Studer Community Institute

The changing face of Gallery Night

May 8, 2015
/ Mike Ensley
/ community-dashboard

The third Friday of every month, more than 10,000 people descend on a closed Palafox Street and the surrounding area to dine, listen to live music, discover art and drink. Gallery Night, which began in 1991 as a way to highlight art galleries in downtown a few times a year, has become a monthly street party that some say left its artistic roots behind. Now, the longtime event is facing more change based on a recent vote by the Downtown Improvement Board, the entity that oversees it, regarding liquor sales on the big night. It's a change that is not sitting well with many on Palafox. In a meeting on April 28, the Downtown Improvement Board voted to limit alcohol sales to beer and wine only at sidewalk bars for the May 22 Gallery Night. Attendees would need to go inside the businesses to purchase liquor. Downtown bar and restaurant owners not only are upset with the DIB for making the decision, but also because they did it without input from those it affects the most, as there was no agenda or notification that the vote was being taken. “We felt shut out of the process,” said Joe Abston, owner of Hopjacks and The Tin Cow and the recently appointed spokesperson for the downtown bar & restaurants on Palafox Street. “We believe the DIB has no authority in this issue.” After learning of the vote, bar and restaurant owners met to discuss a game plan for their response. “We gathered everyone together to take the temperature of where we all stood,” Abston said. “We really wanted to take a look at Gallery Night as a whole and what it means to our businesses and to downtown.” The group drafted a letter to Tamara Fountain, chief operations officer for the City of Pensacola, asking for help from the city attorney and clarification on whether the DIB had the authority to act. [sidebar] The letter read: By and through the press, the bars and restaurants on Palafox were advised of the Downtown Improvement Board (DIB)’s recent vote to restrict outdoor alcohol sales to beer and wine at the May 22 Gallery Night. It was unfortunate that the public and interested parties were not provided proper notice as the item was on the agenda as a discussion item and not one for action. Nevertheless, we are requesting a written legal opinion from the City Attorney of the rights and obligations of the parties, written notification of the Mayor’s position and a opportunity to have public city notice workshops with the Mayor, City Council, DIB, downtown business owners and the general public. We are more than willing to discuss opportunities to increase the value of one’s experience at Gallery Night. However any changes to the City’s special event ordinance and policies would affect other organizations such as Seafood Festival, Mardi Gras. Since this will take some time to develop, we are hopeful that the City and DIB will make no changes to Gallery Night in the near future. Sincerely, Joe Abston Spokesperson Downtown Bar & Restaurants on Palafox [/sidebar] The DIB’s Executive Director Rob Butlin says that getting the input of the bars and restaurants was always part of making the final decision. “There was a misstep on our part (in having the vote before consulting everyone) and my sense is that this just escalated into an ‘us vs. them’ situation,” Butlin said. “The board fully intended to take this to the members before we took any action.” Butlin says that the DIB, as the sponsor of the event, believes it can decide whether sales are permitted. “Our understanding is that operating as a ‘Specialty Center’ under the law, the same ordinance that allows people to walk around with alcohol gives us the ability to decide if licensed bars and restaurants can sell on the sidewalks in front of their businesses,” Butlin says. City Attorney Lysia Bowling reached a different conclusion. “The Downtown Improvement Board is not a regulating authority,” Fountain says. “There is a lot of misinformation and assumptions made out there that they are in control of the alcohol sales on the street.” Bowling's legal opinion is that while the DIB can specify if alcohol sales are made, they can’t specify by whom or what type of alcohol can be sold. “Operating under a special events permit, the DIB can say whether they want alcohol to be sold or not during their event,” Fountain said. “But they have no right to say where it can be sold. Only the City has the authority to say what happens in the right-of-way, sidewalk and streets.” The change in policy is directly related to what Abston calls a “small minority” of downtown businesses who claim that Gallery Night has become unwieldy and out of control. “There is a perception that Gallery Night has turned into a negative for downtown and that somehow liquor contributes to that,” Abston said. “It’s asinine and completely untrue.”

