Bert Green on October 12, 2009, at 05:27PM – #1

A bigger question is this: is Art Walk going to be focused only on temporary uses, or permanent uses? When the event tends to benefit those who pack up at the end of the night over those who have put down roots in the neighborhood (and pay rent) then the event will lose community support.

Tony Hoover on October 12, 2009, at 06:20PM – #2

I'm perplexed as to why people keep on thinking Art Walk is dead?! I just don’t get it.

I have an art education, I’ve pal'd around with high profile artists from New York to Chicago in the mid 80's, and I've even directed an art gallery myself. With 30 years plus in and around the art world I’m not “new”.

Downtown gallery owners who are all bent out of shape over Artwalk “becoming something else” seem to think that Artwalk was really ever about selling art. Gallery owners should be thanking their lucky stars that nearly 10,000 people are even coming to “Gallery Row” each month whether they are buying art or not. These 10,000 people are the ones who put Gallery Row on the proverbial map. By putting it on the map it’s drawing attention. A truly creative mind would realize that this kind of attention could be used productively.

Art openings in New York and Chicago in the 80’s had little to do with selling art. Most of the “art revelers” who came to the openings didn’t know anything about art (although they would pretend that they did). They just wanted to be fashionable and wanted to hang out with the “stars” of the art world. That was the New York culture. The gallery owners would have sold the art whether they had openings or not. It was their clientele that bought the art, and everyone else was simply there for the party.

It’s the same thing here in Downtown LA years later, except one crucial piece is missing - a foundation for art business. Leo Castelli in New York and Stuart Regen here in Los Angeles knew a thing or tow about the “business” of art. I’m not seeing that level of sophistication in terms of the business of art in Downtown Los Angeles. One can understand that these galleries need to bring in business in order to stay open - but they were fools if they ever thought Artwalk was going to produce a crop of art collectors.

……however, what I do see in Artwalk is a “lowbrow” version of the 1980’s New York art scene. The food trucks are appropriate for LA’s “lowbrow” art scene – one that was born here, not imported from somewhere else. I also see lots of young people who are out enjoying the party and are willing to learn about and appreciate art even if it’s the backdrop. Artwalk is the beginning of a very long process in cultivating a real west coast art scene that has never really existed in this city’s history – and one that is unique to this city and does not need to apologize for itself because it is “lowbrow.” What downtown needs are more Stuart Regens.

On that note - one thing that really turns me off about the west coast “art scene” is rampant art snobbery and this strange need to over intellectualize art. The local art intellects should take their cues from Dudamel and realize that the future of art in this city isn’t about showing off, but rather showing up.

JM on October 12, 2009, at 08:51PM – #3

Nicely put, Tony. I enjoy the Art Walk for what it is and for bringing life to our streets every month, but I find myself mocking those who are so desperately trying to figure out if it's art or if it's fart. Just enjoy it and don't take it so seriously. What we have Downtown is special and it's growing, whether we like it not. It's time to embrace the changes, not resist them.

HOWIE on October 12, 2009, at 09:18PM – #4

AMEN. Excellent piece.

Benjamin Pezzillo on October 12, 2009, at 11:08PM – #5

If Art Walk is going to be a "happening", then there's a need to develop spots for that to happen off the sidewalks so that the community does not continue to cringe the second Thursday of the month because of the growing pains of success.

One thought, start shutting down Spring Street between Fourth and Fifth and park the food trucks away from the restaurants and closed to traffic.

Another, one central stage area with individual bands limited to one 15-20 minute set -- maybe this could be at the Fourth/Main intersection with closure at Winston so there is access to the large parking garage on Main/Winston.

This would probably mean shutting down Spring at Third and Fourth at Broadway. Then Main at Winston. Fifth would remain open. So would Spring South of Fifth.

Eventually the park on Spring could become a focal point but in the meantime maybe it could host individual artist kiosks to keep the sidewalks free to support the movement of the large crowds.

But as far as the state of the current Art Walk, to me it's the worst night of the month as a resident in the Historic Core. It's impossible to see the art or give it any focused attention. The litter aftermath has become obnoxious. The volume of pedestrians makes me think it's only a matter of time before there is a serious injury or fatality from the mix of people, night and Downtown traffic.

