On the first Friday evening of each month March through December, downtown Sylva welcomes art fans for a casual stroll through the town’s handful of galleries.

The galleries featured on the stroll are a loose consortium — not every art venue participates each time and those who do participate are free to showcase a new exhibit, bring in live music, host a demonstration, or just keep their doors open late for curious customers.

The gallery stroll, dubbed Art After Dark, runs from 6 to 9 p.m. The idea banks on the success of the Jackson County Arts Council, which has been hosting art events at its downtown Gallery One for 10 years.

Now Main Street is home to additional galleries including It’s By Nature and Penumbra. Owners Sandi Cooper and Matthew Turlington were some of the first to begin kicking around the idea of a downtown gallery stroll that would capitalize on the increasing number of gallery events.

“Somebody had to get it going, and that’s the only ownership of it we’ve had,” Cooper said.

The thought was to make participation in the gallery stroll simple. Organizers set about to establish a regular time and date for the stroll and created a small display card advertising the strolls. Beyond that who got involved and what types of art were featured was left open.

The public response was amazing.

“They love it,” Cooper said. “There has been so much positive feedback.”

With the gallery stroll’s success more businesses downtown got on board — restaurants saw more business and new art venues such as Studio 598, which offers art classes, began opening their doors to strollers as well.

It’s been difficult to gauge the gallery stroll’s economic impact though, Cooper said. Those who come in on gallery stroll evenings may not walk out with a purchase; but their time spent in the gallery may motivate them to come back the next time they’re looking for a special gift or inquire about commissioning one of the featured artists.

Plans are to continue to expand the gallery stroll concept, further opening the opportunities for different kids of “art” — music, dance, etc. — and different types of businesses to get involved.