Much like other art-drenched neighborhoods in the city, think Pilsen and the Fulton Market hoods, art galleries in the West Town neighborhood have banded together to create a bigger bang. These spaces synchronize their openings, have maps on hand highlighting each other's locations, and all particpate in periodic art walks, such as the "West Town Gallery Hop," which debuted in the fall of 2005.

Unlike the more heavily traveled other art neighborhoods, these spaces have the freedom to present more raw, avant-garde, and riskier art than the more commercial art business immersed in the downtown money machine.

West Town Gallery network includes a healthy mix of art student enthusiasm, established art-makers, and variety of media from modernist painting to multi-media installation work. The firmly established galleries in the network include Western Exhibitions, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Fraction Workspace and Lisa Boyle Gallery; the most recent newcomers, as of Fall 2007, are Green Lantern Gallery and Roots and Culture.

Centerstage Reviewer: Joanne Hinkel