Downtown Art Walk: Downtown becomes a canvas
Functions follow form on the second Thursdays of each month as downtown Los Angeles comes alive with art. LA’s Downtown Art Walk, happening since 2004, is now a tradition in this city as commercial art galleries, museums and non-profit arts venues open their doors for fun and profit on these days from noon to 10 pm, allowing artists to showcase their wares and self-proclaimed performance artists to come out into the streets and be seen.
Downtown Los Angeles has been developing a hidden, but celebrated art scene since the 1970s when Judy Chicago took over an entire block with a renovated industrial loft gallery that lit a match and set the budding arts community on fire. Since that time, several streets bordering Little Tokyo and Pershing Square have become ground zero for Bohemia LA style and the city has pitched in with marketing support, space and the tabbing of a district on Main and Spring streets as Gallery Row.
The tour is a free, self-guided event (a printable PDF map is available on the Downtown Art Walk website). What was once the simple dotting of a few quiet galleries and small museums folded inside the fabric of an industrial and commercial Downtown setting is now some 40 galleries, exhibit spaces and museums all within a compact and walkable route lined with bistros, bars and restaurants for post-tour refreshment.
The tradition has grown enormously, attracting thousands of people each month as spaces along Grand Avenue / Disney Hall / MOCA, Little Tokyo, the Financial District, and Main and Spring streets Historic Core become colorful columns of browsers, artists and performers.
Several cafes and bistros support the fun by offering discounts and even drink and draw promotions.
Visitors are encouraged to arrive by public transit, as the Art Walk is easily accessible by the Metro Red, Gold and Blue line trains until midnight. Parking is plentiful in the area, at meters on the street until 4 pm, and free after 6 pm on most streets. There is a sponsoring, indoor parking garage that offers a $5 flat rate and is open 24 hours (details on map or parking page). Once downtown, local LA City DASH buses are an easy way to get around for those who come early – only 25¢ until 6 pm.
Through July 30, the California African American Museum is exhibiting works by leading Los Angeles artists at 7+FIG Art Space in the 7+FIG retail center middle level at Ernst & Young Plaza, 735 S. Figueroa Street.
More than 20 member artists of the California Artist Coalition of Los Angeles have artworks on display including paintings, sculpture, photographs and mixed media assemblage in a fleeting exhibits that normally opens to the public weekdays between noon and 4 pm. On Second Thursdays it stays open until 9pm through the run of the show. For more information see www.caamuseum.org.
Posted by Lark Ellen Gould
