Last October, 64 Galleries around the 57th Street Art District stayed open late on the same night, offering a staggering array of painting, sculpture, video, photography and elbow rubbing and hobnobbing. In May, seven Madison Avenue Galleries are having a private, invitation-only viewing night of their exhibitions titled “Masterworks of Six Centuries.”
It seems curious that this doesn’t happen more often. Many cities have a single “gallery night” of the month and organize their exhibitions to open and close around these highly attended events. While New York City is too big for such a feat of organization, it would seem advantageous for gallery-intensive neighborhoods to do this.
Dumbo is doing a good job with their “First Thursday” opening schedule. Participating galleries include Smack Mellon, the Dumbo Art Center, the Galleries at 111 Front Street (like the A.I.R. Gallery, Amos Eno, Central Booking) and more. Williamsburg is trying as well–many galleries are having their openings on Fridays, but not all and not the same Friday.
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