Art Hop lets students get affordable culture

By Renee Carvalho

ArtHop might sound like a game, but it’s really an event held every first Thursday of the month where the public can “hop” galleries for free.

To a poor college student, what could be better than free events? Not to mention the galleries usually have food to snack on and wine to drink while patrons check out current art or older collections from local, national and foreign artists.

The Fresno Art Council began ArtHop when local artists Frank Arnold and Jane Whitehurst wanted to open their studios to the public and allow people to see what goes on behind the scenes.

Galleries and museums soon got in on the action, with participating galleries offering free admission to the public during the hours of 5 and 8 p.m.

This year, Fresno art fans will have a huge exhibit called Grandes Maestros of Mexican Folk Art, which includes more than 400 works from current Mexican artists.

The exhibit, which runs through mid-May, is so large that three local museums, the Fresno Art Museum, Fresno Metropolitan and Arte Americas have combined their efforts to house it.

Other current exhibits include Joel Meyerowitz’s Sept. 11 Aftermath: Images From Ground Zero, as well as Parisian paintings and prints by Louis Legrand at the Fresno Art Museum.

Susan Bailey Harris’s collection of photos titled A Palette from the Heart is on display at the Spectrum Gallery. Fresno City’s Art Space Gallery is holding Elements in Balance by Cynthia Handel.