What's up with our Gallery Walk?

Viernes Culturales on SW 8th Street

I like, actually don't like, how the Miami Herald published a story on the Art Walks across the county and left out Coconut Grove completely! Everything is there except us. But whose fault is it?

The Gallery Walk in Coconut Grove is a great thing, I have attended almost every single one of them. Part of the charm for me is knowing most of the people involved and so it's a fun night out, for those who don't know the players, it probably is a boring thing. Unlike the other art/gallery walks that draw lots of people, we don't have many galleries or many events to draw people here.

Food trucks are a very large draw for some of them and also they are marketed constantly, another thing is that there is art outside, which we no longer have. We have the Coconut Grove Drum Circle, but no real art out on the streets. But I think marketing may be the biggest problem because just the fact that The Herald did the story and didn't have a clue about the Grove Gallery Walk says a lot.

I don't know what the answer is. After all these years, I finally went to the Viernes Culturales on SW 8th Street and I can't wait to go back. I just happened to be driving by with a friend when we saw lines of people, "velvet ropes", we heard music, we saw so much life. We just grabbed the first parking spot we saw and joined in! It's all about the culture there, as well as the art.

Another friend wanted to see the Wynwood Walls and we didn't wait for their gallery walk night, we actually went in the daytime a week before their monthly event. So Wynwood seems to draw people event when there isn't a gallery walk, but of course the gallery walk, with the art, food trucks and lots and lots of people is a site to behold.

The Viernes Culturales on 8th street had unique things like actually cigar rolling shops presented art, they had music inside and people were dancing inside. The next day, the guys were back to rolling cigars, but for the night of the gallery walk, it was a party, a real spur of the moment party.
I haven't been to Brickell's art walk or the Bird Road Arts District one, but I plan on attending soon. I know that many of our local artists are fleeing the Grove for these other events and we need to do something to stop the leak.