Gallery days downtown and beyond

Okay so here's the thing about me and art galleries — I did NOT grow up going to these, I thought they were only for people with a lot more money and a lot more black turtlenecks than me, and then a fellow community theater volunteer (our set designer, obviously, she's got the eye) dragged me to one on a random Saturday and I was hooked. Now it's basically my other hobby besides reading murder mysteries and hunting down wine bars nobody's heard of. These are the spots I keep circling back to, from the big polished Union Square rooms to the scrappy warehouse clusters down in Dogpatch where you can gallery-hop all afternoon and still have time for a burrito after. Go on a Saturday, wear comfortable shoes (physical therapist tip, free of charge), and don't be shy about asking the gallery folks questions — nobody's ever made me feel dumb for asking.