Much more "live" art at Gallery Walk last night

After many months of record crowds, the Coconut Grove Gallery Walk was a bit subdued last night, maybe because of other things going on in the area. There was the MiMo Festival and Coral Gables had a big carnival going on and the Hare Krishna event went on in Peacock Park until 9 pm.


But it was a nice event and families were out and at times there were quite a few people, so it was a success, we were just used to massive crowds after so many months of that.


Lots of art was being produced on the spot at the Art Stroll at the Mayfair Promenade, which was nice, it's always nice to actually see artists at work. From one end to the other, you could actually see artists at work, which people love as they love live music rather than DJ's or canned music.


And there is always plenty of live music from rock to classical. The classical is always provided by the Miami Conservatory of Music, right next to the bubbling fountain at the one end of the Mayfair Promenade. As you walk around the Grove, you'll see musicians in front of many of the galleries including the Cristina Chacon Gallery on Commodore Plaza, Blu Moon Studio, which has musicians in the gallery and the Drum Circle below; the Max Gallery has musicians outside, so does AC Fine Art and also the Coconut Grove Arts Festival Gallery has a duo or trio playing out front. The Art Stroll in the Mayfair Promenade has the most entertainment, including the ballet, poetry and other performance art, to go along with the classical and rock music outside.


There was the usual complimenatary food, and in some places much more than just wine and cheese, one gallery had Thai food another had Pollo Tropical and there is always free wine and liquore, too, at the Gallery Walks.


Suzanne St. George, Leigh Senter, Victoria Btesh and Niki Simon-Blacker all came out from the Mayfair Antique Market, which was open all night at the promenade, to enjoy the art and music as well.


At left a couple of art lovers enjoy the new exhibit in the Coconut Grove Arts Festival Gallery, at right, a piece by Angel Alfonso in the ArtWay 66 Gallery. The next Gallery Walk is Saturday, April 2.