by Lucy Leonard

By now, you probably have your white linen outfit picked out and ready-to-go. But have you already mapped out your Whitney White Linen Night plan of attack? With attendance numbers nearing the 50,000 mark, this Saturday’s (8.1) event will be packed. You might want to decide ahead of time which galleries to check out and which restaurants are worth the wait. If you haven’t already figured all this out, don’t fear! NoDef has put together a comprehensive guide so that you can be totally prepared when the big night arrives. 

Whitney White Linen Night began in 1994 when Julia Street gallery owners saw the need to increase interest in the New Orleans arts district. Now, some twenty years later, the event has grown exponentially larger, now acting as one of the city’s premier summer events. 

This year’s event will be even bigger with 25 different bars and restaurants and 19 formal galleries and exhibits. Music will be provided on three different stages by artists including Johnny Angel and Helldorado, Danny and Charm Taylor.

New this year is the Contemporary Arts Center’s Cool Down Lounge. Though the actual block party and most of the galleries are free, this private spot costs $40 and provides some amenities to beat the heat including Pinkberry, some food, and a bar. 

White Linen Night runs formally from 6p.m. until 9p.m., but for those who don’t tire easily, the event will continue at the CAC’s Whitney White Linen Night After Party, which costs $10 for the public and is free for CAC members. DJ Matty will be bumping tunes from across the decades.

Check out the full line up of restaurants and bars below.  We’ve also included a guide to gallery openings and ongoing exhibitions. 

Bars & Cuisine

This year, food and drink will be available for purchase at cash bars, rather that with food and beverage tickets. The night’s cuisine will be provided by Beaucoup Juice, Boucherie, Broussard’s, Bratz Y’all!, Charcoal’s Gourmet Burger Bar, Crêpes à la Cart, Food Drunk, Foundation Room at House of Blues, King Fish, LMNO, Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar and Restaurant, Marti’s Restaurant, MOPHO, Nirvana Indian Cuisine, NOLA FOODS, NOLA Girl, Pinkberry, Rue 127, Saucy’s BBQ, SoBou, St. Lawrence, The American Sector Restaurant & Bar, The Mellow Mushroom and The Ruby Slipper Café.

Gallery Listings (All openings 6p.m.-9p.m.)

Ariodante Contemporary Craft Gallery, 535 Julia Street
White Linen Night—Dana Manly, David Lumpkin, Nancy Susaneck, Shea Yetta—Ceramics, paintings, repurposed jewelry

Arthur Roger Gallery, 432 Julia Street
Seen and Unseen: Coupling—Willie Birch
Works by Whitfield Lovell
Ali—Gordon Parks—Photography
The Dapper Bruce Lafi tte Introduces: Draw Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee—Bruce Davenport, Jr.—Pen and marker on paper

boyd|satellite, 440 Julia Street
Louisiana Cereal—Blake Boyd—Mixed-media, enlarged prints from Polaroid photos
LEVY— Ti-Rock Moore—Mixed media, video

Callan Contemporary, 518 Julia Street
Rhythm and Form—Caprice Pierucci

Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp Street
REVERB: Past, Present, Future—Curated by Isolde Brielmaier, this exhibition of local artists explores the evolution of art and artistic practices in New Orleans and its surrounding region over the past decade.

George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts, 747 Julia Street
Rodrigue: The Sanders Collection Book Signing—Join Jacques Rodrigue, son
of George Rodrigue, as he signs copies of Rodrigue Studio’s latest book.

George Schmidt Gallery, 626 Julia Street
George Schmidt—George Schmidt—Oil paintings, etchings

Jean Bragg Gallery of Southern Art, 600 Julia Street
Café Society—Ann Cox Strub, David Lloyd—Oil paintings

Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, 400a Julia Street
Usual Places, Unusual Spaces—Marna Shopoff—New Paintings

Julie Silvers Art, 617 Julia Street
New Beginnings—Julie Silvers—Paintings, sculptures

LeMieux Galleries, 332 Julia Street
Suspension—Kathryn Hunter—Mixed media, cut paper, letterpress, fiber, laser cut steel

Martine Chaisson Gallery, 727 Camp Street
Knocking from the Inside—Mallory Page—Mixed media on canvas

Octavia Art Gallery, 454 Julia Street
Symmetric Equivalence—Gil Bruvel, Leslie Wilkes, Stephen Chauvin

Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 925 Camp Street
Louisiana Contemporary, Presented by Regions Bank—An annual, statewide juried exhibition that promotes contemporary art practices in the state of Louisiana.

Soren Christensen Gallery, 400 Julia Street
Aldara—James Horton—Oil on panel—Gallery Debut

Stella Jones Gallery, 201 St Charles Avenue
Lagniappe: Imagining New Orleans in a Post-Katrina World—Group Show

Steve Martin Studios, 624 Julia Street
From Cuba—Augusto Bordelois—Oil on canvas

Where Y’Art, 835 Julia Street
X: A Variable of Progress—A multi-platform exhibition exploring visual perspectives around the progress made in New Orleans ten years post-Katrina, as well as future progress and aspirations for New Orleans.

YAYA Gallery: Sponsored by Deutsch, Kerrigan and Stiles, 755 Magazine Street
Young Aspirations/Young Artists’ Exhibition—Various Youth Artists