Tour
Des Artists come to Long Beach
By Porschia Baker
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
On
June 21 a plethora of welcoming artists
shared their artwork with other artists
and non-artists in an annual event called
Tour Des Artistes.
Byron De Stouet, the producer of Tour Des
Artistes, said, “[the reason for Tour Des
Artistes] is to expose to Long Beach Residents
and residents outside Long Beach that Long
Beach is a viable art community.”
This past Saturday was the fifth annual
Tour Des Artistes, which took place in Long
Beach’s East Village Arts District. Tour
Des Artistes consisted of art, food, beverages,
music, and more art. There were artists
at work and working art. Art was everywhere:
welders, paints, photographs, glass work,
acrylic work and much more. With eleven
different venues, the artwork changed much
like the music being played. At one venue,
a sporadic wind chime could be heard, at
another a mellow trumpet, and at another
the only music being played was the artwork
itself.
In one venue, guests were encouraged to
participate in an interactive color splashing
mural project and children were also allowed
to tie-dye with no age restriction presented.
Greg Pickens, who has taught in Cal State
Long Beach’s art department for three years
and has painted murals with children, was
a first-time participant in Tour Des Artistes.
Prior to participating in Tour Des Artistes,
he ran a children’s center in East Village
and taught at Orange County High School
for the Arts. Pickens said, “[painting]
is a process of exploring.” When painting,
he experiments with pouring and dragging
paint materials across a canvas.
Although Pickens began painting in 1988,
after graduate school, he would not say
that he began a late painting career. He
would just say things happen the way they
were supposed to happen.
Whenever driving on the Interstate 405 South,
quickly look to the right and one of Pickens’
many murals will become just as visible
as it has always been — the Long Beach Red
Cross mural with the many faces.
The entire Tour Des Artistes was well put
together, very colorful, invigorating, and
inviting. For artists who are not yet exposed
and feel that they have artwork to share
or would like to participate in the next
annual Tour Des Artistes, De Stouet said,
“they have to put some effort in it.” It
is not necessarily that it will take time
to get into the art realm. De Stouet latter
added, “that artist have to make themselves
available.” Nevertheless, in a way to open
the doors to artists the East Village Association
hosts artist mixers, which allow new artists
to mix with established artists.
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