I’ve been attending First Thursday since 1989. I’ve always liked the crowds. To a large extent, these are people who would just as soon know a painter than own a painting just because they could afford one.

Lots of memories. During gallery meanderings, I once met a woman who became the sidekick for awhile. When I first started to go, much of the activity was in the Pearl, but way before the Pearl got its name. There were working factories and warehouses, not $400,000 condos and $2500 a month lofts full of folks flush on their Intel 401(k)s. The first, First Thursday I went to had a lot more wine and cheese.

Street theater took over in the late 1990s, and artists were able to sell on the street. Yet that didn’t last long, did it?

Now, with the Pearl in full flower, the galleries seem more diffused and widely distributed. Some of this has to do with the supplanting of galleries by condos and lofts. So, to do First Thursday right, you have to go back and forth between the Pearl, the galleries on NW 21 and Trendy-Third, and the ones on NW First Avenue.

But the wine and cheese are back. And I will be taking a bit of a break from work tonight to be there as well. Hope 2CU there.

Related posts:

1. First Thursday Is Changing
2. First First Thursday of Spring
3. Check Out These Two First Thursday Gallery Guides
4. Happy First Thursday
5. Last Thursday on Alberta