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| - First we had Friday Nights Live at the ROM now we have 1st Thursdays at the AGO. What day of the week is another 3 letter abbreviated Toronto location going to claim as the go to place for an evening of "out of the box" socializing? Perhaps Wednesdays at NFB???
The set up for the event is on the first Thursday of each month, for $10 ($8 for members) you get to roam the AGO in the presence of other artsy trendy folk like yourself with a cash bar and food ($8 for a mixed drink or $6 for beer) . To add a certain flair, there is live music (later in the evening it was a full on concert atmosphere here), there was an oyster shucker (1 for $3 or 2 for $5), live nude paintings which I tried my hand at (the drawing part..they have a real model to do the nude part) and for some reason a photo studio which will set you back $10 to get your picture taken and then have it look aged...anyone with a smart phone can accomplish this in a matter of seconds if they have the right app...so I'm not sure if that is the greatest idea in the world. Sure the pictures look nice but not surprisingly I didn't see a long line.
Speaking of line ups, the event runs from 6:30 to 11, it was sold out and they had a full on rush line going, unfortunately a friend of mine assuming she could get tickets at the door ended up waiting in line till 7:30 and seeing it not move much gave up on the party. So word of advice: Buy your tickets in advance!! Coat and bag check is available for a dollar and get there as early as you can since by around 9:45pm they ran out of tacos which for some reason was the only real hot food item they had......the other options were chips, cookies and spiked snow cones. While the tacos were delicious and customizable with salsa, guacamole, hot sauce etc, the addition of another hot food item would have been welcome, or at least ensure to have enough of the one food item to last the night.
Another feature is the inability to bring food and drinks to almost all areas of the AGO. Understandably you wouldn't want people eating mexican food balancing a glass of beer to be anywhere near an art installation, which unfortunately means that if you have a drink in hand you're stuck in a crowded area. Another reason to get there early. so you're well fed early on leaving you with enough time to wander the galleries.
Now I just pointed out a few points that bugged me about the event, I'm a huge fan of locations such as this putting on a social event and even if you have no interest in drinking or eating the chance to walk the AGO for just $10 when regular tickets are $20 is a steal! Because while the bar/music areas are packed the galleries especially higher up are far less crowded. You are also able to go to the special exhibits (in this case Friday and Diego) for $10 which is normally $5 in addition to your general admission costs but it closes at 9:30 just a fyi.
Overall for a young event (only 2 so far) they do a good job with things they can improve upon especially the food options and maybe providing people in the rush line with a better idea of what their wait times could be. I was unable to walk the galleries as much as I would have liked so I'm definitely going to be back for the next event to see what else they have in store for us.
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