Saturday, May 28, 2011

San Pedro Art Walk

Even though San Perdo, the self declared Edge of LA, is so close to Long Beach I had never been to the town before so I thought what better way to see it than through an Art Walk.  Their Art Walk is every 1st Thursday of the month.  We wandered down there this past month which happened to be Cinco de Mayo, so it was an especially festive event.  They have a free 1 hour tour that people can jump on if you're not familiar with the area or just want a little more direction.

We met at the Chamber of Commerce which is where the tour starts.  We were a few minutes early so we were led to the Chamber's board room and gallery for some light snacks and wine.  Most art walks or gallery events feature wine so this wasn't surprising.  We talked with the other patrons who all seemed to be regulars.  Promptly at 6:30 we headed outside to meet a larger group waiting for the tour.  The docent mentioned this was one of the largest tours they have ever had.

We went to 3 galleries on the tour the 1st being Studio 345 where artists Pat Woolley and Gloria Lee had a variety of their own acrylics and watercolors. It was mostly non objective works by Gloria and French village scenes watercolors by Pat, who lives part time in Provence.  We were also able to see their workspace which is in the back of the gallery.  Our second stop was the Croatian Cultural Center which featured 10 artists of Mexican descent.  This was great for Cinco de Mayo because there was Mexican art and lots of Mexican food and drinks.  Very festive and appropriate for the walk.  The last stop on the tour was the Annie Appel Photo Studio for the exhibit Afterglow by Amy Chambers.  Her images were colorful and summer like.  She is a self taught photographer doing very original work.  She also uses a common digital camera (not an SLR) and a photo printer at a local drugstore.


The art district in San Pedro is very cute.  There is a huge difference from where the galleries start to the rest of the city that we saw.  The downtown has a regentrified, urban-chic feel. There are 26 galleries and over 30 restaurants around the art area.  The next walk is this coming Thursday, June 2nd.  If you're looking for a fun, free, relaxing outing you should go to the San Pedro Art Walk!

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