SOUTH LOOP — The South Loop's galleries, performers and artists will explode onto Wabash Avenue Friday for the annual Wabash Arts Corridor Crawl.
The free arts and culture walking tour runs from 4-9 p.m., beginning in the first floor lobby of 623 S. Wabash Ave. and leading visitors through 12 galleries down Wabash Avenue from Van Buren Street to Roosevelt Road.
Along the way, dance performances, concerts and pop-up food and drink stations serving local fare will entertain viewers to celebrate the start of Columbia College's new school year.
The showcase also celebrates the ongoing partnership between Columbia College Chicago and other South Loop organizations hoping to revitalize the Wabash Corridor as an arts destination, an initiative backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who called for more installations in the neighborhood over the winter.
"I have seen firsthand the power the arts can have to transform a neighborhood economically and well as culturally," he said in a statement.
Highlights of this year's crawl include a nearly 50-square-foot photographic banner titled "Moose Bubblegum Bubble" that hugs the south exterior wall of Columbia's 33 E. Congress Parkway building and jazz performances at Buddy Guy’s Legends.
Check out the arts crawl map for more programming information, including free trolley stops.
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