Gallery Night is one of Racine’s premier events, drawing hundreds of art lovers to Downtown Racine.  Come Downtown and enjoy the galleries, studios and workshops along Sixth Street, Wisconsin Avenue, and Main Street. View new exhibits while enjoying refreshments and entertainment.  Gallery Night is a free event, open to the public.  The 2009 Gallery Night dates are: Saturday, February 6; Saturday, April 17; Saturday, July 17 and Saturday, November 20.

DOWNTOWN GALLERY NIGHT WILL BE HELD ON APRIL 17

Downtown Racine will host a Downtown Gallery Night on Saturday April 17, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Gallery Night will feature a wide variety of presentations, unique demonstrations and new techniques, and fresh exhibits featuring some hot new mediums and styles.  There will also be some favorite and traditional Racine artists, a new regional artist from Indiana, spring art for the garden, special culinary art skills, and musical art pieces.  New this Gallery Night will be an additional exhibit location at 339 Main Street featuring the fine art talents of the local graphic designers from Design Partners, Inc

Gallery Night is a free event, open to the public.  Maps detailing the gallery locations and exhibits are available at www.racinegallerynight.com.

Participating Locations:

Artists Gallery, 401 Main Street --Artists Gallery will be featuring the work of Deborah Isaacson who creates metal ribbon art forms in various metals and includes paint and fabric to enhance color and texture in her pieces. Her work is displayed in various galleries in the Midwest as well as corporate offices in the region. “The work is unique and creates a synergy that can be displayed inside or out”, explained Isaacson.

Member artists will show their culinary expertise presenting special recipe desserts, snacks and more. This is a great opportunity to meet the member artists to discuss their work as nearly the entire membership will be on hand for the evening. In addition, Artists Gallery will present a LAST LOOK at works before the gallery change over at the end of April. Every three months the gallery changes all of its work to provide new artwork from its 40 members. www.artistsgallery.org

Art Metals Studio, 332 Main Street --Art Metals Studio features custom fine jewelry in a relaxed gallery atmosphere. Christopher Sklba and his GIA accredited staff will help you design the jewelry you've been dreaming of in Platinum, Gold and exotic metals combined with stunning diamonds and gemstones in wearable artwork to last a lifetime.  During Gallery Night, you can explore the traditional Japanese art form of Mokume Gane. Chris Sklba will be demonstrating his technique of patterning metal laminates into exotic wood grain designs which are an integral part of his beautiful fine jewelry created exclusively for Art Metals Studio.  www.artmetalsjewelry.com

Avenue Gallery & Frame, 402 Main Street -- Avenue Gallery & Frame features the largest selection of framed and unframed artwork by local and nationally recognized artists.  They also feature art glass, pottery, sculpture and wood turnings.  www.avenuegalleryframe.com

Cobblestone Ltd, 415 Sixth Street --Racine's own Jean Thielen brings her latest work to The Cobblestone for Gallery Night.  Widely collected and highly regarded, she is known for her vivid use of color and technical mastery of her chosen media of watercolor.  Jean's work is sure to attract both current and new fans and viewers. www.cobblestoneltd.com

Design Partners, Inc., 336 Main Street --Design Partners, Inc. is proud to participate in the April Gallery Night Celebration and will be presenting an eclectic mix of fine art from its staff of graphic designers.  Artwork will be on display in the former Grotto Building at 336 Main Street along with live music and some silent-auction pieces.

Elements, 409 Sixth Street --Elements Gallery will feature "Art of the Garden". Artworks with a garden theme such as planters, birdbaths and garden sculptures will be on display. Get your garden ready for spring with original hand made art. www.theelementsgallery.com

Funky Hannah's Beads & Art, 324 Main Street --Funky Hannah’s is filled with beads from around the world, set amidst a gallery of regional art. Highlighting the gallery are the ethereal paintings of Marj Lacock; clever painted steel sculptures by Bill Reid; architecturally inspired paintings of Chicagoan Rick Smith; and blown glass from Funky's owner Amanda Paffrath. www.funkyhannahs.com

Hot Shop Glass Studio & Gallery, 239 Wisconsin Ave. --Watch the team from Hot Shop Glass create gorgeous hand blown glass in their state of the art glass facility. Hot Shop Glass features beautiful hand blown glass made by local artisans with gifts perfect for the upcoming mother's day! Gift certificates for Hot Shop’s $35 Explore Glass Workshop are always a big hit for any occasion. www.hotshopglass.com

Mathis Gallery and Conservation Framing, 328 Main Street --Visit us to view our extensive range of art from the Masters to the Modern, the most unique collection of art in Racine. Emile will be on hand to welcome any questions visitors may have about correct conservation framing methods.

Northern Lights Gallery, 423 Main Street -- Northern Lights Gallery introduces the work of Indianapolis artist Mary Johnston. Originally from Duluth, Minnesota, Mary's pallet of water, sky and forest are the main focus of her work. Her contemporary landscape oil paintings are based on scenes from the great lakes region and continue to be her primary subject. Her style and colors are often compared to that of the famous Wolf Kahn. www.uniquenorthgalleries.com

Photographic Design, 411 Sixth Street --Photographic Design is Racine’s only exclusive fine art photographic gallery, featuring unique images by Carol Hansen and Brad Jaeck.  Guests will find photographs of Racine’s landmarks as well as other Wisconsin, national and international locales magnificently framed for your home or office

Photographic Design is also introducing something entirely new. They offer a unique line of music boxes with signed fine art imageson the coverincluding severalwith scenes of Racine,from the Wind Point lighthousetoour fabulous lakefront. These music boxes are bound to be a hitand will make the perfect mother's day gift. www.photographicdesignltd.com

Plumb Gold Ltd., 322 Main Street -- Plumb Gold Ltd. will unveil its new spring collection by Judy K. Olsen, with rare colored pearls and unusual textures. Many of Judy’s more than 200 limited editions will also be on display. Enter to win a pair of hand-made sterling silver earrings. www.plumbgoldltd.com

Racine Arts Council, 316 Sixth Street -- The Racine Arts Council Gallery, Artspace, is featuring Burn, Baby, Burn! an encaustic wax art show. The artists in this show are Jay Mollerskov, Maggie Venn, Kathleen Laybourn and Nirmal Raja. www.racineartscouncil.org

Racine Art Museum, 441 Main Street --Don’t miss the final weekend to explore the impact of the Great Depression with artworks from RAM’s Works Progress Administration (WPA), a collection of images by New York and Wisconsin artists of daily life in the 1930s.  Both rural and urban scenes depict unvarnished moments of life's struggles as well as glimpses of happiness. Visitors are sure to recognize Milwaukee landmarks, enjoy familiar Wisconsin landscapes and experience the hustle and bustle of New York City. This is the first opportunity to see so many of the pieces from the WPA collection on display together since RAM opened in 2003. www.ramart.org