I 2nd that those musicians by Christ church are impressive. Did anyone actually beat the crowds and see the Damien Hirst art at 3rd ad Arch? I too agree that 1st Friday has become mostly passe. As a photographer I would not even show up if I had an opening on 1st Friday, it is that retarded. I avoid galleries anyhow now as their take is insane and is often not worth it as you can sell your work in so many other ways today and avoid the gallery scene altogether. The street artists are actually in many ways better than the art in the galleries, and if you are new and unknown that is a better way to make money than to give some gallery 60% commision, IF you even get a show. There are far too many 'spongers' now for FF to be effective financially imo. As someone said, they are just there for the drinks and the spectacle, art is a afterthought.

When we buy art now we get it directly from the artist anyhow so they get that much more $$$ and we pay less than if we went through a gallery. When we do check out galleries it is on a quite weekday night so we can actually look and think about the art in relative peace, but that is pretty rare.

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"i live my life in the city"

You are sort of implying, though, the galleries are the problem, not First Friday.

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Most galleries do a lot for their 50%. They print up fliers, take out advertising and press releases, emails and a solid customer base. And most importantly they deal with all the odd questions and believe me there are a lot.

And then there's that little bill called retail rent. And electric.

Most galleries earn their commission pretty well; some are less than stellar, which often shows by the quality of work they present.

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Magellan2's prescription:
ATTENTION ALL READERS...
DISCLAIMER: Alesis is a South Street business owner
(keep that in mind when reading his or her responses)

speaking as a FF newbie here, I was totally shocked at the May 2 event. I really wasn't expecting it to look like New Orleans in the streets, with KIDS walking around with cocktails and plastic wine cups. Doesnt anyone card? (or am I being silly there?)

That said, while our artist didnt sell anything (we're showing mainly lo-brow (sp?) and student work considering we're a vintage shop) she was happily forced to talk art with some of the serious people and got a lot of accolades for her work- which was great!

im excited to be a part of this, but i can see getting jaded after a few months/years and getting tired of the screaming 19 yr. olds running around.

Did you card them? Because I have a hard time telling the difference between at 19 year of and a 21 year old...

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TAFKATLB(TheArtistFormerlyKnowAsTheLoveBelow)

I suppose it is becoming more and more difficult to appease everyone: the artists who want to exhibit/sell their wares, the people who want to see and be seen in the place where it is trendy to see and be seen, the retail outlets ("galleries") that want to be venues, and the people who are there for the drinks and not the art, per se. The function of the "First Friday," which largely has become deemphasized in other cities already, has expanded and dissolved, simultaneously. It is not a place for pure art...the partiers want to party, the loungers want to lounge, etc.

Things change. As someone else mentioned, this is not the only venue for artists to display their works (on the street or in galleries.) It was nice for what it was...

Maybe it is time to rethink the whole thing to simplify. It gets less effective the broader the emphasis gets.

yea that would be awesome, because that's what i really want to come home to after working 5 days a week in wilmington, de to come home to the city and not be able to get to my parking behind my apartment that i pay good money for.

As AThingCalledJoe stated before, "things change".

There is much more backpack drinking, (presumed) underage drinking, and walking in the street then there was the past few years. There are more galleries and some have become very popular, ie FUEL & old Black Banana.

The FF setup needs to change as well.

-Possibly an area where people that look under 35 could show their ID and get a bracelet.
-Moving the sidewalk art to under the BF bridge
-Police at intersections like 3rd & Race, moving traffic along, crossing people, and keeping people on the sidewalks
-requiring busier galleries to put up barriers from the street if they are known to have large groups gathering outside
-More trash cans!!! Especially for these Fridays.
-Police actually arresting/citing for underage drinking. Once a few people are citated, word will spread back that this isn't Mardi Gras and public underage drinking/drunkeness isn't permitted. I was under 21 once too, but at least I tried to hide it.

On a positive note, it brings people who might not otherwise visit our city. Some will hopefully spend money here and tell others which will bring more business for our stores/restaurants/bars/galleries/etc.

BTW: To the newcomer residents for FF, usually it slows down in the summer with the hardcore partiers as they will go down to the NJ Shore, but it still is very packed.

I don't live in Old City, but love First Friday. I really enjoy art, but frankly feel very very weird walking into a gallery at other times. If anything my frustration with FF is that the good galleries close so early or often aren't open. And yeah, I bought something once, and will do so again. I saw it at FF, contemplated, and went back a few days later. There's another show I saw at a FF and plan to someday go back and see what the gallery still has from that artist when I can better afford something. I'm pretty sure I would not otherwise go in a gallery unless I was very sure they had a show I desperately wanted to see.