Hello, folks! As you all may know, May 1 was First Friday, which meant that there was all kinds of biking, rollerblading, drinking and socializing, all in the name of Art! Several galleries were new to us, at least in the sense of us biking to them. Pictured above is the group at Flanders Seaboard. We had 90 riders in the photo, and at least 100 overall for the second month in a row! Way to go, Raleigh bikers!

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Mushroom - Kendal Draper modeling for Alyssa McNamara

In case you missed it, there was a fashion last night. The Art to Wear show, hosted by both the College of Design and the College of Textiles, features student designers from both of the colleges. This is probably the sixth or seventh one that I’ve seen and it was easily one of the best – although it would be hard to top last year’s event in the Court of North Carolina in terms of venue. I will say that the lighting in Reynolds Coliseum was much, much better, though. As were my seats. The only downside was that it wasn’t outside – although I could see the benefits of moving it indoors. Nevertheless, I managed to get some great tickets from a friend of mine and we headed down to check out the show. There were 15 designers, from Sophomore to Senior, to Graduate level showing off a myriad of themes, inspiration coming from the White Witch in the Chronicles of Narnia, to the American Dream, French Desserts, and Nesting. Rumor has it that over 5000 people showed up. That rivals the Krispy Kreme Challenge in terms of student-run events! Enough talk, though. Let’s get to the pictures!

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So, this is just between us, but I have some really cool photos of the soon to be finished Mahler building at 228 Fayetteville Street. As part of the Fayetteville Street Historic District, it serves as an example of some of the low rise commercial buildings that used to dominate the area.

Over the past decade, however, the 200 block has been in a process of rebirth. Slated to open in the next few weeks, it will serve as an art gallery on the bottom floor, commercial offices on the second floor, and living units on the top floor. Local builder Greg Paul is the contractor, and I think he’s done a great job inside and out! Having worked for the architect in charge of the renovation, I got a firsthand taste of the rigors of renovating a historic commercial and residential site. Here are some photos, starting from the ground floor and moving up to the apartments. Enjoy!

The Mahler Gallery, which will house artwork, and which will also be on the First Friday Artwalk.
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