It's an obvious fact about Gainesville: Every weekend, hundreds of students gather at downtown clubs for typical nighttime reverie. But once a month, the downtown area becomes a Mecca for the town's artistic culture.
The Downtown Gainesville Art Walk, a "self-guided tour through downtown galleries and alternative art spaces," according to the group's Facebook page, kicks off at the Downtown Sun Center on the last Friday of every month from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The showcase of artists takes place in a square half-mile of downtown between Southwest 10th Street and Southeast Third Street and includes such stops as the Tench Building, the Hippodrome State Theatre, The Red Door Studio and Wayward Council.
"The Art Walk is always a wonderful opportunity for community members to see the local arts, which is a major aspect of the Gainesville culture, as well as an opportunity to meet the wonderful people of Gainesville," said Daniel Hime, looking over fused glass art by Nancy Holschuh in Harold's Frame Shop and Gallery.
Hime, 60, said he comes to Art Walk to see friends, drink wine and meet the artists.
Next to The Bank night club is The Red Door Studio, a typical white-walled studio with paint-smeared wooden floors, Angela Hoppe sits on a leather couch hand weaving as patrons and potential customers crowd into the room to see her paintings.
Hoppe, a veteran painter with more than 20 art walks under her belt, allows student artist Molly Kernan to display and sell her art in the studio.
"It's too easy for your ego to get busted in the art world," Hoppe said.
Hoppe said she hopes to introduce Kernan to the nurturing atmosphere that Art Walk tends to uphold.
In the same spirit of artist unity, the Tench Building, which some refer to as the "heart of the art," is a city/artist co-op that accommodates regional artists.
It is currently the workplace of six artists, including Bob Freeman, Anne Gilroy, Lennie Kesl, Anne Seraphine, Ray Keith and Peter Carolin.
Carolin left to watch the studio as the other artists mingled at other stops on the tour. He entertained middle-aged art connoisseurs over cheese, crackers and wine while younger viewers and art students wandered the halls of the gallery and studios.
Carolin, who does everything from nude portraits to abstract paintings of Florida's springs, said he enjoys those who take time to come and appreciate the local artwork of what he calls "real Gainesville."
"It brings culture to the community. Rather than people just going from club to club, it really enriches their humanity," Carolin said. "We're the creative spirits."
