemens High School and completed the art instruction classes through Art 4 there. Their card design, “Trash Panda Christmas,” paid homage to Madison’s professional baseball team.

Following their love of Christmas as their favorite holiday, Kennedy and Hallman’s artwork depicted Rudolph pulling a Trash Panda, filling in for Santa in his sleigh. Snowmen decorate the landscape as the sleigh crosses the state line into Alabama.

Sandra Kellum earned the second-place title for “The Grinch,” which has accurate details from the holiday classic by Dr. Seuss. After his change of heart about Christmas, the Grinch is carving a slice of “rare roast beast” for his dog, Max, and Cindy Lou Who from Whoville.

On her painting, Smith included a snippet from the Seuss tale: “Maybe Christmas does come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little more.” “With everything in the world going on, we should be reminded that Christmas means so much more than buying gifts,” Kellum said.

Some of the artists who have created a card in previous years include Stephanie Thompson, Discovery Middle School students, Teresa Batchelor, Lori Connors, Emily Barkley, Miranda Hite, Beth Paul, Gerald Clark, Carolyn Dodson-Grimm, St. John Paul II Catholic High School students, Rotary Club of Madison, Denise Onwere, Sandy Sparks, Laura Lusk and Ella-Lisa Waddell.

For more information, email info@artsmadison.org or visit artsmadison.org.