Venture if You Dare: Art Path Haunts Downtown Albany

ALBANY – October seems to be the perfect setting for a haunting. There is the round yellow moon, covered by wispy clouds that dance across the inky blue sky. There are the chilly nights that catch you off guard, especially if you left your sweater at your desk because the sun was shining only a few hours ago, and the cold air brings goosebumps to your flesh. And there’s the gothic architecture—the intimidating marble of downtown—that seems to be the perfect backdrop for ghosts to visit.

Discover Albany, Albany Center Gallery and Albany’s Downtown BID have partnered with Nippertown to create an All Hallow E’en Art Path through this urban setting, showing public art and supporting local neighboring businesses along the way. With live music joining, the event on October 6th promises to be a frightfully memorable time celebrating First Friday.

There are 10+ works of art to experience, featuring local artists Alicia Barton, Raina Briggs, Nevaeh Hairston, Cara Hanley, Lexi Hannah, Quill Harrison, Stephanie Levay, Aurora Powell, Casey Simonds, and Carl Warren. The path takes you to/from Albany Center Gallery,  up Maiden Ln with Maiden House and Cobblestone Lunch Shoppe, to N Pearl St with Modern Body Art and Banh Mi 47, all the way to Nocturnal Cookies, down Clinton Ave, to Discover Albany. The art path is open 24/7 the entire month of October for walkers to view.

On First Friday, thanks to an Amplify Albany Grant from Capitalize Albany, the group brings in five local musicians to play along the haunted path to help ward off the scaries. TJ Foster, Alice Sorensen, Ryan Leddick, Reese Fulmer, and Kendra McKinley will be performing their original works to help guide walkers from stop to stop, keeping spirits up as walkers test their courage through the maze of exhibits and warding off ghouls.

TJ Foster, the frontman for the popular band E.R.I.E., will be playing solo. I asked him what to expect from his set on Friday night.

“I don’t play too many solo shows these days, but when I get the opportunity to, I like to revisit songs from my entire catalog. It’s sort of a nice amalgamation of where it started versus how it’s going!” Foster explained.  “And while I don’t have too many covers in my repertoire, if you’re into original, often melancholy songwriting, you’ll probably find something to enjoy,” he promised.

“Plus, the City of Albany hosts so many amazing events for the community, including a ton centered around local music,” he noted. “I’m really excited and honored to be included in October’s First Friday billing this year!”

The celebration is one of many haunted happenings celebrating Halloween in Albany. From seances to Hounds of Halloween, Discover Albany has teamed with community partners to make good use of the spooktacular backdrop of the capital city.

“Venture if you dare!” Tony Iadicicco from the Albany Art Gallery teased. A full list of haunted happenings for the city can be found at Discover Albany’s site.