Nights in NoDa: Friday Night Gallery Crawls
Twice a month, loyal art devotees gather in the North Davidson district of Charlotte, known fondly as the ‘NoDa’ district to the regular art crowd that gathers there the first and third Friday of each month. On these selected dates, the NoDa district plays host to live music in the streets, open art galleries inviting the masses in for a peek, and vendors selling homemade goods up and down North Davidson Street.
There’s a festive air to the activities as the sun goes down and the streets fill up. Live music follows you down the street as you duck into each gallery, each local band getting their turn in the spotlight. Locals gather outside their doors to people watch as the art galleries open their doors for another night of hosting.
The NoDa district is known for being the art district of Charlotte, full of funky music clubs, specialty restaurants, and a good number of art galleries specializing in every medium from ceramics to photography.
Most of the attendees to the gallery crawls treat it as a pilgrimage, coming every Friday it is offered. Megan Carraway, a 20-year-old Columbia native who moved to Charlotte only this past June, has made sure to devote every Friday she can to the gallery crawls.
“I always make sure I take off work to come to this,” Carraway said. “Every first and third Friday, my best friend and I agree to meet up at NoDa to check out the different art exhibits and to browse the street vendors. They’ve got some great stuff.”
Across from the art galleries are also a variety of independent stores, offering local fare from designers in the neighborhood. Carraway said that her favorite store always keeps its doors open on gallery crawl nights, inviting customers in with twinkle lights in the windows to browse their one-of-a-kind items.
“I love Boulevard, it’s probably the most unique clothing and jewelry store in NoDa and it’s always open late on gallery crawl nights,” she said. “If I ever get bored looking at the paintings in the galleries, I can just go wait for my friends in there, it’s got the prettiest jewelry.”
Jamie Miller is a street vendor who sets up shop on the corner of North Davidson for every gallery crawl. She sells hand-made jewelry by moonlight, always keeping a flashlight handy so gallery crawlers can get a closer look at her wares in the darkness of the streets.
“I’m here every gallery crawl,” she said. “I often see the same faces every time, these things attract pretty much a regular crowd. There’s always a great atmosphere, it’s great that all these people come together to celebrate art and to enjoy the local scene.”
The gallery crawls are open to anybody every first and third Friday of every month from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. For more information on the gallery crawls in Charlotte, visit http://www.noda.org/.
