A new way to take in ArtHop
Meet the ArtHop Trolley, which makes its debut Thursday night as a new way to get from one location to another at ArtHop, the monthly open house of galleries and studios in the downtown and Tower District neighborhoods. Fresno Arts Council executive director
Lilia Chavez writes:
The Trolley will move in a continuous loop along Fulton and Van Ness Avenues, between downtown and the Tower District, from near Railroad Avenue on the south to Olive Avenue on the north. Its route is expected to include the Fulton Mall. For this inaugural evening Trolley rides are free; starting in June riders will pay a nominal fee of just $1.00.
The Trolley will make numerous stops along the way between downtown and the Tower District, at locations that will allow passengers to get off, wander through nearby art galleries, and hop on again for a return run. This will be a park and ride opportunity,
with one of many stops occurring at the Water Tower on Fresno Street downtown where
there is plenty of parking, and another convenient stop in the Tower District at Van Ness
and Olive Avenues.
Sounds like an interesting idea, although if the service doesn’t start until 6, I’m not sure how much time that gives for gallery hopping — especially if you miss the trolley and have to wait for the next circuit. And if there are “many stops” and just one Trolley, I wonder how long it will take to make that circuit. I’m curious to hear how this experiment works.
Responses to "A new way to take in ArtHop"
This sounds like a great idea!
The Art Hop Trolley had it’s inaugural run tonight. Everything went off pretty much without a hitch. To answer your questions about the Art Hop Trolley, yes it works, the circuit takes one hour, there are two trolleys running, not just one, so it comes by every half hour. Starting at 6:00 means that you can come to the Water Tower, park in Eaton Plaza, and hang out at Art By Hand for a while, listen to some jazz, and catch the first run at 6:00. You can pick out two or three destinations and spend some time. Spend a half hour and catch the next ride, or maybe skip a trolley and stick around for an hour if things are jumpin’. Move on to your next stop and you still have plenty of time to hang around and still catch the last trolley that arrives back at the Water Tower at 8:30. By the way, the trolley route takes you right down the Fulton Mall. We had people take a ride on the trolley, once around the circuit just for fun! You are invited to give it a try next month. In the future we plan to have docents on board to give you information about what you can find at each stop, and maybe a little Fresno history lesson along the way. Oh, what a night!
Oh, if you had someone talking about Fresno history on the ride, I would take it just to listen to them!