Author: Mallory Nezam
It’s a cold night as four girls and I feed our dollar bills and quarters into the ticket machine at the Highland Park Metro stop. The stop is relatively empty and our voices carry through the air. We catch the gold line to Union Station and navigate the hallways and stairwells until we reach the Red Line which lands us in the middle of downtown. From the underground station, we emerge upon what appears to be a somber night-until we hit the intersection of 5th & Spring, part of the 8-block party they call the LA Art Walk. Voices bounce off the walls of vintage architecture, men and women in gaudy sunglasses parade around with fluffy dogs and conversations of “who knows who” abound.
Where there are wallets, vino and fedora hats, there is art. I love these gallery events just as much as the next intellectual middle-classer, but last Thursday, amongst the bustling activity in downtown, something else consumed my attention: security officers. Everywhere. I’ve never seen security at a gallery crawl before.
Well, Los Angeles is different.
The Art Walk circuit, which covers a newly developed area named Art Row, inches in on the dilapidated Skid Row, the largest homeless district in the nation. In 2003, the idea of Gallery Row was proposed in order to cultivate art in Los Angeles and develop the vacant downtown district. It’s no surprise that the government funded the influx of galleries in the area, for art, it is thought, develops ‘culture’ and therefore cleans up neighborhoods and affords a feeling of safety and security.
But the art scene also brings in a certain type of person and can often be exclusive and inaccessible. As art spread like an ink blot, other businesses targeting the art-going crowd began to pop up. Cafes, bars and small shops now line the streets, and the downtown district has livened up, especially at night.
It was a little eerie to me to know that the poorest people in our country were being pushed out so that we could schmooze and drink wine on a Thursday evening. A French artist in a print gallery on 5th Street shared with us his thoughts on the issue of the recent urban development. “It’s nice for people to go out and have a good time, but it’s strange how they got here. It’s very different now,” he said.
It’s true that the influx of art, artists and art-related activity has catalyzed development in a formerly abandoned area, but I wonder what attention has been given to an even graver issue that lays quietly next-door.
What a juxtaposition.
However, it’s undeniable that the art walk is a hoppin’ Thursday night partay. The fun spills out of the galleries and onto the streets. The event brings out street performers, live musicians both inside galleries and out, and artists who set up independently along the rows of buildings.
One woman showcased her rock art, a collection of L.A. native rocks each uniquely painted to characterize the rock’s original shape. Another artist painted portraits on the street and a group of twenty-somethings made paper airplanes on a corner.
The Art Walk is also a good place to go and meet new people. After all, it’s a social event, encouraging Angelinos to venture into downtown in the evenings, to feel safe and to enjoy themselves in a sea of stimulation. Many establishments nearby also stay open late, like bars, cafes, stores and restaurants.
Unfortunately, bringing in art won’t solve the homelessness problem; it will just paint a prettier picture to cover up a much uglier one. But artists and patrons aren’t blind to the underlying situation. The Los Angeles Theater Center, Pharmaka, the LACAN Gallery and Lamp Community Art Project hosted works by Skid Row artists and encouraged homelessness awareness via pamphlets and performing artists.
So the issue is not completely hidden under the glitz of the night, but now that we’ve revamped Gallery Row, let’s move on and do something for the rest of the neighborhood.
The LA Art Walk occurs the 2nd Thursday of every month in downtown LA. Visit http://www.downtownartwalk.com/for more details.
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