Mark Thursday nights in color

The RISD Museum of Art's restored Main Gallery will be busy again when Gallery Night resumes this week. (David Lyon for The Boston Globe)

Even with all the wine-sipping and lively conversation, gallery-hopping is ultimately a pretty passive activity. All you are really required to do is look at artwork, try to make an intelligent comment, and perhaps open your wallet.

It's a nice change of pace to begin Gallery Night Providence at the RISD Museum of Art, where museum educators stock a cart with art supplies for visitors who want to tap their inner artist. When we stopped in on Gallery Night last November, the ever-upbeat Paul Carpentier was recruiting volunteers.

"It's what we offer young kids," he said. "Why not offer it to adults? We've done everything from drawing on vellum to felt-tip markers." Carpentier hears plenty of excuses. "I only had one semester of art in high school. We didn't even get to shading," a woman told him as he handed her a sketch pad and colored pencils. He assured her that no "formal train ing" was necessary, then sent her out into the galleries to seek inspiration.

Adults even enjoy a perk not available to schoolchildren. "When you're finished," Carpentier said, "you can go upstairs and have some wine and cheese and listen to music."

"Upstairs" is the recently restored Main Gallery where gilt-framed European paintings are hung from floor to ceiling against deep blue walls. In November, museumgoers were clustered at small candlelit tables set beneath the soaring vaulted ceiling. As they sipped wine and nibbled cheese and crackers, guitarist Mark Armstrong and mandolin player Josh Bell performed light classical music.

After a three-month hiatus, Gallery Night Providence launches its 13th formal season Thursday. The RISD Museum offers free admission on Gallery Night. Indeed, the Rhode Island School of Design arguably sets the artistic vibe for Providence. Art is so ingrained in the city's identity that several institutions get in on the Gallery Night action. Besides galleries, you might find art in schools and colleges, the public library, or even City Hall. For those who like history with their art, the 1788 John Brown House Museum opens for the evening.

We received a warm welcome at BankRI, where a tiny gallery off the lobby displays work by local artists. Members of the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church greeted us, directed us to their gallery, and urged us to help ourselves to home-baked cookies. They also encouraged us to stay for an organ concert or to walk their modest labyrinth, modeled on the one in the cathedral at Chartres, France.

But art was calling. We probably encountered the largest gathering of artists at the Chazan Gallery at Wheeler, an airy space on the campus of the private school founded in 1889 by the American Impressionist Mary Wheeler. Sue Carroll teaches at the school and directs the gallery, which concentrates on local artists. "Providence has a huge community of artists. So many people who go to RISD settle in the area," she said. "We have about 2,500 artists on our list and we are one of the few galleries that looks at the work of emerging artists."

Chazan mounts six juried exhibitions a year. "A lot of artists come here on Gallery Night," Carroll said, surveying the small clusters of people deep in conversation.

About 20 venues throughout the city hang a banner outside to announce that they are open for Gallery Night. You can pick up a directory at any participating gallery or at an information table at One Regency Plaza, off Greene Street near the Providence Public Library.

The season kicks off this year with a party, according to Gallery Night co-chair Paula Martesian. "We'll have hors d'oeuvres, complimentary wine, coffee, and desserts," she says. One Regency Plaza will also be the starting point for guided tours led by art students, artists, collectors, and others involved in the Providence art scene.

Directory in hand, you can also hop on and off the Art Bus, a small yellow school bus that circulates from gallery to gallery. Martesian says that Providence is the only city providing free transportation on gallery nights. (There's also free parking.) The bus has helped open the traditionally Italian-American stretch of Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill to gallery-goers.

Despite the tough economy, Federal Hill is experiencing a mini-boom in galleries. Last fall, glass artist Christopher Belleau chose the neighborhood as the site of Bello Vetro, his second Providence gallery. His display windows full of robust glass flowers brighten the streetscape - a promise of summer in each golden daffodil, deep-purple iris, and cocky sunflower.

Artist Daniel Kelley also opened Gallery 17 Peck late last year. "I was downtown for three years," he said, "but I was looking for another spot." Kelley has studio space in the building and sometimes moves out into the gallery to work on large canvases. He exhibits his own work and that of a few local artists, but has carved out a niche representing Native American artists of the Southwest.

The pioneer on Atwells Avenue is photographer and gallery director Bérge Ara Zobian, who opened Gallery Z in January 2001. "When we opened we were the first gallery on the Hill in two decades," he said. Zobian has been a tireless booster for the area. "I brought three other galleries here," he said. "I've been after them for years."

Zobian clearly has the knack for creating a buzz. On Gallery Night, Z was packed. Zobian had mounted a group show, and, of course, exhibiting lots of artists guarantees a good turnout of lots of artists' friends. But Zobian had also astutely merged Federal Hill's principal interest in food with the art. As members of the well-dressed crowd wriggled through the space, they munched on pizza and tried not to spill hummus dip, goodies from two local restaurants.

In fact, when the galleries shut their doors at 9 p.m., it's not too late to grab a meal. "Look for coupons," Zobian advised. "Some restaurants offer discounts on Gallery Night."

Patricia Harris and David Lyon can be reached at harris.lyon@verizon.net.