Little trouble on Palafox Street

Abston isn’t alone in thinking that Gallery Night is still a safe event that doesn’t need restrictions. “We stay open until midnight on Gallery Nights and we’ve never had an incident of inappropriate behavior,” said Jim Sweida, president of Blue Morning Gallery and chairman of the DIB’s Special Events Committee. “If someone wants to cause problems, they are going to cause problems. Alcohol is not the catalyst.” At Play, the arcade and bar across the street from Blue Morning Gallery, General Manager Brandy Brand thinks that Gallery Night actually leads to less unruly behavior. “The increased traffic downtown and the increased police presence on Gallery Night typically results in a more controlled atmosphere,” Brand said. “When you visit New York City, you walk on the busier side of the street. You wouldn’t stroll down a dark non-populated side street.” A few blocks down at the Old Hickory Whiskey Bar, owner Katie Garrett agrees. “The worst thing we’ve ever seen on a Gallery Night is a broken door handle in the bathroom,” Garrett said. “It’s nothing that couldn’t happen on any other Friday.” Old Hickory pulled their liquor sales off the street two months ago, but not because of any problems with patrons. “We decided that getting people inside our business to experience it was more important than the monetary value of selling liquor on the street,” Garrett said. “We want people who have never been exposed to our bar to come back during a non-Gallery Night.” Butlin says that the DIB understands that problems are few, but as Gallery Night continues to grow, the board wants to stop issues before they begin. “The police have told us that we have no more incidents than normal during Gallery Night. We’re just trying to be proactive,” Butlin said. “One idea we had was to slow down the sale of liquor for the night. If the bar and restaurant owners have other ideas, we’d love to hear them.” The city’s official position is that liquor should move back inside. “The mayor feels it may be time to ‘high-brow’ the event and return it to its original purpose of showcasing art,” Fountain said. For Abston, the message of the change in policy is unclear. “Is this a moral objection? Someone’s opinion?” Abston asked. “Because the statistical evidence to support it just isn’t there.” He also believes that a more insidious force is at work. “This really boils down to a small group of people that are unhappy that it’s not quiet downtown anymore,” Abston said. “These people need to look at the vacancies and the negatives on Palafox before the area began to change. Nostalgia is a dangerous thing.”

Art is still alive on Gallery Night

The “gallery” part of Gallery Night is still alive and well, Sweida says. “I get really fired up when people say it’s not about art anymore,” Sweida said. “There are many galleries downtown besides us – Artel, Mainline, Quayside, the Pensacola Museum of Art – as well as the Artists’ Row in front of Seville Quarter that exhibit.” It doesn’t stop there, however. “Visual arts are just a small part of what happens during those evenings,” Sweida said. “There is great music live music up and down the street and great culinary art as well in the restaurants.” Fountain says Hayward favors reducing the number of Gallery Night events each year. “The mayor also wants to see the event return to six times a year, perhaps even four,” Fountain said. Both the DIB and business owners say that move could be catastrophic. “Reducing the number doesn’t make sense,” Butlin said. “We have worked very hard to create this venue. We want to see the event continue to grow and be safe, rather than roll back the number of events.” Abston’s view is even more dire. “We are already in a situation, where without 12 Gallery Nights, we have more restaurants and bars than Palafox can support,” he said. “Many of these businesses opened based on having Gallery Nights as a part of their business plan.” The effect would be devastating to the galleries that Gallery Night showcases, Sweida said. “We finally have an event that brings people together downtown,” Sweida said. “Why would we cut back?” Sweida says that 20 percent of Blue Morning’s monthly sales happen during Gallery Night. “(Cutting back) would hurt everyone financially – retailers, bars and restaurants and galleries,” Sweida said. “There is a vibrancy to downtown that did not exist before. Reducing Gallery Night down to six or four times a year would be short-sighted and a slap in the face to downtown.” Galley Nights cost an estimated $7,000 to $8,000 per event. Butlin said the economic impact of each Gallery Night is estimated at between $400,000 to $600,000. See the most recent report here. “Holding the event monthly helps everyone,” Butlin says. As the vision for what Gallery Night should be moves forward, the DIB says everyone’s input matters. “The DIB wants everyone thinking and talking,” Butlin said. “We can maintain public integrity without a mandate or legal resolution. No one wants to kill the golden goose here.” For the business owners, the same holds true. “What we really want is honest, open, above-the-board discussions,” Abston said. “We want Gallery Night to be better. We want Pensacola to be better.” Fountain echoes that sentiment: “We are working with the DIB and the owners. We are receptive to ideas. We want to do this together.” [vimeo id="109308410"]

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