A Poetic Art Walk

By Shana Thornton

Clarksville’s Art Walk is downtown’s busiest monthly free event. Every first Thursday of the month from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m., many downtown businesses and organizations open their doors to share the work of local artists, which is usually the visual arts (paintings, collage, photographs, sculpture, and mixed media visual art). For the month of July, participants were treated to a poetry reading and mixed media display by Kris Foust at the First Presbyterian Church.

Foust combined visual and literary arts by pairing photography and poetry. She read every hour during Art Walk, so visitors could hear her reading poetry more than once. Her reading was captivating and drew in visitors, as each poem told a story. Some offered a biting humor, a critical look at humans’ insistences, while other poems sifted through and presented the changes in relationships with people and places as life progresses. 

Kris Faust at her poetry reading and art show during July Art Walk. Courtesy of Shana Thornton.
Kris Faust talking with guests during her opening Art Walk July. Courtesy of Shana Thornton.
Kris Faust reading her poetry. Courtesy of Shana Thornton.

Foust describes herself as a journalist and a doodler who needed something more artistically to funnel her energy into after her daughter, Heidi, died. She found poetry to be a balm and a way to express her thoughts, feelings, and experiences. She writes, “I finally feel like I have learned to walk side-by-side and hand-in-hand with my grief. It will never be easy, okay or better, but poetry has been a wonderful outlet.”

“The Watcher in the Wall” a poem by Kris Foust, on exhibit now at the First Presbyterian Church, July Art Walk 2026. Courtesy of Shana Thornton.

Foust’s poetry is handwritten on textured paper made from plants with ferns, flowers, and other natural elements pressed into the paper. It is free to stop by and view the exhibition, which is up at the First Presbyterian Church through July 26. You can visit anytime the First Presbyterian Church is open: Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Fridays from 9 a.m. until noon. First Presbyterian Church is located at 213 Main Street.

Jan Hodgson at Art Walk reading Foust’s poetry, July 2026. Courtesy of Shana Thornton.
Kris Foust’s poet/artist photo and statement. Courtesy of Kris Foust.

The next Downtown Art Walk is Thursday, August 6, 2027, from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. and the First Presbyterian Church will have a new exhibition up at that time. Visiting these places during the night of Art Walk is free, and many even have snacks and drinks for visitors.

 Shana Thornton is the Marketing & Media Manager and Managing Editor of Second & Commerce, the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center’s arts, history, and culture magazine. She is an author and publisher, Founder of the Clarksville-Montgomery County African American Legacy Trail, and the Montgomery County Deputy Historian.

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