First Friday is one of downtown Raleigh's most popular evening events, with thousands of participants joining in each month to appreciate local art and enjoy a glass of wine or a beer along with a few hors d'ouevres. Join us on the first Friday of every month for an informal introduction to Raleigh's exciting art, music and dining scene.Look for the First Friday flags (with the logo above) to locate local art galleries, art studios, museums, retail, restaurants and alternative art venues each month. You can download a two-page PDF map of all the First Friday locations here and most venues have printed maps available.
Below is a list of current First Friday locations. Feel free to drop us a line if you find any omissions or incorrect info on this list.
311 West Martin Street Galleries and Studios
311 W. Martin Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
919.821.2262
First Friday hours: 6-9pm
www.311galleriesandstudios.org
311 West Martin Street Galleries and Studios is the location for Flanders 311 Gallery, "M" Street Gallery and the Print Studio at 311. There are 12 tenant artists, painters, photographers, and printmakers. The art produced and shown at 311 is varied and edgy.
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Adam Cave Fine Art
115-1/2 E. Hargett Street (2nd floor)
Raleigh, NC 27601
919.838.6692
First Friday hours: 6-9pm
www.adamcavefineart.com
Adam Cave Fine Art is a downtown Raleigh gallery showcasing artwork by a select group of regional and nationally known painters, printmakers & photographers. Adam Cave Fine Art is located on the 2nd floor of an historic, 110-year old building, half a block from Moore Square and an easy walk from City Market, the NC State Capitol, Fayetteville Street, numerous restaurants, museums, and other galleries, the NC Symphony and the NC Ballet. The gallery features a rotating exhibition schedule of solo and group shows of work by participating artists. Visit the exhibitions page for information on upcoming events.
back to the top Artcraft Gallery (Artcraft Sign Company)
406 W Hillsborough St
919.832.5058
First Friday hours: 6-9pm
Funky, functional and fine art by several co-op artists
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Artspace
201 E. Davie Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
919.821.2723
First Fridays hours: 6-10pm
www.artspacenc.org
Artspace is a non-profit visual art center dedicated to presenting quality exhibitions and educational programs within an open studio environment. Artspace promotes the visual arts by making the creative process accessible to the public. Since 1986 Artspace has provided the community with a unique environment where artists, working in a variety of media with studios open to the public, have invited the community to become part of the creative process, a visual art center where children and adults can express their creativity through enriching educational programs, and a venue for exhibitions by regional, national and international artists.
back to the top Beehive Studios
107 W Hargett St (3rd Floor of Father & Son Antiques)
919.832.3030
First Friday hours: 6pm-10pm
Art gallery with seven artists
back to the top Block Gallery - Raleigh Arts Commission
222 W Hargett St
919.996.3610
First Friday hours: 8:30am-5:15pm
www.raleighnc.gov/arts
City gallery for local artists
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Carter Building Studios
14 Glenwood Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27603
919.896.8858
barrycartersr@gmail.com
www.thecarterbuilding.com
First Friday hours: 6:00pm-9:30pm
Carter Building Studios is a collection of art studios featuring up to 75+ working artists and their work (12-22 Glenwood Ave.), including Local Color Gallery (www.localcoloraleigh.com), Points of View Photography Gallery (www.povgallery.com) and UpstART Studios (The Carter Building at 14 Glenwood South). See individual gallery listings on the website (currently in the creation process but should be up shortly) for more information.
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Collectors Gallery
323 Blake Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
919.828.6500
First Friday hours: 6-9pm
www.thecollectorsgallery.com
The Collectors Gallery is a full service fine art and craft gallery, providing residential and commercial consulting and custom conservation framing. The gallery offers a wide variety of work by national, regional and North Carolina artists. The Collectors Gallery is a partnership between Rory Parnell, former Director of Raleigh Contemporary Gallery, and Megg Rader, former Executive Director of Artspace.
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Designbox Gallery
323 W. Martin Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
919.834.3552
First Friday hours: 7-10pm
www.designbox.us
Designbox is home to a number of independent creative professionals who share space, ideas and multi-disciplinary projects. Members of DesignBox have been nominated for and won many national honors in their respective fields. The membership is also responsible in part for nationally recognized events such as SPARKcon, Kirby Derby Day, and helping the City of Raleigh redevelop City Plaza. The Designbox Gallery is dedicated to promoting the expression of creative and collaborative work by local and emerging artists, craftspeople and designers.
back to the top Edge Office Lobby Exhibition
400 Glenwood Ave
919.235.0933
First Friday hours: 6pm-9pm
www.edge-office.com
Exhibiting visual art using video as a medium
back to the top Fish Market Student Gallery
133 Fayetteville Street
First Friday hours: 6pm-11pm (only open select months-check website for participating dates)
www.design.ncsu.edu/fishmarket
Student gallery of NC State College of Design
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Flanders Art Gallery
18 Seaboard Ave, Ste 160
919.834.5044
First Friday hours: 6pm-9pm
www.flandersartgallery.com
Flanders Art Gallery aims to represent a diverse group of contemporary artists whose practices include installation, painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and photography. The gallery assembles its pool of talent regardless of specific career points, media, or geographical locations; in this manner, Flanders ensures that the common characteristics present in its artists are a commitment to continual training and education, a concern for creating cohesive bodies of highly finished works, and an understanding of the contemporary art market for assisting gallery patrons in whatever needs they may encounter.
back to the top Kohn Associates / City Gate Real Estate Services Lobby Exhibition
404 Glenwood Ave
919.827.0256
First Friday hours: 6pm-9pm
www.kohnassociates.net
Office space exhibiting a rotating selection of art each month.
