If you’re looking for a creative New Year’s resolution, consider adding a First Friday Art Walk to your monthly calendar. Increasingly, art walks are showing up in cities across the U.S. What is an art walk you ask? Well, it’s pretty simple: It’s just like going to a few galleries in a given city by yourself, only you’re not by yourself.

Many metropolitan areas have embraced the concept of monthly art appreciation as a means of getting people out and into galleries and businesses throughout town. Here in my hometown, Portland, Maine (Google “first friday art walk” – we’re first!), First Friday is a big deal. Even in the dead of winter — and I do mean very, very dead… like 4 degrees dead — the streets are packed with people when the first night of the first weekend of the month rolls around.

As evidenced by these posters from other FFAW’s across the country, we’re not alone. For lack of a better term, making a trip to the galleries into an event really fosters a lot of local art dialog. Galleries catch on quick and schedule exhibitions to coincide with First Fridays, people come from far and wide anticipating a great night of socializing, and local businesses reap the rewards.

With a little help from Google, you too might be able to enjoy a local art walk. It’s not always first Friday, sometimes it’s last Friday or First Thursday, but it’s a guaranteed good time regardless. A lot of cities provide monthly maps of participating venues, and be sure to consult your local weeklies for a breakdown of what’s coming up exhibition-wise. If we can have fun appreciating art in the middle of winter here in Maine, you can do it in your hometown, too. It’s a great way to kick off the New Year, and beyond.