Maybe the bottom line is that instead of Art Walk having dozens of individual hosts (galleries working together), it is time for it to have one host (a centralized event production) that provides entertainment and food options for the large crowds this event continues to attract.

jim frye on October 12, 2009, at 11:26PM – #6

Thank you Tony for adding such a refreshing voice to the conversation. I am a new resident of downtown, but not a new artwalk participant....artwalk has been luring me downtown for at least 18 months now. I haven't yet purchased substantial art during the artwalk, but I have purchased prints, calendars, and various art-related merchandise. But realize this -- artwalk is the event that made me fall in love with downtown, and it's the best night of the month for me. It is one of the main reasons I moved downtown. I love artwalk. I can't get enough of all the new gallery exhibits (although I must say there have been far too few new exhibit openings lately). I lament that fact that Bert Green and others have chosen to shut down and turn their back on art walk...I love Bert's gallery -- it's definitely one of the best downtown (if not THE best). Once this economy improves, I WILL spend on artwalk -- repeat, I will spend and purchase artwork. And it will most likely occur on artwalk night because that's the night I wander into all the galleries. I have a very good job with one of the major studios, but I need to make sure this economy doesn't take that job from me.

Please don't dismiss the artwalkers outright -- sure, there are plenty of loud, obnoxious partiers who could care less about artwalk. But then there are plenty like me who REALLY, REALLY want to invest in art, and will eventually do it. But until then, we desperately crave an atmosphere like artwalk that allows us to wander amongst all the galleries, drink some wine (makes us linger longer), and ask some otherwise stupid art-related questions. Remember -- we're purveyors, not experts. Artwalk is the carrot that draws us out. Find something for us to spend money on until we can afford the big purchases. Sell us small prints, photos, etc, anything that lets us feel "sophisticated" and artistic. I can guarantee that we'll be back, and we will come to your gallery.

Bert Green on October 13, 2009, at 12:02AM – #7

Tony, there are NO gallery owners who think that Art Walk is about selling art. That has never been the point of the Art Walk. I started it 5 years ago, when the streets were still filled with heroin dealers day and night, as a way to get people to come to downtown LA, because at that time NOBODY would come here. In that regard it has been a raging success, we all agree on that. I lived in NYC in Soho in the 70s and in the East Village in the 80s, and am intimately familiar with that time and place. That's one of the reasons why I moved my gallery downtown and helped to build this scene, because I saw that potential.

I find the assertion that downtown dealers are "snobbish" to be totally bizarre. It's in fact quite the opposite. The gallery owners downtown are more approachable and community minded than anywhere else I have ever been; that's what makes this scene so amazing.

The whole argument about the life or death of the Art Walk is coming from a series of articles in the Downtown News, all of which have been filled with errors and assumptions, and not from the gallery owners. I am not sure where the impression comes from that the gallery owners have "turned their backs" on Art Walk. After I close the gallery I set up at the Annex at 4th & Main for the rest of the Art Walk. That environment is more manageable, with such large crowds. That day is a 12 hour work day for me. I also spend many hours a week in meetings with Film LA, DLANC, the BID, and the LAPD to make sure Art Walk remains safe and secure, and all of this despite the fact that I stepped down from directly running the event back in May.

Yes, there are some concerns about the direction the event is taking, but the concern is primarily about public order and safety, and not so much about the content.The serious galleries downtown are doing well, including mine. Our clientele now comes from everywhere (LA and beyond). Just because Art Walk has become a destination event for other purposes does not mean that the galleries are not thriving outside of that one day of the month. One thing I can tell you from my experience is that the very collectors who were once lured downtown by Art Walk, back in the day, now avoid it entirely. That's not such a bad thing, because they come on their own during regular business hours, something that was unheard of before 2004. And isn't that the whole point? To bring people downtown all month long, not just on one night.

The success or failure of Art Walk as an event should be judged on its own merits, not on the fortunes of the galleries. The new directors have their own unique vision, and I wish them well.

Joe on October 13, 2009, at 03:51PM – #9

Anyone who would complain about getting people to come into downtown and spend their money -- even in the sake of not very good art -- is out of their mind.

Serious art buyers don't go to art walks. Period. They wouldn't go to a gallery to purchase seriously with a gaggle of party goers around them. Art Walk was never about serious art or art buying and the quality of what gallery row shows remains to be average at best. Yes, there are some notable works, here and there, but its been a rare showing and most is crap. Chinatown still has better curation.

