It's Always Sunny in LA: #9: Art Walk in Downtown

My fabulous friend Jacob (who also gets credit for enlightening me on Drag Queen Bingo) has been telling me for years about one of his very favorite things to do in Downtown LA - the Art Walk. I see him commenting about it on his facebook every month, and seeing as Jacob is really a Downtown Guru of sorts, I took note that this must be something to check out.

I did a bit of research into this "Art Walk" before making my plans. It turns out the Art Walk is part of an effort spear-headed by community organizers to bring art, culture and involvement back to Downtown. Just like most big cities, parts of once-vibrant Downtown LA have become run-down, dirty, and just unappealing to people in general, to visit or to live. Over the last 10 years, Downtown has had a bit of a revival, and millions and millions of dollars have gone into revamping old buildings into super-trendy lofts, cleaning up the streets (literally!) and organizing events that will bring people into Downtown. The Art Walk is one of those efforts, aiming to highlight local and independent artists, galleries, musicians, shops, restaurants and cafes, to not only Downtown residents, but to visitors (like me) as well.

So what started as a map-guided tour of the independent and unusual art galleries has since turned into a once-a-month block party. It's actually more like 7 blocks, so you can imagine how much fun it is.

The Art Walk happens the 2nd Thursday of every month. I decided to go with my good friend since middle school, Sona, in March. She has recently moved Downtown to attend med school at USC, and hasn't had much time to explore. From her apartment, it was only about a 10 minute walk to Spring and Main Streets, where the majority of the action happens. We at first weren't quite sure how much further we had to go, because we didn't see anyone around. But we turned a corner and were greeted with the smell of taco trucks, loud music in the distance, and lots and lots of people on every corner.

We walked towards one of the crowds and were kind of swept into a gallery. The gallery was actually more of a clothing store, with racks of (surprisingly) fairly affordable clothes, with some for-sale paintings on the wall. On top of this high platform, probably 20 feet up, a DJ was spinning some hipster sounding music.

The next gallery was similar, but was more art-focused instead of clothing. My favorite from this gallery was a painting of an owl with a jetpack in outer space.

Our next stop was a little out-of-the-way cafe, where their nightly special was $3 sangria, which was pretty delicious and hit the spot. We took a seat on a couch next to a group of people from Planned Parenthood (who, like many other organizations, take Art Walk as an opportunity to spread the word about their work, services, etc to young adults). It was an open-mic night so we got to hear some good, and some really bad, poetry.

While sipping our sangria we came across a pamphlet for the MONA, aka Museum of Neon Art, which was located just around the corner. I insisted we go. The museum was really really small... like smaller than some of the galleries we had visited, but the stuff inside was so unusual and interesting. Huge wall-sized installations, sculptures, signs and other random pieces, all done with neon lights. There was a back room with more art that you had to pay to see, which we skipped, but I definitely plan on going back there on my next trip.

After the MONA we walked through a few more little galleries. The best part about this is that even though people hand out maps and guides of all the galleries, they are all just next door to each other, and you can hop from one to the next. Some other highlights from the next few galleries included a pile of cookies in the corner of a room (Sona ate one, I had a bite), and very graphic and close-up photographs of different types of piercings.

We decided to hop over to another street, but on our way we passed a cupcake shop, and I have to give them credit for an awesome tagline. When I see a bake shop with the words "FRESH MOIST FANTASTIC CUPCAKES" proudly displayed in their window, I will most likely stop in. There's nothing like some effective and efficient marketing. The shop was called Big Man Bakes, and they were giving out free mini cupcakes. We got a free carrot cake cupcake and bought a large red velvet cupcake to share. I must say, the frosting was AMAZING and both cupcakes were delicious. As we were leaving the shop, a very large black man in an apron walked in and everyone started cheering. Apparently he was the "Big Man" and owned the bake shop, and all the cupcakes were his recipes.

Along the walk, there are lots of people walking around handing out fliers and free stuff. We each got free tank tops from American Apparel and lots of literature about different galleries and events in downtown. But the funniest exchange happened when a good-looking Latino guy handed Sona a brochure for an eyebrow threading shop, and she wailed out "OH NOOO!! Does this mean my eyebrows look bad?!??" and hurried to pull out her mirror to check her brow situation. The guy was just handing out fliers to everyone, but Sona thought he was trying to hint something to her. I was cracking up, but this guy genuinely felt SO bad that he had offended her. They later bonded over talking about Indian dancing, apparently he was a dance major in college and had taken particular fondness to the type of dance that Sona partakes in occasionally. This is an example that there really is every type of person at Art Walk.

After that we walked through the first floor of a very old looking building, which had been transformed from an abandoned, useless space into a mini-marketplace where people could sell their wares. It was like a more hipster version of the Venice Beach boardwalk, with a very eclectic selection of hand-made jewelry, vintage clothes, records, and even bicycles, among other nick-knacks. I bought a really awesome necklace for $10 and Sona got a shirt and pair of earrings. In one corner, a guy was free-styling, and on the other end of the room there was another DJ.

It was after this that Sona and I decided to call it a night. As we left the last gallery to head home, we passed by a person on the street that was dressed as a green furry duck-looking thing. As in, you couldn't see their face and they were completely inside this duck-platypus-bird costume. Sona was completely enamored and insisted we chase it down to get a picture. Of course the platyduckbird was running away from us and I was laughing so hard the picture actually came out pretty blurry, but I'm sure she still cherishes it.

I am finding it very difficult to explain to you here the types of people you see at the Art Walk. You are constantly working your way through crowds of people, and they seemingly come from every walk of life. Some of the more scene-ster types obviously live in downtown, but there are plenty of normal people, business men, hippies, etc all enjoying the local art and music scene. It was really so much fun and when I got home I felt like I was on a cloud. Sometimes I get stuck in my little bubble and I forget to experience things outside of it. But going to Downtown always is an exhilarating experience for me, because at heart I'm still a small-town suburbanite who wonders how she ever made it to the Big City. Being a part of the Art Walk makes you feel like you belong to this big-city scene, no matter what your interests are, where you live, what you do, where you're from, etc. It was a truly awesome experience and I can't wait to go back again!

Sona with the green furry bird creature