Galveston ramble: ArtWalk

If you enjoy dense crowds, a party atmosphere, plus free wine and finger foods, Galveston ArtWalk might be just the ticket for you. 

Screengrabbed from the current brochure. 

But if instead your primary interest is actually art, then you might be better off choosing a less-frenetic time to wander through the heart of Galveston's historic district, a time when you can actually see what's being offered (because there won't be a massive crowd blocking your views) and hear yourself think as you ponder whether any given piece speaks to you (because the decibel level will be much lower).

Screengrab of The Strand from Wikipedia. 

My non-partying husband and I fall squarely into the latter category.  Our teenager and her best friend, not so much.  They thought last night's venue was the neatest thing since sliced bread.  But they're teenagers.

This preference question is analogous to asking why people go to church.  Some people go because they are drawn to the spirituality, and every other consideration is second.  But other people go because they are primarily interested in the social participation - the fellowship and the camaraderie - such that the spiritual component is incidental to them. 

Anyway, the four of us, two adults and two teenagers, went to ArtWalk last night for the first time - another item from the bucket list - and while I don't regret it, I doubt if we'll be doing it again. 

Prior to setting out on this adventure, we wondered why it wasn't better advertised.  I had only recently heard about it by word of mouth from a BOI.  Galveston.com and a few quasi-blogs such as this one give general descriptions of the event, but they don't really tell you much about the hours it runs or what to expect or what to do.  I suspect that they don't advertise because they don't need to advertise - if more people find out about it, the gridlocking crowds would probably get worse.

Basically the thing runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the assigned dates.  You show up and find a place to park, which wasn't as difficult as I expected.  We were latecomers because we had stopped dinner at my current favorite Galveston venue which is Mosquito Café (best burger I've found anywhere in greater Houston), but street parking was still manageable.  Then you just follow the crowds and start wandering around, trying to see things or socializing, whichever your preference may be. 

So that's my take on ArtWalk, and I'll have more about Galveston's artistic offerings in future posts.