First Friday, Charlottesville

Charlottesville is a small city that is big on culture. It is a place enriched with community projects and citywide celebrations, where anyone wishing to submerge himself or herself in Charlottesville’s distinctive cultural scene is received with cheer.

A highlight of our city’s nightlife each month is an ages-long tradition that happens to be synchronous with similar events all over the country. You’ll find it happens in Nashville, in New Orleans and in Las Vegas, just as it does here in town on the first Friday of each month.

Pedestrian-friendly streets of Charlottesville’s downtown district go through a renewal, of sorts, on First Friday. Artist shops and galleries dress up and welcome the public with refreshments and the opportunity to meet featured artists on exhibit just like New York’s Guggenheim Museum.

Handsome shows of work are on display all over the city. You can mingle with people who, like you, admire everything from technologically enhanced colorful images to strong sculpture—with an abundance of photographs, oils and acrylics on canvas in between!

First Friday is the perfect time for buyers to get their pick of what’s hot in Charlottesville’s many fine galleries—there are plenty of great works that appeal to an array of tastes by local and visiting artists.

Morgan MacKenzie-Perkins of The Sage Moon Gallery loves the event of First Friday, “It’s like having a wonderful party and it accomplishes so many things: setting the stage for an artist to be recognized for their wonderful work. People in the community that are interested in art will come out—maybe some that don’t know if they are interested in art—and get a fresh preview of the art.” It seems that the hardest part is choosing what you’d like to take home!

Sage Moon Gallery will be featuring a New York artist named Kathy Buist. Kathy’s oil paintings are described as an abstract impressionism of landscapes. Her show is titled “Meditations of Land and Sea” and will be opening First Friday, May 2nd, with a reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Kathy Buist will be there to meet her guests and talk about her particular pieces with anyone who shares interest.

Also going on at Sage Moon is a traveling exhibit created by sculptor John Magnan. John’s work encompasses the journey of he and his wife, Mary, as they progressed through Mary’s diagnoses of ovarian cancer. It is a moving experience for those who look for “a cathartic, educational and informative exhibit.”

There are lots of incredible works to be acknowledged and felt throughout our city on First Friday. The following is a brief list of where you can visit May 2nd, 2008:

Angelo—220 E. Main Street will host the exhibit of Cynthia Burke: “A Conference of Birds.” Reception: 5:30–7:30 p.m. 434.971.9256.

Art Upstairs—112 W. Main Street, Suite 4 (in York Place) highlights the works of its more than 20 artist. May features Sue Spencer. Reception: 5:30—9:30 p.m. 434.923. 3900.

BozArt—211 W. Main Street. Abstract artist Ucky Light.  Reception: 5:30–9 p.m.  434.296.3919.

La Galeria— W. Market Street is featuring Carolyn McPherson, digital paintings on giclée canvas. Reception:  from 5–8 p.m. 434.293.7003.

Les Yeux du Monde—115 S. 1st Street. Reception: 5:30–7:30 p.m. To receive invitations, please contact the gallery at 434.973.5566.

Migration: a Gallery—119 5th St., SE, will have Connecticut artist Suzanne Howes-Stevens’s current work.  Her show titled “Earth Openings.” Reception: 5:30–8:30 p.m. 434.293.2200.

McGuffey Art Center—201 2nd Street NW. Each month McGuffey Art Center hosts artists’ work in its large gallery spaces with openings that coincide with the city wide First Fridays. 434.295.7973.

Sage Moon LLC—420 E. Main Street is featuring Kathy Buist’s “Meditations of Land and Sea.” Reception: from 5:30–8 p.m. 434.977. 9997.

Second Street Gallery—115 2nd Street SE & Water Street hosts UVa Graduate Rosemarie Fiore’s concept art show, “Machines and Process Paintings, 1998-2008.” 434.977.7284.

Transient Crafters—118 E. Main Street is a co-op gallery with over 60 area artists. This First Friday, they will feature collages by Diane Goodbar. Reception: 6–9 p.m. 434.972. 9500.