Los Angeles art walk

Estevan Oriol's photo gallery at the Last laugh Store

The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk is a free event held every second Thursday in and around the Historic Core's Gallery Row neighborhood. For this one night each month, Downtown LA returns to its historic pedestrian-based culture, a vibrant scene that is itself a draw for locals and tourists seeking to view works by local established and underground artist. Launched in 2004 by the then-gritty neighborhood's pioneer gallerists, Art Walk has become a grassroots urban success story, with upwards of 10,000 people coming out each month to see the newest art exhibits, enjoy the bustling street culture, eat, drink, socialize and add to your art collection

In 2003, not long after the formation of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC), the Council's Arts, Aesthetics and Culture Committee (AAC) formally requested that the City of Los Angeles designate a portion of the Historic Core as “Gallery Row.” This area—Main and Spring Streets between 2nd and 9th Streets—would come to comprise the heart of the Downtown Art Walk.

When Gallery Row was proposed, the Historic Core was largely synonymous with Skid Row. By day, the area was marginally active with shoppers and workers, but by early evening the metal gates came down and straight citizens vacated. The dozens of dirty, desolate blocks became the site of blatant drug dealing and abuse, crime and homeless encampments.

But also inhabiting these blocks was a small but lively population of working artists housed in the lofts of Tom Gilmore's Old Bank District and Izek Shomof's Spring Towers Lofts and Premiere Towers. A few stubborn visionaries saw great potential in the city's beautiful, semi-abandoned Downtown, with its low rents for gorgeous spaces. Few ventured into the Historic Core by day, and only the most daring attended underground parties, openings and screenings after dark.

The City Council motion to designate Gallery Row was passed in July 2003, co-sponsored by Jan Perry and Antonio Villaraigosa, and “Gallery Row” street signs were installed in the fall. An official opening ceremony was held on May 15, 2004 at Biddy Mason Park.

The increased visibility succeeded in attracting more people ready to take a chance on the neighborhood, and by September 2004, with eight galleries open and his own space at 5th and Main a month from opening, Bert Green launched the Downtown Art Walk, to take place on the second Thursday of the month. DLANC's AAC Committee became the nonprofit Gallery Row Organization, dedicated to promoting and developing the district's cultural resources.

At first, the Downtown Art Walk encompassed all of downtown LA, from the 110 to the LA River, and from the 101 south to the 10 freeway. By late 2005, the number of participating galleries had increased to more than fifteen, and in 2006 to more than twenty, although the boundaries of the Art Walk were reduced, and its focus became Gallery Row. This shift ensured the pedestrian nature of the event.

Galleries away from the center were suffering for traffic, but Gallery Row was seeing remarkable increases in visitor numbers, from 75 brave souls at the first Art Walk to more than 10,000 per month by 2009.

In 2007 the number of participating galleries reached thirty, and in 2009, forty-five. Starting in June 2007, DLANC sponsored an Art Walk shuttle to circle Gallery Row. This was taken over by Esotouric in spring 2008 and became a popular performance venue called The Hippodrome.

Between 2003 and 2009 the area saw an explosion in residential conversion of formerly vacant or underused commercial buildings. As the resident population increased, so has the cultural vitality of the district. The public is not as skeptical as it was. The Downtown Art Walk is now among the neighborhood's biggest draws, attracting thousands of people to explore the community, and the event has been recognized as one of the most significant grassroots success stories in the cultural history of Los Angeles.<

What's next for the Art Walk? Circle the second Thursday of the month on your calendar, come join us, and see.