LONG ISLAND CITY — A group of neighborhood art institutions will open their doors to the public after hours once a month as part of a new event series that aims to reinforce Long Island City's role as one of the city's art hubs.
"LIC Gallery Nights" will kick off Sept. 22 and offer visitors free access to nearly a dozen local galleries and art spaces from 6 to 9 p.m. — a way to bring both visitors to the area and inspire more cultural organizations to set up shop here, organizer Richard Mazda said.
"This initiative hopefully will encourage other people to open galleries [here]," said Mazda, who runs The Secret Theatre and founded the LIC Arts Open, an annual week-long neighborhood arts festival.
"We think that this is a good way of shining a light on galleries, and that might attract people," he said. "Encourage them to come to Long Island City and see what is there."
While the neighborhood historically drew artists seeking cheaper studio spaces than Manhattan or Brooklyn, rising rents in Long Island City over the last several years has spurred worries over the future of the neighborhood's art community.
The rapid development — including the demise of street art hub 5Pointz — has many worried about the potential of being displaced or priced out, Mazda said.
"We've gone through a certain uncertain period, to deal with the development of the area," he said.
But as more developers recognize the value of maintaining space for artists to work and exhibit, either by creating new ones in their projects, allowing the existing sites to remain or partnering with cultural groups, local artists are starting to feel less threatened, according to Mazda.
"The developers are beginning to include arts components, and that makes me feel really good," he said.
The first Gallery Night will include well-known neighborhood galleries like SculptureCenter and Brickhouse Ceramic Art Center and smaller venues like Local Project, ResoBox and Radiator Arts.
It will also include access to unconventional art spaces, including restaurant Crescent Grill, which hangs works by local artists, and climbing gym Brooklyn Boulders Queensbridge, which will be showing art films.
Materials for the Arts, a large "creative reuse center" which supplies schools and nonprofits with recycled materials to use in their works, will also open its doors for the event.
Mazda said they hope to expand the number of participants for each LIC Gallery Night, which will take place on the third Thursday of each month.
For more information, visit the event's Facebook page.
