First Friday is Lincoln’s monthly open-studio night for the whole city. Galleries across downtown and beyond — Noyes Gallery and Gallery 9 in the Mission Arts Building, Tugboat Gallery above Gomez Art Supply, Parrish Studios at 14th and O, Kiechel Fine Art, the Burkholder Project in the Haymarket — open new shows with receptions, artist meet-and-greets, and refreshments. The museums join in too: Sheldon stays open late with drop-in tours and sketching, and the International Quilt Museum and Great Plains Art Museum do their own First Friday programming.
The loop is self-guided and free, which is the beauty of it: park downtown, walk the gallery circuit, and finish with dinner and drinks. Parrish Studios regularly draws hundreds of people on a First Friday night, and the Burkholder Project’s working studios let you watch artists mid-process, not just at the opening.
It runs year-round, rain or shine, every first Friday. Check the individual galleries’ sites or social feeds for that month’s openings — the lineup changes completely every month, which is why locals keep going back.