The first Friday of every month, Downtown Raleigh showcases its art, music and food during its First Friday Gallery Walk. It’s a free self-guided tour and a chance to visit art galleries, studios, alternative art venues and more.
Read on for what’s going on during Raleigh’s First Friday Gallery Walk, but make sure to check out these other First Friday events in Raleigh and beyond:
- First Friday at Eno Arts Mill in Hillsborough — open studios, live music, kids activities, more…
- Artspace First Friday
- Family First Friday at Kidzu Children’s Museum — free admission
- First Friday Under the Stars with Raleigh Astronomy Club and Triangle Land Conservancy
First Friday September 1, 2023
Learn more about the First Friday events at Downtown Raleigh’s First Friday Raleigh Events page.
Artspace
201 East Davie Street – Moore Square District
Artspace First Friday
6pm – 10pm
Artspace is the place to be for September First Friday to view exhibitions, enjoy a hands-on art activity and live music, and shop with our 30+ studio artists.
September First Friday Experiences:
- Draw/Cut exhibition with work by Katie Knoeringer, Artspace Summer Artist in Residence in Gallery 1
- 13 Moons exhibition with work by Jimena Vergara-Sanz, Artspace Universal Access Artist in Residence in Upfront Gallery
- Artspace Studio Artist Showcase in Gallery 2
- Explore new corridors exhibition featuring past Artspace Artists in Residence Caitlin Cary, Martha Clippinger, and Mar Hester
- Visit and shop with 30+ studio artists
- Pinch Pot Turtles art making activity, 6-8:30pm
- Sounds by DJ Gay Agenda, 7-10pm
- Celebrate 50 years of Hip-Hop with a special cypher hosted by Cypher University, 9pm
Blackbird Books & Coffee
323 Blake St – Moore Square District
First Friday Tarot Readings
5pm – 8pm
Erin, from @themagickmakers, will be in the shop from 5-8pm doing 15 minute readings for intuitive insights, clarity, and perspective. Readings will be $25 for 15 minutes and there will be a sign up sheet the night of!
City Market Artist Collective
300 Blake St – Moore Square District
Steven Silverleaf, Collage works.
6pm – 10pm
City Market Artist Collective presents the Collage works of Steven Silverleaf.
Curate Raleigh
15 W Hargett St – Fayetteville Street District
First Friday Raleigh – Fairy Hair by CreatingSparklesCo
6pm – 9pm
Katie of Creating Sparkles Fairy Hair returns to Curate Downtown for September’s First Friday. Join us on Friday, September 1st from 6-9pm for complimentary drinks (including age appropriate drinks), Fairy Hair, and shopping from 60+ local makers.
Copperline Plant Co.
300 Blake St – Moore Square District
First Friday at Copperline Plant Co.
9pm
Copperline Plant Co. will be open late for First Friday in City Market! Swing buy to purchase some greenery, ask questions about plant care, and more.
Designed For Joy
517 W Cabarrus St – Warehouse District
Designed For Joy First Friday in the Studio
5pm – 7pm
Shop and enjoy a tour of Raleigh nonprofit, Designed For Joy in the Warehouse District.
Designed For Joy’s brand of leather handbags, jewelry and home decor (including charcuterie boards) provides women in crisis with stability through immediate employment and support, removing the stigma of vulnerability. To date, over 100 women have been hired with $300,000 in living wages earned.
Gallery C
540 N Blount St – Capital District
A Classical Pairing: Paintings by Bert Beirne and Sculpture by Campbell Paxton
6pm – 8pm
This classical pairing of artists Bert Beirne and Campbell Paxton represents more than just a duet between paintings on a wall and objects on a table. It is a celebration of domestic scale; a tasteful combination that bespeaks an atmosphere of intimacy.
