More than 2,000 descended upon the downtown of Asbury Park on the afternoon of Oct. 18. No, it wasn’t a zombie walk, and it wasn’t exactly a concert. It was the Asbury Underground art crawl, which featured musicians playing in the city’s galleries. The day was another example of how vibrant the city’s visual arts scene has become.
“The idea was to have a mixture of art and music as the main attraction,” said Patrick Schiavino, crawl organizer, artist and owner of Art 629 Gallery on Cookman Avenue. “It was designed to move people around town.”
Asbury Park is a city known for its waterfront and its music scene, which has produced million-selling artists like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi. Yet, events like Asbury Underground, and the sheer number of city’s galleries and venues that exhibit art — 17 participated in the Underground — makes it hard to miss that there’s an arts movement afoot.