First Fridays in Charlottesville are always a celebration of the arts, but the April 7 First Friday carries another reason for artists and art lovers to cheer: the relaunch of The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative in a sprawling new space on the Downtown Mall.
“We see this space, which is called the Underground, as a center for creative collaboration,” says Bridge PAI executive director Jay Simple, who started the job in July.
“One of the things that we spent time doing is talking to our community,” Simple explains.” And one of the big things that everyone talked about was a need for more spaces and also a desire to have a more interconnected artist community.
The new 4,300 square-foot Bridge space occupies the basement of the former bank building at the corner of East Main and Third streets that also houses Vault Virginia coworking space and…