At one end of the Oak Bluffs Arts Stroll, at the glasswork studio of Jeri Dantzig, soothing harp music lured strollers into a colorful glass menagerie of assorted dishwares, barrettes, and other glass pieces. Dantzig’s first arts stroll appearance was slightly off the beaten path (on Vineyard Ave.), a fitting location for her glasswares, which feature funky greens and blues, loopy designs and stained glass platters. The homey environment was more friendly get-together than art opening,

At the other end of the district, PikNik gallery owner Michael Hunter welcomed guests to his gallery and store. In the gallery’s backyard, DJ Di mixed music that was as abstract as the Michele Ratté “Confluence Series,” a series of works which might be described as tapestries; and Abraham Brewster’s oil paintings which portrayed intricate piping systems formed from stretched and contorted human limbs. Inside, keen observers commented on the intricacies of Ratté’s work, momentarily interrupting a conversation about the Whitney Museum in New York having lost its edge after switching locations. No edge was lost at PikNik.

Outside of the small gallery space, an impromptu bar was set up, utilizing pieces from Mr. Hunter’s many favorite found objects: an antique bucket from which tiny bottles of Corona and wine were served, and a bottle opener hanging from the antique bathtub.

At Red Mannequin, there was a series of Paul Goodnight oil paintings from the play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. The gallery’s presentation was less formal this year, but the artwork is no less impressive — the colorful ladies of Goodnight’s series line the walls of a small room, artful tributes to Ntozake Shange’s landmark dramatic piece, each was a serious artistic accomplishment in itself.

Crossing the street, one found an impromptu gallery mounted on a fence. Indeed, the artist responsible, Angel Quinonez, was not a gallery owner, but he does own an art shop: a tattoo art shop. Mr. Quinonez’ presentation on the stroll is somewhat of a disorienting surprise, wandering into a series of two and three dimensional paintings of cultural iconography. Inside his tattoo shop, roughly 15 yards from his gallery fence, an excited Mr. Quinonez came from behind a curtain where he’d been inking away on a customer.

Photographer Alison Shaw’s affair is as crisp as her photos. Guests munched on flavorful hors d’oeuvre and shandy drinks as they mingled in and around the gallery. Inside, Ms. Shaw featured her newest project, a book authored by Tom Dunlop, Morning Glory Farm and the Family that Feeds an Island, for which she shot many scenes of the beloved Island farm.

— Amanda Williams