Dan's Papers - July 13, 2007 - Greenport Gallery Walk

There's something special in the air in Greenport and it's coming from the obvious chemistry between eight gallery owners situated in there. On a beautiful Sunday morning, seven of the eight gallery owners gathered together to discuss their hard work towards the Greenport Gallery Walk, but there was a lively aura rising from these eight magnificent gallery owners that was just as obvious as their dedication and passion for the arts.

On the third Saturday of every month (July 21 is the next event so mark your calendars) the galleries in Greenport, home to many eclectic and radiant art collections, open their doors for an evening of gallery hopping. "People need to know that the arts are alive and well and viable on the North Fork and especially in Greenport," Myra Eisenberg, of Gallery M commented. These galleries are a unified group coming together to commemorate the diversity in their historic, nautical town while celebrating the diversity of the art that they have brought to the North Fork.

One point that was strongly emphasized and easily apparent to anyone in the room on that Sunday morning was that these individuals are not selfishly motivated. They have the best interest of the town and of the arts at heart and have come together to make the arts more easily accessible and predictable for the general public. The Gallery Walk is just that, a walk from gallery to gallery. Although a person could potentially spend an entire evening in just one of the galleries, viewing the many works and enjoying the insightful demonstrations, the owners strongly emphasized that they encourage people to walk from gallery to gallery to see the diversity of the town reflected in the art scattered up and down Main Street. "The art in Greenport is as diversified as Greenport itself and each gallery truly compliments one another. We each have different strengths and some overlap, but we work together because why not work together? We all come together because we all want to see the arts on the North Fork prosper, especially in Greenport," Joyce deCordova of the deCordova Gallery explained.

With such a successful and popular idea, one would think that this is an innovative happening. However, as Fred Lambrou of Artists Gallery discussed, it's this special group that has allowed the Walk to finally take place. "In the 20 years I've been here, this is happening now but it has failed in the past and it is because this is the first group to really compliment one another and to generate a lot of stay power to get this off the ground. This has been tried in the past but it's because within this group, every gallery has it's own niche and owners who are also talented artists," Lambrou emphasized.

In it's first year, the Greenport Gallery Walk is constantly learning from its happenings and sees no signs of slowing. Because the town is so grateful for the excited atmosphere on those nights, and because the nights are becoming increasingly more popular, the gallery owners are constantly learning ways to improve the events. "Right now we are once a month, but maybe next summer we can try twice a month and work our way up to once a week. We want to be predictable so people can plan to come out for these nights because they are really very special and get the whole town excited and people are excited to come back," Joyce deCordova commented.

Although these galleries banded together to organize an event for the galleries to take their rightful center stage, they are lifting up an entire town along with them. On the nights that the gallery walks take place, many restaurant and shop owners keep their doors open later than usual to take advantage of the lively atmosphere surrounding downtown Greenport. These special gallery owners have created an entire night on the town for the historic fishing village and are glad they could.

The eight galleries, the deCordova Gallery, Sirens' Song Gallery, Artists Gallery, Atelier Gallery, Gallery M, South Street Gallery, the Benton-Nyce Gallery and The Light Registry Gallery are a sundry group with varied characteristics special to each. From the largest Haitian gallery in the United States to an eclectic mix of metal jewelry designers to prints and to sculptures, each gallery has its own high-quality, defining traits that shine through even when there are numerous galleries to choose from.

The brilliance and exceptionality in this group of galleries goes far beyond the word limit of this article, so I invite you to come to the next Greenport Gallery Walk to experience it for yourself. Even if you're unfamiliar with the art scene, I guarantee you will find a piece, between the eight special spaces, that will catch your eye in a way like nothing ever has. It will be an excited evening in Greenport that you won't want to miss.