On the second Saturday of each month, North Park's Ray Street galleries welcome artists, art lovers and curiosity seekers with equal adoration. Ray at Night, as the gallery walk is called, provides an opportunity for San Diegans to experience varying forms of art all in one leisurely stroll.
Every month from 6 to 9 p.m., participating Ray Street galleries display the works of painters, photographers, sketchers, sculptors and the like, allowing visitors to mosey down the one-block stretch southeast of 30th and University in North Park. Ducking in and out of participating galleries, Ray at Night guests are treated to three hours of self-directed gallery hopping and light fare.

To the gallery owner, and to varying degrees the artists, an open house means money, or at least increased exposure. To the viewers who walk in -- some brazen and expectant, some timid and voyeuristic -- an open house presents an invitation to enter a potentially unfamiliar scene and a living, thriving, pulsating, artistically freeing experience.

Have you ever seen a living piece of art? How about row after row of perfectly aligned and lighted pits housed in clear glass jars of water? First you may feel compelled to pass it by, the work of art I mean. After all, what is it?

Don't be fooled. Step closer. The bottoms of the jars seem to sparkle every so often. What is this? Ahh, gold fish. Of course. It all makes sense. Or does it? Who cares? It got you thinking and sometimes that's enough.

If you're not overly enthusiastic about organic art, don't fear. This peculiar pit piece is a refreshing rarity. Rest assured that Ray at Night offers urban enlightenment in various and often familiar forms, from sculpture to still lifes, abstract paintings to portraits. The beauty of this understated event is in the mix of artists and the galleries that show them. Ray Street is an underexposed arts destination with room to grow.
Leah Laux, SignOnSanDiego Arts editor