Richmond CenterStage broke ground yesterday evening, but the real party was in the streets.

After the CenterStage celebration, the First Fridays Artwalk crowd braved the downtown heat for a night of mostly free and highly diverse culture, ranging from an exhibit featuring 32 nude models to still lifes, landscapes, photography and -- oh, heck, it's the nudity folks were buzzing about.

Christina Newton, director of Curated Culture Inc. and lead organizer of First Fridays, anticipated last night's event would be the largest since the walk began in 2001.

It sure looked that way. At 1708 Gallery, in the 300 block of West Broad Street, people could barely squeeze in for people squeezing out. Two doors down, at Quirk, art connoisseurs were elbow to elbow.

And in between, at Talk of the Town bar- ber shop, Earl Oliver took it all in while calmly cutting a customer's hair.

"We do get some business from this," Oliver said. "It brings a different type of flavor to the shop.

"I've seen the whole thing change up," he said. "It's good to see people out and about.

"These buildings across the street were boarded up before."

Although overall attendance figures weren't available last night, it was clear to the naked eye that the turnout was impressive.

Speaking of, er, naked, few First Fridays exhibits have attracted the attention "Disrobed" at Gallery5 drew last year.

Could that have had anything to do with the show's billing as an all-nude art exhibition?

When John and Christine Walters arrived at 200 W. Marshall St. at 6 p.m. yesterday, they were surprised to be the first ones in line for its sequel, "Disrobed 2: The Connection."

"I always love to see all the artwork at First Fridays," John Walters said. "It's an amazing experience." But, he added, he was intrigued at the descriptions he had read of the Gallery5 exhibit.

"There's the gratuity factor," he said, laughing, "but the lady here also does an exceptional job."

An hour later, when the gallery opened, about 125 people were lined up on Marshall Street.

Inside, the first exhibit was in curious juxtaposition with an antique fire engine, a relic from the gallery's fire station origins.

"Orgo-Mechanic," an installation by Leigh Odom, featured three nearly nude women wearing bikini bottoms and rhino-hornlike appendages on top.

The big draw, "Choices," aka "The Tree of Life," was installed upstairs in a steamy-hot space.

Watching 13 nude men and women painted to represent natural paradise versus harsh technology, Kevin O'Connell said: "I think it's great. It's a new extension of what Richmond can be."

Barry Gamble, a 25-year-old health-care worker who was taking a break from the tree, said he didn't mind people staring at his body as an art object.

"The preparation of the painting process took hours," he said. "That was half a day of nudity.

"So it's a nonissue."

The $5 donations for last night's exhibit will go toward installing an elevator lift to comply with federal guidelines for handicap access.

Gallery5 also is working on a grant for second-floor air conditioning, an obvious need, clothes or no clothes.