10 Years for First Fridays

Once upon a time, in the small universe of art galleries, the tradition of opening a new exhibit on the first Friday of the month had become a fairly predictable affair. Each gallery, operating as a separate entity, would advertise on its own and attracts its particular set of clients.

Except for the few stragglers looking for a free glass of wine and bite of cheese, most in attendance were collectors, artists and art enthusiasts. The likelihood of a curious member of the general public dropping by was, well, not very likely. Then one day, as if by spontaneous combustion, a few galleries in a few cities, especially in older urban areas, decided to change all that and hold collective openings. Instead of bar hopping, it became all about gallery hopping.

Added to that were other forms of entertainment: music, shopping, performance art. Cities became involved. Area restaurants and hotels jumped on the bandwagon. Urban areas that had been empty on Friday nights got a new lease on life: Crowds of people having a great time and intentionally, or inadvertently, picking up a bit of culture on the side.

Richmond is one of hundreds of cities, from big-town Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to small-town Racine, Wisconsin, to feature a First Friday gallery walk. Celebrating its 10th season this October, First Friday has gone from an event attracting about 17,000 visitors in its first years to more than 80,000 in 2009.

Christina Newton, director of Curated Culture, who oversees Richmond’s First Friday, highlights the additions and changes to this year’s season, keeping it ever fresh for new and seasoned visitors alike.

Expanding Neighborhoods

Once limited to galleries housed along the historic area of Broad Street, this season, we plan to expand the program area eastward and outward to take in additional venues between Belvidere and 8th streets and in Jackson and Monroe wards. The decision came about because of the success of our spring collaborative project, First Fridays East that featured downtown cultural anchors, CenterStage, the Library of Virginia, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and University of Richmond Downtown, during the months of March through May.

Expanding Venues

To date, we have a number of exciting new venues joining First Friday, including major Downtown businesses, Capital Ale House and the Hilton Garden Downtown and well-known organizations, CenterStage, Richmond Ballet, St. Paul’s, and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), not to mention the smaller but new Broad Street thrift shop, Books, Bikes and Beyond, which is managed by the nonprofit Books on Wheels.

Jazzy Entertainment

In celebration of our 10th anniversary season, we will host a free outdoor concert featuring some of Richmond’s top world jazz ensembles on Friday, Oct. 1, along historic Broad Street during First Friday. Other details are in the works but the bands should be finalized the first of the week.

More Parking

The Jefferson Hotel has joined in to become our season’s parking sponsor by providing free parking to First Friday visitors at their parking lot located at the corner of Adams and West Main streets. All visitors have to do is make a purchase at Lemaire restaurant (inside the Jefferson) and have their ticket validated. Lemaire already offers great drink specials for First Friday with $5 Cosmos or Manhattans, so you can now get free parking with that cocktail.

Something for Everyone

It’s easy to know why an art lover might attend. But for the "art challenged," or those who don’t have a strong interest in the arts, Newton emphasizes that there truly is something for every one. "While First Friday is focused on supporting awareness of arts and culture, it offers something for everyone, such as fabulous restaurants, unique shopping and entertainment. During any First Friday event, you can eat at a highly rated restaurant, take in a play, concert or cultural performance, view a wealth of art exhibitions, shop for everything from thrifty fashions to high end household items, hear a solo guitarist or a DJ on the street corner, while ending it the comfort of the finest of accommodations. Our goal has been to help put Richmond on the arts and cultural map and we believe we’ve seen this happen, especially with such recognition as mentions in the New York Times (36 Hours in Richmond), Washington Post and Cleveland.com.

And for those who consider themselves "art challenged," we call our First Friday "art awareness in disguise."