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Lee Hansley Gallery
225 Glenwood Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27603
919.828.7557
First Friday hours: 6-10pm
www.leehansleygallery.com
Lee Hansley Gallery, located in Raleigh's bustling Glenwood South, is dedicated to showcasing quality fine art through a series of changing exhibitions, both group and solo shows, featuring works by mature professional artists from North Carolina, the Southeast and the nation. The gallery was founded by and is managed by Lee Hansley, who is a former curator at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem. The gallery is interested in interpreting and preserving the history of art in North Carolina and placing it in context. Lee Hansley often mounts exhibitions of works by significant North Carolina artists now deceased. The gallery is also the headquarters for the organizing effort for the North Carolina Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA/NC), the state's only museum dedicated solely to interpreting, showcasing and preserving the art and craft of North Carolina.
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Local Color Gallery
22 South Glenwood Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27603
919.754.3887
www.localcoloraleigh.com
First Friday hours: 6pm-9:30pm
Local Color Gallery in downtown began as a loose organization of four or five women needing a place to sell their art. The gallery has now grown into a women's artist cooperative 14 members strong and is located in the Carter Building in Glenwood South, the up and coming Raleigh hub of downtown galleries, restaurants and nightlife.
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Morning Times
10 E Hargett Street
919.836.1204
First Friday hours: 5pm-11pm
www.morningtimes-raleigh.com
Downtown coffee shop gallery in a restored turn-of-the-century Raleigh building
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Nicole's Studio and Art Gallery
715 N Person Street
919.838.8580
First Friday hours: 5:30pm-8:30pm
www.nicolestudio.com
Gallery/studio offering fine art, crafts, jewelry, and art workshops, as well as rotating artist exhibits.
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Points of View Photography Gallery
20 Glenwood Avenue
919.829.1000
First Friday hours: 6pm-9pm
www.povgallery.com
Points of View represents outstanding local and regionally-recognized photographers whose work covers a spectrum of fine art photography. It uses both contemporary and antique cameras and noted printing processes. These include film, digital, large format and pinhole cameras, Polaroid cameras and transfers, brownies, hand-painted and hand-toned photographs, and traditional dark-room and digital printing. Subject matters include people, architecture, abstractions, landscapes and nature, street scenes, water, macro views, those of a historical nature, and those that express social commentary. They also restore photographs.
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Rebus Works
301-2 Kinsey Street
919.754.8452
First Friday hours: 6pm-10pm
www.rebusworks.us
Rebus Works is a small gallery located in Boylan Heights. Established in 2003, the gallery is operated by artists for artists and is committed to exhibiting innovative works of fine art and high craft, presenting both local and national artists. The storefront is used for showing various handmade works, including printed media such as letterpress cards, functional art, glass, ceramics and jewelry. Rebus Works encourages community involvement in the visual arts by making accessible resources for and about artists, and fine art framing. There is affordable art for purchase from the store location or from the website, which also features a new work of art daily. Shonna Greenwell is the owner/director and Sarah Blackmon is the gallery manager.
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Redfern Fine Art Studio
424 S Dawson Street
919.755.9951
First Friday hours: 6pm-9pm
Redfern, located in the Warehouse District, shows artwork from abstract painter and ceramicist Gwendolyn E. Redfern, abstract painter Lisa Twitty, and John W. Redfern. The store offers custom framing service and customized art prints.
back to the top The Tire Shop @ The Dawson
317 West Morgan St, Ste 105
919.656.8012
First Friday hours: 6pm-10pm
www.nancysbaker.com
Artist-run studio and gallery of contemporary art
back to the top United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County
110 S. Blount St
919.839.1498
First Friday hours: 6pm-9pm
www.unitedarts.org
United Arts raises money to fund arts programming and arts education throughout Wake County.
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Vintage21
117 S West Street
919.749.3838
First Friday hours: 6pm-10pm
www.vintage21.com
Church, art gallery and music venue
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Visual Art Exchange
325 Blake Street
919.828.7834
First Friday hours: 6pm-9pm
www.visualartexchange.org
Visual Art Exchange (VAE) is the oldest private, non-profit, visual arts organization in Raleigh. Formerly Wake Visual Arts, VAE has been operating for 26 years. It was the first art gallery to operate in downtown Raleigh and is a past recipient of the prestigious Raleigh Medal of Arts Award. VAE has an integral place in the art community in Raleigh and is a key cultural offering in the City Market neighborhood and Moore Square Arts District. VAE is dedicated to providing opportunities to emerging artists and enriching the cultural environment of the community through its exhibitions and programs.