The monthly LA Art Walk is next week, on February 11th, but I’m still not over December’s walk. I made it late that month and landed in front of the Bradbury building around 8:30pm. The scene was clusters of fashionistas in homemade couture and gaggles of “uptowners” making their way through the homeboys with beer cans at hand.
I thought I was going to be checking out the galleries and taking in some free wine while at it. Instead, I found myself on survival mode, dodging shoulders and scrounging through empty bottles. Don’t get me wrong: I love a good crowd of characters and marginalized divas… but this was a mix of “last call!” at the Beverly Center and a reminiscence of Skid Row.
Not since the LA of the early 80’s had the town felt a pulse outside of Hollywood, especially in Downtown. So now that there is synergy and people are actually “chismeando” about art and exchanging ideas, let’s harness it. Right now, the empty real estate still in a rut due to the economy, so it’s calling for artists to bring people into their “loft” condos. But what will happen to artists once the economy flips?
Here is the thing: If you, like I, are looking for the Downtown LA Art experience of Gronk (trail blazing Chicano Artist, if you didn’t know) and the raw artist’s studio that smells of oil paint and cigarette buds, all you will find are crowds of wannabe’s looking to be seen in the Miami-esque condos that are posing as “alternative spaces” until they sell. This is a wake up call Angelinos to establish long lasting collaborations, create for permanence and thrive.
For now I give the LA Art Walk a thumbs down. How was your walk?