Despite the number of art galleries in the city, New London didn’t have a dedicated art walk. Michael Whitehouse wanted to change that.

“The two things we have are restaurants and art places,” he said. “We already have a food stroll.” An art walk was the obvious next step.

Whitehouse, who works for Minuteman Press, came up with the idea in January for a walk to feature local art downtown. After a successful event in April, he’s ready to put it on again in June.

“The idea of it was to highlight New London as it is now,” he said. “It gives people a reason to go, and even if they just see the map and don’t come down, the number of dots on that map tell them something.”

The event, which has been dubbed Third Thursday, has few rules. Participating venues need to be open from 5:30 to 8 p.m., they need to showcase some art, and they need to do it for free. Beyond that, galleries and art-supporting businesses such as the Hygienic, Hive Skate Shop and Sail Stays choose how they want to feature the artwork, whether they have an art exhibit, live music, or discussions or how-to demonstrations from the artists themselves.

Madhu Gupta, head of information services at the Public Library of New London, said the library featured the work of teen services supervisor Nike Desis at the April event. For the June event, the library is hosting mixed media artist Edeltraud Huller, who has a studio in Middletown and will be at the library to talk about her work.

“This program is special for us,” Gupta said. “We have so many artists here and we’d like to feature them.”

Whitehouse said the April event attracted more than 100 people and was well received. Currently Third Thursday is held every other month — he said it’s better for people to wish the event was held more often than to be tired of it — but if this year’s events go well, it may be held monthly next year.

Because of the success of the April event, Whitehouse also said businesses are starting to come to him to participate in the walk rather than him having to reach out for businesses that want to join.

“It’s already becoming an institution that people want to be part of,” he said.

Twenty-two downtown businesses will be hosting events at the Third Thursday New London Art, which will be held June 16 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit the art walk’s Facebook page.

a.hutchinson@theday.com