Artists
open studio doors to public
By Christine G. Adamo
On-line Forty-Niner
The
third annual Tour Des Artistes, a 12-stop
tour of Long Beach’s East Village Arts District,
which includes artist live/work spaces and
museums, will begin at noon Saturday.
The organization that is presenting the
event is the East Village Arts District.
Highlights include tours of downtown artists’
studios, galleries and museums. The
event will also feature artist demonstrations
and one-of-a-kind artworks for purchase.
“The purpose of the event is to help the
community discover artists already living
and working in the downtown area,” said
Shelley RoggThorp, art activities director
for the East Village Arts District.
“The most exciting opportunity the tour
presents for the community is the chance
to visit artists’ spaces and studios; to
see the working environment and the tools
being used,” RuggThorp said.
Artists will provide demonstrations in art
forms as diverse as glass blowing, tiling
and raku - a Japanese art in which natural
elements, such as sticks and leaves, are
fused to ceramic through burial and firing,
RuggThorp said. Raku demonstrations
will take place after dusk.
“From our standpoint, [the East Village]
is the beginning of an art community that
is full of wonderful galleries, incredible
shops and restaurants,” said Bob Maguglin,
Long Beach Area Convention & Visitor’s
Bureau public relations manager.
“The East Village Arts Association has been
active in promoting various cultural events
in Long Beach. Cultural tourism is a benefit
to the redevelopment of [this] city.”
RuggThorp echoed Maguglin’s statement.
“The development of the East Village Art
District is in keeping with the trend across
America to redevelop blighted areas into
art districts; this area was rezoned [to
accommodate] live/work spaces,” RuggThorp
said.
The East Village Arts District Web site,
eastvillageartsdistrict.com, suggests beginning
Saturday’s self-paced tours at the Museum
of Latin American Art, where free parking
will be available. The Visitor’s Bureau
cites the MoLAA, located at 628 Alamitos
Ave., as the only museum of its kind in
the West.
Though the tour is free, $10 donations will
be rewarded with a chance to win tickets
to the Aquarium of the Pacific or a MoLAA
symposium, passes to the Long Beach Museum
of Art, or a gift certificate to a downtown
shop or restaurant.
Long Beach Transit mini-buses will provide
no-cost transportation between stops and
begin leaving from MoLAA at noon. RuggThorp
said more than one artist’s studio will
typically be accessible from each of the
LBT mini-bus stops.
Participants can pick up specially-designed
Tour Des Artistes Passports, free of charge,
at any of the stops along the way and find
a schedule of events and tour map tucked
inside.
Between tours, participants can go to First
and Elm Streets to hear various bands play
music or watch artists create four free-standing
murals. The event will be immediately followed
by the Second Saturday Art Walk from 6 to
10 p.m. Call (562) 438-1402 for more
information.
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