It’s the perfect time of the year for a stroll. And it’s an even better time in the artistic climate of Atlanta for a new art walk.
Young Blood Gallery & Boutique, Kibbee Gallery and Beep Beep Gallery is the most recent team to penetrate the newly emerging art stroll scene of Atlanta. The galleries, whose paths run right through the creative pulse of Ponce de Leon Avenue, will hold their third monthly walk on the evening of Saturday, March 5.
In January, the three galleries officially joined forces to start their monthly art stroll called Ponce Crush. At the beginning of each month, typically the first Saturday of the month, each gallery coordinates the opening of a new exhibit in their venue on the same night as the others. The stroll invites emerging art buffs and spectators alike to walk the short distance between each gallery on Ponce to celebrate the opening receptions of all three separate exhibits.
In the past, the galleries had unintentionally celebrated opening receptions on the same night and the reaction from the art community during these instances sparked their foray into conducting the art stroll.
“The three galleries involved — Young Blood, Beep Beep and Kibbee — are all like-minded and dealing with emerging artists. We are also geographically located right around Ponce. It just seemed like the natural thing to do,” Preston Snyder, one of the founders of Kibbee Gallery, said.
This dynamic trio of galleries, all located within blocks of each other, has independently established a reputation of showcasing emerging artists in the growing underground art scene of Atlanta. Their collaboration brings more attention to the artists they work to represent and gives patrons of one gallery the opportunity to view the work of another artist in a different venue they are not familiar with.
“It’s had a positive effect on all of us; sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” said Snyder.
Ponce Crush is not the first art walk to hit the streets of Atlanta. In recent years, neighborhood art walks have become a phenomenon that connects the sometimes disjointed atmosphere of the city’s art scene. Each individual walk weaves visitors in and out of the different arts-centric neighborhoods of Atlanta. Castleberry Hill, Buckhead and the Westside Art District each has its own respective monthly walk.
“It’s all very organic. Within a rough guideline, we all show similar works and artists that are in a similar place. Other walks, like the Westside Art Walk and the Castleberry Hill walk, are widely different. With us, it’s a smaller, more intimate and more organic thing,” said Mark Basehore, owner of Beep Beep Gallery.
The past two strolls have garnered much support from the local art community. The first Ponce Crush had about 100 people in and out of Kibbee Gallery, Snyder said. He added that each gallery has different “circle of friends and spheres of influence” and through the walk, each individual gallery is able to attract people who don’t normally frequent that art venue.
The intermingling of gallery supporters during the stroll brings out a more diverse crowd to each opening.
“Earlier in the night, you get the people who are out for only a few minutes and want to see each show. They may be dressed [up]…on a date and then later on through the night, you get more people who are a part of the emerging arts scene who are hanging out and drinking beers,” Basehore said.
At the March 5 stroll, Beep Beep Gallery will be previewing artwork from all exhibits to be displayed in the upcoming year. The project is a new venture for the gallery that invites the talent of artists outside of the Atlanta area to display their work in this city. There will be five two-person collaborative shows featuring a local artist from Atlanta as well as a new out-of-state talent. Greetings and Salutationswill feature one piece of art from each artist involved, giving stroll-goers insight into which months to stop by the gallery to see their favorite artist.
To see Beep Beep’s opening of the Greetings and Salutations exhibit, as well as the unveiling of Young Blood’s and Kibbee’s new exhibits, cruise down to Ponce de Leon Avenue the evening of March 5 and join the crowd weaving in and out of the galleries.
Kibbee Gallery: 688 Linwood Avenue (behind Fellini’s Pizza on Ponce de Leon Avenue)
Young Blood Gallery and Boutique: 636 N. Highland Ave.
Beep Beep Gallery: 696 Charles Allen Drive
