1. “See Famous Art Now: By checking out contemporary art galleries now, you can get acquainted with artists before their work becomes famous or even while they’re growing in popularity and price. By gallery hopping you can call yourself a trendspotter or even a trendsetter.
  2. Meditation: For many, art is a form of meditation. Nothing carries you away and clears your mind like visiting galleries.
  3. Creativity: Nothing boosts your own personal creativity more than visiting art galleries. If you want to boost your own creative juices, visit them often. I’m not sure how it works, but it feels like osmosis. Being around and in the company of creative people makes YOU more creative. Don’t get caught on on HOW, just enjoy your new-found process. Trust me on this one.
  4. Support Small Business: You know, far too many of us tend to have a “what’s in it for me?” outlook. However, when you visit art galleries, you’re really supporting small businesses. You may not buy anything, but when you visit a gallery or any retailer for that matter, you’re setting into motion a chain of possibilities for them.
  5. Art Education: Contemporary art museums aren’t the only places to learn about art. You can learn plenty in galleries. A really good gallery will have “people-friendly” staffers on hand who can tell you all about that which you are seeing in addition to some things about the artist. Just get over your fear, or take your fear with you and WALK IN.
  6. Emotional Intelligence: This is literally the heart of the matter. If you open yourself up to art, you enter this entire world of creativity to literally transform you as a human being. I’m not kidding. Since I’ve been visiting galleries, chatting with artists and seeing so much art, I’ve become – if I do say so myself – smarter, warmer, freer, more tolerant and considerate and more at peace not to mention more creative. Try it.
  7. Community: If nothing else, art teaches us that we are part of something much larger than ourselves. You see this quite clearly during gallery exhibition openings. There’s nothing like being amid a crowd of people who love art. You may or may not find experts in the crowd, regardless, it’ll feel great to be among a group of art lovers who are super cool. Keep in mind, the social element of art openings and large crowds often eclipses the art itself. As I love art and galleries, I still believe that people come first. Make friends. Art friends are the best.
  8. Just Plain Fun: Yes, art is just plain fun. All contemporary art requires is that you spend a little time with it. Get to know it. See yourself in it, good or bad. The process is fun. Art teaches and reveals who we are to ourselves. If you’re into self-examination, you’ll have a blast. If not, well, visit a couple of galleries anyway. Give it a shot. “

Quoted with direct permission from the ArtBookGuy, http://artbookguy.com/10-reasons-to-visit-art-galleries_843.html 6/20/16