Art Hop in Fresno & Jazz

I've lived in Fresno my entire life, and I can't think of a more exciting time that right now. New people are coming to town, (or back to town) and there seems to be a new optimisim, or at the least enthusiasim for things that years ago wouldn't have happened. The rebirth of Downtown Fresno, and the growth of Art Hop are two prime examples, which converged last Thursday, and KFSR (and yours truly) was there for the whole experience. Art Hop takes place the first Thursday of every month, when local museums and galleries open their doors for free, and everyone goes out and has a great time. Even if you aren't an art lover, it's the place to be. Last Thursday, a new complex of three galleries opened their doors for their first Art Hop in their new digs, in thee rapidly emerging "SoMo" area, south of Mono Street in Downtown. KFSR was invited to by local artist Richard Silva, who shares one of the three new spaces with Dixie Salazar. The other spaces are occupied by The Fig Tree Gallery, and Gallery 25, two long time Fresno galleries forced to move by the expansion of the Fresno Met Museum. While it's very hard to estimate the size of the crowd, it was impressive. People went from gallery to gallery, venue to venue, sampling the works, and enjoying refreshments, wine, cheese, etc. I was there from 5:00pm till 7:30pm, playing jazz for the audience and setting the mood. After I left, our Music Director Frank D! took over, and kept the party hopping well into the evening. We met dozens of people who it turns out love jazz, but didn't know KFSR existed, and that you can hear Miles and Basie, and Brubeck on the radio in Fresno! I think it's probably the best promotional event we've ever done, and I think having a little music helps give such an event a little extra touch of pizzaz. Needless to say we'll be back next ArtHop with even more music, so if you're in the area, come check us out.
(one note on the photo, I was only able to snap a shot when the crowd cleared out, most of the time it was literally packed with people!)