Looking to get more art into your life, but you’re not sure where to jump in? Third Thursday may provide the right entry point. Started in 2012 as a collaboration between the Georgia Museum of Art and other art venues in Athens, it encourages attendance at Athens art venues on the third Thursday of every month from 6 to 9 p.m. at no cost to visitors.
The museum’s monthly Yoga in the Galleries program takes place on Third Thursday, but you don’t have to be limber to enjoy some art. Third Thursday attendees can browse current exhibitions or the permanent collection, and sometimes there’s other programming, like a lecture or a film. The Lyndon House Arts Center and the Athenaeum, both in downtown Athens, are regular Third Thursday participants, as is Tiny ATH Gallery, on Cleveland Avenue, which focuses on a single local artist at a time. ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, in the Leathers Building on Pulaski Street, is often open for Third Thursday as well, unless it’s in between exhibitions, as are Hotel Indigo and the Classic Center. The exhibitions ATHICA programs for Ciné, the art-house movie theater downtown, are also included. Third Thursday visitors don’t have to go to all of the venues, and it would be hard to do so. Instead, they should take it as an opportunity to put some more art in their lives and pick a couple of venues to experience.
Monthly schedules and venue locations can be found at 3thurs.org or by searching “Third Thursday Athens Georgia.”