Free First Thursday Night Kicks Off Summer with Extended Gallery Hours & Full-Service Bar

Free First Thursday Nights invite the Montclair Art Museum’s (MAM’s) entire community to enjoy a night out at the Museum the first Thursday of the month (October–June) from 5 to 9 p.m. The programming includes a dynamic mix of free admission, a full-service bar, live performances, and a variety of activities. Free First Thursday Nights are made possible by TD Bank.

Offerings change on a monthly basis, providing something new to see and do at every First Thursday Night. On June 2, MAM celebrates all the arts, from poetry to dance and music. At 5:30 p.m., the winners of Mount Hebron Middle School’s first poetry slam, Every Story Matters, will showcase their submissions in a live reading.

At 6 p.m., Tucker Contemporary Art will present an art talk between emerging artist Dominant Dansby and gallerist Roger C. Tucker III. Dansby is currently featured in TRANScendence: An Exhibition of Emerging, Contemporary African American and Other Underrepresented Artists at The Gallery at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices across the street from MAM. Dansby will highlight his jazz-influenced collage/assemblages, composed of layer-upon-layer of paper and recycled drawings.

At 6:30 p.m., The Moving Architects will perform contemporary modern dance live on stage in Leir Hall. The Moving Architects is a nonprofit dance company under the direction of Montclair resident Erin Carlisle Norton. The excerpt of “Americana” being performed at MAM continues Norton's interest in embodying past and distant spaces in the presence of live performance by looking to iconic images and interpersonal struggles of a migrating American family during the Great Depression era.

Then it will be time to party! DJ C-Rius returns to close the Free First Thursday Night season and start summer with a dance party in Leir Hall. The Art Bar at MAM is now in partnership with Upstairs bar and restaurant and features signature cocktails, wine, and NJ Beer Co. beer at special Free First Thursday Night prices. Museum members receive an exclusive discount at the bar.

As always, free admission will provide entry to MAM’s current exhibitions. Tours of American Visions, 1870–1940: Works from the Bank of America Collection will take place at 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 p.m. See this exhibition before it closes June 19! In addition, new exhibitions downstairs highlight MAM staff and community partnerships. Works by Yard School of Art faculty are on view in Visions from the Vanguard: New Works by MAM’s Creators and Educators in the Art School Arcade. Across Leir Hall in the Children’s Arcade, works by students at Montclair Community Development Center are featured from their visits to the Museum.

MAM’s Yard School of Art Draw Along Workshop is a favorite at every month’s Free First Thursday Night. Visitors are invited to create their own artwork during the workshop, which offers a free session with a clothed model and guided art instruction.

MAM welcomes community groups to Free First Thursday Nights! The Screenwriters & Playwrights Collective, a free networking and critique group for local writers and actors, will hold their first meeting in June. Arts Unbound, a gallery and educational art studio for people with developmental or mental disabilities and seniors, will be on site to discuss their Art Garden CSA, a community supported art program. The LGBT Chamber of Commerce will also host a networking event.

Don’t forget to grab a bite at the food trucks!

Free First Thursday Nights run October through June and will return October 6. For an up-to-date schedule of upcoming Free First Thursday Nights, visit montclairartmuseum.org/free-first-thurs-nights.