Venues capable of displaying 1,000 works of art for less than 24 hours aren’t easy to come by.
But for 20 years, the volunteers who organized Art All Night always managed to find one in Lawrenceville.
This year, that run ends. After nearly a decade of an overheated real-estate market in its home neighborhood, Art All Night was unable to locate a suitable underused warehouse or old industrial building to host the event, which draws some 15,000 people over the course of 22 round-the-clock hours.
So the 2018 Art All Night is moving to – of all places – the South Side, which has been undergoing its own real-estate boom for even longer. Organizers secured the cavernous landmark known as the Terminal buildings, recently rechristened the Highline, a historic warehouse complex not far from Station Square.
Otherwise, this Art All Night should be much the same as previous incarnations, said longtime co-organizer Marisa Golden. It’s still a show where any artist can submit a single work in any medium, with no jury, no fees and no censorship. Admission remains free, and the atmosphere is family-friendly, with art activities for kids. There’ll be live music, too, and a festival feel, even into the wee hours.
Because Art All Night is the city’s most democratic annual art show as well as its biggest, expect a wide range of artwork, from self-taught to quite accomplished, with lots of paintings and drawings, some sculpture, and a little video. But there’ll be plenty of room for it all, says Golden: The Terminal buildings space is 80,000 square feet, which matches the largest prior Art All Night venue.
Golden said there’s another upside to relocating.
“As a result of the move, we may be exposing different people to this show and to art, who would not have been given the opportunity to experience it in the past,” she said. “Ultimately, we’re more excited than we are disappointed to be out of Lawrenceville.
The event runs from 4 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday. Artists who wish to submit work must register either online or, if registering in person, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, at the venue. More info for artists is here.
The Terminal buildings are located at 198 Fourth Street.
