First Friday Top 5

This is a Local Top 5 which was passed on by the Free Press. I figured I'd post it here as a preview for the next First Friday.

Every first Friday of each month, galleries, museums and studios all over Portland offer free admission and later hours. The idea is to make art more accessible and encourage people to support the artistic community of Portland. If that isn't enticing enough, many galleries also put out a lot of free wine and cheese. The key is to arrive early and be completely shameless. Here is my top five in chronological order of my walk:

1) The Closet Factory: This isn’t a gallery at all. Instead, they're purveyors of the breathtaking world of custom closet organizers who were confusingly part of the art walk. The atmosphere consisted of New age music and unbearably awful acrylic paintings. The only redeeming quality were the multiple bottles of Trader Joe's infamous Two Buck Chuck. The catch: you had to have a conversation with the woman hoping to remake your closet as you discretely stuffed your face.

2) State Theater studios: I roamed the halls and eventually multiple bottles of decent wine, actual crowds, a large variety of cheeses, Otto’s pizza and Little Lad’s popcorn. If you found two extremely enthusiastic men to follow around, like I did, they talked TO the artists/proprietors, so I didn't have to. It was a good diversion while I downed glasses wine of wine like shots.

3) The West End Deli: There’s a wine tasting every First Friday. It’s extremely tight quarters and again, not a gallery. I suggest you skip deodorant, run there, and hopefully you stink enough to clear out some of the crowd. This will leave easy access to multiple bottles of wine that did not come in a box and sake.

4) Susan Maasch Fine Art: The exhibit featured artists from PMA’s Biennial. It was an intriguing show, and I was happy I stopped in. But when I found a lone, nearly empty bottle of Malbec on a desk in the back room, I considered emptying the Wounded Soldiers into my own puny glass to make the visit that much more worthwhile.

5) Pickwick Press: I chatted up the friendly bartender at SPACE Gallery and she directed me upstairs, where Pickwick Press was having a party. Great art, copious amounts of boxed wine and an overflowing platter of almond croissants? Amazing.