Despite rain, it's always fun on Gallery Walk night

I ran into some Grapevine fans Saturday night during Gallery Walk at the Hunter Gallery, they seem to be fans of everything Coconut Grove because not only did they come up to me and tell me they love the Grapevine, they were out and about enjoying the galleries and I see they also have a copy of the Coconut Grove Hotspot magazine and the Coconut Grove Gazette. That's Catherine Hofius, Jarod Lanham, Emily Hofius and Jon Hofius, at the Hunter Gallery.

The best part of that sentence was "Hunter Gallery." The Coconut Grove Arts Festival Gallery II, was renamed in honor of Jim Hunter, who recently passed away. Jim was basically the creator of that gallery, I wrote here, how I would visit every day as Jim transformed a clothing store into one of the most popular galleries in Coconut Grove.

I had thought that it would be a good idea to name the gallery after Jim, but I don't know if I ever said it out loud, I was thinking about it at his memorial service in Wyndwood at one of the galleries. I thought that would be the perfect honor for Jim. So when I saw the name change, it really made me feel good. Lilia Garcia, Jim's wife, tells me that in the fall, probably October, they will have a ribbon cutting ceremony and formally introduce the gallery to the world.


I hung out with my friends Maria Freed and Sandy Speier all night as we gallery hopped. Gigi Levya (below center), was with us too, of course and we visited most of the galleries as part of the Gallery Walk.


Even in the rain, it's a lot of fun. If you haven't been out to Gallery Walk, it's really a great way to spend a Saturday night. You can meet so many people and really take in the best parts of the Grove, the music, art, restaurants, bars, it's all there for you to enjoy. We all stopped to by Powerball tickets along the route. About seven of us met up at the Cristina Chicon Gallery on Commodore Plaza, and upstairs in the loft area, in a little huddle, we all agreed to share the wealth if one of us won the $180 million.

I didn't win. I haven't heard from the other six yet.