The Gathering Gallery
111 E Hargett St – Moore Square District
Permanent Jewelry Pop Up
6pm – 9pm
Free mimosas
Free cake
Permanent Jewelry pop-up
Linda Ruth Dickinson
22 Glenwood Ave – Glenwood South District
Seasonal Shift
6pm – 9pm
Visit Studio #11A, upstairs at 22 Glenwood Ave S to view recent works celebrating the change from Summer to Fall with some paintings Brand New for Autumn! as well as others from 2023 and earlier.
Glenwood Fine Art
20 Glenwood Ave – Glenwood South District
5pm – 8pm
Glenwood Fine Art opened April 2023 in the Glenwood South District. We are are launching our new Monthly Featured Artist Program during September’s First Friday event. The gallery’s new program will feature a non-GFA artist or artist group each month, beginning with our First Friday events. Their exhibit will be shown throughout the month and will be replaced by a new Featured Artist the following month.
Lump Projects
505 S Blount St – Moore Square District
Slump Opening Reception
6pm – 8pm
SLUMP is on view at LUMP from September 1st – October 8th, 2023, with an opening reception on Friday September 1st from 6-9pm.
SLUMP is a group exhibition that came about through an informal online and IRL conversation between Jerstin Crosby and New York-based artist and LabSpace gallery co-director Julie Torres, about her paintings. The concept of a group show emerged and grew into an exhibition featuring works that flop, clump, sag, dangle, droop, go limp, sprawl, loaf, slouch or fall flat.
Moore Square
200 S Blount St – Moore Square District
First Friday Movie Night, Market & Food Trucks (Free Movie + Live Entertainment)
5pm – 9pm
First Friday Markets and Movie Night at Moore Square with food trucks, live entertainment, local market, free games and a free outdoor movie night.
Event Info:
Featuring: Food Trucks, Local Market, Live Music, Games for Families, Free Movie.
Market: 5:00-9:00 pm
Live Music by John Sierra: 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Free Movie: “Back to the Future”, starts ~ 7:30 pm (presented by the City of Raleigh!)
Raleigh’s Smallest Park
415 Hillsborough St – Glenwood South District
400H Lemonade Stand For St. Jude’s
11am-1pm
Join us at Raleigh’s Smallest Park 400H Lemonade Stand Fundraiser to support St. Jude Children’s Hospital on 09/01/23 from 11am-1pm.
Enjoy live music, while purchasing a refreshing cup of lemonade in support of a great cause.
$2/lemonade cup
Cash Only
Taverna Agora
326 Hillsborough St – Glenwood South District
Greek Night at Taverna Agora
8pm – 11pm
Join us at Taverna Agora for Greek Night every first AND third Friday of the month in 2023!
Enjoy live entertainment, including belly dancing, and bouzouki music, all while having an authentic Greek dinner! Live music starts at 8pm with belly dancing starting at 8:30pm. Our talented belly dancer, Yara Sultan, will showcase her skills during three sets throughout the night. Plan your reservation around the 8:30pm, 9:30pm, or 10:30pm set!
Raleigh Podcast Studio
313 E Martin St – Moore Square District
Raleigh Podcast Studio Tour
6pm – 8pm
Stop by and learn more about Downtown Raleigh’s FIRST Video Podcast Studio. Meet the crew and hear the vision for this new content creation studio space.
YogaSix Glenwood South
621 Hillsborough St – Glenwood South District
Happy Hour Class and Sip & Shop!
5:30pm – 9pm
Start the weekend of right with a 45 Min yoga class followed by drinks and shopping! Not looking to get your sweat on on a Friday night? No worries, you can still stop by the studio to shop the latest trends in athletic ware for all! First Friday shoppers will receive 30% off their purchase and a coupon for a free class.
Virgil’s Cocktails & Cocina
126 S Salisbury St – Fayetteville Street District
Friday DJ Set
10pm – 2am
Friday Night DJ Sets!
@ Virgil’s Cocktails and Cocina
1st and 3rd Fridays
Free Entry and drink specials all night!
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