DTLA Art Walk was and is a great idea, as it shows what a real, viable downtown area should be every day: getting people on the streets, off the internet, around one another, eating together and drinking together. It's about the most "human" urban experience we have in LA and I wish we had such options all the time, as DTLA gets really small really fast.

Keep the good food trucks coming. Competition is healthy especially as we need to raise the bar for what our SYSCO-dependent restaurants are offering.

Tony Hoover on October 13, 2009, at 05:17PM – #10

Bert, when I made a point of art "snobbery" I was not making a blanket statement nor was I singling anyone out - including yourself. However, art snobbery DOES exist because I have been in on such conversations with gallery owners and other "art professionals" including curators, and educators who stake a claim on the downtown art scene.

I find these conversations alarming, and even dangerous, because Artwalk presents itself (to me) as a huge opportunity to flush out new talent, and educate a whole new audience on the importance of art and its role in the future of this city. I will even take that statement a step further and be bold enough to say that what is happening in Downtown now has the potential to put America back into center of the art world, which seems to have packed its bags and moved to England.

As you and I know, from experience, New York was invigorated by the art community in the 70’s and 80’s. New York’s art community “defined” New York as the cultural hub of America and the world. It affected everything from art, to theatre, to fashion. Being one who experienced that, I find what’s happening in Downtown LA eerily similar to what happened in New York 30 years ago. However, as I stated (and with no disrespect to yourself or other good people) the one component I see missing are the Leo Castelli’s. Leo not only had a keen eye for emerging talent (and was a great businessman to boot), he championed an art movement for the city and the country.

Here at home, it seems to me that Dudamel is not only conducting the Phil, but making it his personal mission to redefine how the world sees and experiences music. He is doing this by making his music accessible to everyone - rich, poor, educated and ignorant.

When I hear some of the things that I hear, and read some of the things I read I cringe. Concerns from residents relating to quality of life issues are valid, of course. However, much of what I hear and read has little to do with that particular issue and more to do with Artwalk being “dead”…dead? I guess what they mean is that it’s “sold out” on itself…but that’s also what they said about Worhol.

What fascinates me about Artwalk is that it truly seems to reflect our time, like it or not. It’s a bit self-centered, somewhat commercial, and even opportunitistic….but in the end, as a collective experience, what it really wants to do celebrate and have a good time…and that’s not such a bad thing. In the end Artwalk has evolved into what the people want it to be – which is why they keep coming.

In the energy that Artwalk generates, and the attention that comes with it, the art community has open door. All it needs now is a Castelli or a Dudamel. It needs someone who can harness that energy and redefine how Angelenos see themselves and how the rest of the world sees Los Angeles - through art. The art community needs a leader who can demonstrate for a larger audience that art can be both sophisticated yet accessible – and this is OUR time.

Bert Green on October 13, 2009, at 10:26PM – #13

Good points, all. For anyone who is interested, this is the topic of an open discussion I am moderating, taking place at the Habeus Lounge at the 7 & Fig gallery Wednesday from 6 -8 pm. Here's more info:

Wednesday PM Perspective Group no. 4 DOWNTOWN THROUGH THE LENS OF ART GALLERIES - with BERT GREEN of Bert Green Fine Art The monthly Downtown LA Art Walk has been a huge success in bringing new audiences to downtown. What's next? For this Perspective Group, we invite you to share your ideas about present realities, and brainstorm on possible futures of the DTLA art gallery scene.

At HABEAS LOUNGE; A Pluralistic Downtown Los Angeles Investigation, a series of explorations through encounters and maps, which are building a framework for ideas and exchanges about our shared city. Events are free and open to the public.

HABEAS LOUNGE 7+ FIG Art Space 7&FIG at Ernst & Young Plaza 735 S. Figueroa Street Middle level Los Angeles, CA 90017

Linda Pollack on October 14, 2009, at 12:47PM – #14

Indeed, we will be talking about this very topic as part of a larger discussion about Art Galleries in DTLA this evening, Wednesday October 14, 6 - 8 PM. Bert Green will be moderating. Please join us.

www.habeaslounge.org You can find us at: HABEAS LOUNGE 7+ FIG Art Space 7&FIG at Ernst & Young Plaza 735 S. Figueroa Street Middle level Los Angeles, CA 90017 Validated parking at 7 + FIG garage.