Friday nights in downtown San Luis Obispo are not just for bar hopping.
Once a month, ARTS Obispo organizes “Art After Dark” — happening this Friday 6-9 p.m. — where local venues open their doors late and share art, giving the community a chance to “gallery hop” downtown for free.
The event, currently in its 14th year, started when different gallery owners got together and decided to “give the art walk thing a try,” ARTS Obispo program director Jenna Hartzell said. “(The gallery owners) said, ‘Other cities are doing this, why not San Luis Obispo?’”
In the past two years, the list of participating venues has grown from 15 consistent venues to 35 participants.
“Business owners are starting to recognize how wonderful this event is because it brings people downtown,” Hartzell said. “We’re pretty lucky to have a program like this where we can access the arts for free every month. People really look forward to it.”
Depending on the month, Art After Dark sees 300 to 600 attendees walking downtown.
In the past year, participants have also expanded their perception of art, Hartzell said. Attendees are not just experiencing visual art, but also theatre performances and musical forms of art both to complement and take place of visual art.
“The great thing about San Luis Obispo is that there are so many untraditional venues,” Hartzell said. “It’s not just galleries. What we have are a lot of untraditional venues who support the arts and the artists and the community and they say, ‘Let’s display art. Let’s bring people in and tease them with art.’”
One of the non-traditional galleries participating in Art After Dark is Bello Mundo Cafe on Monterey Street.
“We encourage people to come out and enjoy art,” barista River Meadows said. “We have a lot of people come in just for Art After Dark and that’s really nice.”
The coffee shop, which has been a participant of Art After Dark for about eight months, will feature artists Anna Chruszch, Dan Woehrle, Nathan Moya and Kevin Dyer.
Even more than admiring a variety of art is the opportunity “(to be) a part of the community,” mechanical engineering senior Ben Canfield, who attended last month’s Art After Dark, said.
“I just thought it was really cool that all the stores opened their doors and we were able to mingle and hang out,” Canfield said.
Maps and a schedule with all 35 listings can be found on event sponsor New Times’ website or downloaded as an iPhone app with an electronic tour of the event.