Keep Second Saturday Art Walk Open To All

An open forum is needed for art galleries, musicians, performance artists, local businesses, restaurants and food trucks to manage Second Saturday Art Walk’s growing pains TOGETHER. 

DJs Excluded From September’s Second Saturday Art Walk

According to Pinchadiscos 305, a popular Miami D.J. group that was told to leave during last month’s Second Saturday Art Walk crackdown by the Neighborhood Enhancement Team (N.E.T.), city officials are inviting interested parties to voice their opinions at a Q & A session in Clemente Park on Wednesday, September 26th.

While engagement with the N.E.T. is certainly a step in the right direction, it is clear that a larger forum is needed; a forum where all local artists and independent businesses can meet and design solutions TOGETHER to manage the increasingly popular Second Saturday Art Walk.

Common Sense Solutions

Art Walk’s growing pains are becoming more apparent as Miami’s art districts, Wynwood and Design District, become increasingly plagued with out-of-control traffic, parking headaches and an exponentially growing crowd of gallery-goers dodging frustrated drivers every Second Saturday.

Luckily, there are many common sense solutions could benefit everyone involved:

More Than One Event – Why only one event, an Art Walk, once a month? Why not a DJ Walk, a Restaurant Walk, or even a Performance Art Walk to showcase the rise of Miami’s local businesses and burgeoning art community?

Gallery owners could even coordinate a Gallery Night with exclusive, upscale parties designed to attract serious buyers looking to expand their art portfolio with the works of Miami’s up-and-coming artists.

Multiple nights may redistribute the crowds and provide revenue for local businesses on nights other than Second Saturdays.

Put the WALK into Art Walk – Local activists have formed the Walk Wynwood movement with a campaign for temporary street closures during art walk events.

The Walk Wynwood movement envisions streets filled with vendors and live music, instead of angry traffic jams full of frustrated drivers during Miami’s art district nights.

With temporary street closures, Art-Walkers could park in Midtown and arrive to their Art Walk destination via the numerous pedicabs, trolleys and metro bus options available, leaving the event free of traffic hell.

Incentives For Public Transportation  – Art-Walkers could get additional incentives to ditch their car and take public transportation instead.

Local event producers and businesses could give out raffle tickets directly to trolley and pedicab riders or even offer prizes for people who post their public transportation experiences on Instagram or Twitter.

Not Just An Art Walk Anymore

Many local business and artists are heavily invested in Second Saturday Art Walk.

What was once just a quiet open house of art galleries amongst abandoned warehouses has blossomed into a unique opportunity for painters, sculptors, musicians, performance artists and designers of every stripe to gain exposure within the community every Second Saturday.

Food trucks and other vendors also rely heavily on the revenue from Art Walk; for some trucks it’s the only event that keeps them in business during summer and other slowdowns.

Future of Second Saturday Art Walk

Participants need to meet and come up with solutions TOGETHER to manage the Art Walk crowds, keep the neighborhood safe and clean for everyone, manage the traffic and make it an event where all artists and local businesses can truly flourish.

Visit the Walk Wynwood Facebook page to learn more about the movement and connect with other activists that want to keep Second Saturday Art Walk a vital stronghold for artists and businesses.