Stroll the neighborhood during Wednesdays on West Main

A neighborhood stroll from 5 to 7 PM every 3rd Wednesday of the month.

September 9, 2015; 9:01 AM • by Richard Hayes

The official launch for the first Wednesdays on West Main is September 16th from 5-7pm and will continue throughout the year every 3rd Wednesday of the month. Alice Livingston and Julia Monroe from The Reynolds Gallery, Bj Kocen of the glave kocen gallery, Lizzie Oliver of The Visual Arts Center of Richmond, and Tammy Rostov of Rostov’s Coffee and Tea spearheaded the effort to bring the businesses of West Main Street closer together.

The spark for this idea came out of a realization that West Main Street needed its own signature event. Even though many galleries on West Main Street participate in First Friday openings, the schedules don’t always align and variably some galleries are open on First Friday while some are not. Also with all the Friday Art Walks from Richmond to Petersburg every single Friday of the month, Main Street was poised to try something new and the answer was simple; Wednesdays on West Main isn’t an art walk at all, it’s a neighborhood stroll with not just galleries participating but all businesses that want to get involved from restaurants, retailers to the service providers! With emails, door knocking, word of mouth and social media outreach, the founders of Wednesdays on West Main attempted to reach out to as many businesses on West Main as possible to ask them to participate. The task was simple; to offer something unique whether it is a special discount on goods/services or a special event like a wine tasting or book signing etc. every third Wednesday of the month from 5-7pm. “Everyone that I talked to got it instantlyand saw the potential” Said Bj Kocen. “I’ve never seen so many light bulbs go off and it was exciting to get that initial reaction.”

The hopes for Wednesdays on West Main is that eventually each block stretching from Harrison to the Boulevard will have participating businesses so no matter where you go on West Main that 3rd Wednesday of the month you’ll run into some unexpected but pleasant surprises. “It’s classic Stone Soup” continues Kocen. “We’ve messaged to as many businesses as we can and will continue to do so until the pot is boiling over with goodness.”

September will be more than likely a soft opening for Wednesdays on West Main with the UCI Road World Championships just around the corner but October promises to come out of the gate swinging as that will be our first of three themed Wednesdays on West Main Street Strolls, “Craft Beer Harvest” where certain strategic locations along West Main will have tastings, tap take overs, and many other tie ins.

For all the up to date information, The Wednesdays on West Main Facebook page is a great place to start with also checking in on Twitter at @WestMainRVA and Instagram at @WednesdaysOnWestMain.