Neighbor News
Gallery Artwalk Was A Successful Walk Around Valley Arts
The Valley Arts District of Orange and West Orange held its Gallery Artwalk last night Friday, Nov. 22.
Gallery Artwalk last night Friday, Nov. 22.
The Valley Arts District of Orange and West Orange held its Gallery Artwalk last night Friday, Nov. 22. It started at 5 p.m. and I was fortunate enough to make the first tour that was directed by Valley Arts Executive Director, Richard T. Bryant.
A Walk in the Dark Was A Fun Thing To Do
Find out what's happening in South Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
We arrived to some wonderful music being played by Mike Griot and Friends in the ValleyArts Firehouse. With some great music in our hearts, some basic sustenance in our stomachs and some trepidation about a walking tour in the dark, we found out the Valley Arts team knew what they were doing.
The weather was perfect, we were equipped with very nice jars containing candles, a nice sendoff speech and the best of all we went into the night led by Marifanyi Drum, Dance & Song, which is an African drum troupe headquartered in the Valley.
Find out what's happening in South Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
A wonderful evening, an enjoyable tour and fabulous artists.
The galleries that we cycled through last night were the:
- ValleyArts Firehouse Gallery
- Ironworks Gallery - home of ORNG Ink;
- Oualie Gallery - artist Terry Boddie’s studio workspace
- Yema Gallery -home of the Catfish Friday women’s art collective
- Arts Unbound - the gallery for differently-abled artists
- Hat City Kitchen - ValleyArts Orbiting Gallery
The galleries addressed a diverse set of art venues covering abstract photography, painting, jewelry, metal arts and more. As it was a quick 1 hour walking tour, with short introductions to each gallery, it was obvious we would not have enough time to see enough to do the artist and their artwork justice. However, as we progressed throughout the various galleries we gained delightful insights into the spirits and minds of each artist. Hence, the art we viewed was great and the artist we met were even better.
Great time had by all and we are invited to come back for more.
As you will see from the attached pictures and videos, the studios opened up all their best treasures, the artist at every studio were very welcoming and we all had a great time at each location.
It is a highly recommended tour and remember the artist studios are open for business during normal business hours. I enjoyed my time at each gallery and I recommend you click the gallery links above to learn more as every artist invited us back when we would have more time to view their collections.