Incorporating 47 venues in which to view art and 18 years of success, Milwaukee's Winter Gallery Night and Day event is as substantial as it is time-tested.

The accessibility of the high-art, low-price event (Jan. 20-21 this year) sets the event apart from other artful excursions.

"The goal of the event is to expose people to galleries who would otherwise be intimidated to go. It's for any age, any demographic," said Kate Mohle, executive director of the non-profit East Town Association, one of the sponsors of the event.

For this reason, all of the galleries have free admission and stay open later than usual on the Friday night of the event. The venerable art-crawl bears a resemblance to its less classy cousin, the pub-crawl. Many of the galleries also offer free wine and other refreshments on Friday.

Mohle agrees that Friday is the better day to attend. "More people come out, and not all of the galleries participate in the Saturday (event) because the Friday is more popular."

The Gallery Night XPress is the best way to navigate the expansive, inexpensive event — and it only runs after 5 p.m. Friday. The bus stops in 15-minute increments between the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Third Ward and East Town. More galleries participate on the periphery of this bus route (such as Mayhem Gallery at 1331 N. 3rd St. and Marquette's own Haggerty Museum of Art) but the majority of galleries are in the Third Ward and East Town.

For the spontaneous art seekers who prefer not to plan a specific route, the Third Ward has the highest concentration of galleries, and therefore the most opportunity to stumble inadvertently upon a gallery one has never been to before. Matching 12-foot flags signal the participating galleries and are visible on the sidewalks from blocks away.

Mohle suggests a laid-back approach to the evening: "If you walk into one space and you don't necessarily like it, just keep going, do your own tour. Have fun." Such a vast array of cultural representations, media and senses of purpose exist on this evening that there should truly be something for everyone.

This diversity is illustrated in many places. The Milwaukee Shakespeare Theater (225 E. St. Paul Ave., Suite 205) is displaying sketches to illustrate the design process that goes into their productions. "Women's Boxes," showing at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center (703 S. 2nd St.), is meant to illustrate confinement. In addition, the David Barnett Gallery at Transpak Corp. (235 E. Pittsburgh Ave., third floor) is showing more than 250 African Shona Sculptures from Zimbabwe that range in height from 6 inches to 7 feet.

On this evening, the term "gallery" is loosely defined. To participate, prospective galleries only need to apply and pay a fee.

"Even if it's a business and they have an exhibit, if they pay the fee, they can participate," said Mohle. "We're not selective."

The event is now popular enough to warrant taking place four times a year, with each quarter taking advantage of the different season. This quarter features Milwaukee's Third Annual Ice Sculpting Competition, where artists create "Wisconsin Winter" themed pieces for cash prizes. Art attendees can vote for the "People's Choice" award at the Third Ward Starbucks on Water Street. Previous seasonal partnerships have included giving away tickets to performance art pieces.

After 18 years of prosperity, the art machine virtually runs itself by now, which allows Mohle to enjoy the evening.

"I like seeing the city alive and all of the people walking around downtown, all in the name of art. It's really good to see the vitality of (Gallery Night)," she said.