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These Streets Were Made For Walking: Downtown Art Walk

Monthly Celebration of the Downtown Art Scene Opens 42 Galleries to the Public

BY DIANA SALIER

Posted: 03/10/2009 11:09:24 AM PDT

Downtown Art Walks shuttle, The Hippodrome

The Hippodrome (Photo courtesy of Downtown Art Walk)

OK Los Angeles -- time to put on your culture cap and pretend those lower appendages are good for something other than hitting the gas and brake pedals...

This Thursday is the latest installment of the monthly Downtown Art Walk, a do-it-yourself tour of the galleries, museums, and nonprofit arts venues that populate the downtown area. From noon to 9 PM, stop into any of 42 venues open to the public, completely free of charge (take that, economic recession!).

Among this month's participants are two new galleries -- the Deborah Martin Gallery and groundfloor@santeecourt -- as well as Art Walk mainstays the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the Gallery at REDCAT, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, LA Artcore and the Crewest Gallery. The latter will host the opening reception of the group exhibit "Nat King Cole RE: GENERATIONS," featuring album artwork from Capitol/EMI Records' eponymous new release, inspired by the music and style of Nat King Cole.

For evening patrons of the Art Walk there will be complimentary shuttle service between 6-10 PM. The "shuttle" is actually a decked out, vintage 1940's school bus lovingly dubbed the Hippodrome, complete with a graffitied exterior (if you look closely, you'll see "The Party Bus" written on top) and an interior that resembles an old diner. The Hippodrome will move along the Gallery Row portion of the Art Walk, and patrons can hitch a ride simply by flagging down the bus driver.

The Downtown Art Walk is every 2nd Thursday of the month; can't find time to make it out this week? The next chance will be Thursday, April 9.

** Note: Some venues have limited hours within the noon-9 PM official span of the Art Walk. See map for details.