Participants in the Downtown Art Walk are:

7+FIG Art Space
1927 Gallery at the Fine Arts Building
Art Slave
Arty Bank
Bert Green Fine Art
Coldsprings Fine Art
Compact/Space
Crack Gallery
Crewest
Downtown Art Center Gallery
El Nopal Press
FIDM Museum & Galleries
Fifty/24 LA Gallery
G727
Gary Leonard
The Hive Gallery
Infusion Gallery
The Japanese American National Museum
Julie Rico Gallery
Katalyst
LA A
Artcore Center
LAMP Community Art Project
The Landing  Party
The Last Laugh
The Latino Museum
Los Angeles Center for  Digital Art
The Los Angeles Central Library Galleries
M. J. Higgins
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
Morono Kiang Gallery
Museum of  Neon Art
Niche
LA Video Art
Phantom Galleries LA
Pharmaka Art
Phyllis Stein Art
PYO Gallery
Gallery at REDCAT
Spring Arts Collective Gallery
SWITCH
USC Windows

Two Free Art Walk shuttles move visitors around the Downtown Art Walk  after 6 pm. Pickups and stops are available on demand — just wave to  the vehicle to stop or alert the driver to exit. The shuttle are  vintage retrofitted 1940s school buses, and are hosted by Kim Cooper  and Richard Schave of Esotouric, who curate them as moving performance  venues. The north/south Gallery Row shuttle is called “The  Hippodrome,” which runs 6-10 pm, and the east/west shuttle is called “Hazard’s Pavilion,” which runs 6-9:30 pm. Many thanks to the Downtown  Los Angeles Neighborhood Council for their generous sponsorship of the  Hippodrome shuttle service, and Brookfield Properties for their  generous sponsorship of Hazard's Pavilion.

The Downtown Art Walk is generously sponsored by the
The Los Angeles Downtown News
Patina Restaurant Group
The Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council
Historic Downtown Business Improvement District.

Sponsoring area restaurants, bars, stores and services are also listed on the Art Walk Map.

Visitors are encouraged to arrive by the abundant public transit network in Los Angeles, as the Art Walk is easily accessible by the 
Metro Red, Gold, and Blue line trains until midnight, scores of local buses, and many Rapid buses, some of which run until at least 
midnight. Parking is plentiful in the area, at meters on the street  until 4 pm, and free after 6 pm on most streets. There is a 
sponsoring, indoor parking garage which offers a $5 flat rate and is open 24 hours (details on map). Once here, local LA City DASH buses are an easy way to get around for only 25¢ until 6 pm, and there is  free, special evening shuttle service on Art Walk nights from 6–10 pm — the exact routes are shown on the Art Walk Map. Additional information is available on the Art Walk website.

In 2003, not long after the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC) was formed, a group of citizens who comprised the Arts, Aesthetics and Culture committee (AAC) of DLANC requested that the City of Los Angeles designate of a portion of the Historic Core (Main and Spring Streets from 2nd to 9th) as “Gallery Row.”

The proposal was originated and presented by Kjell Hagen, owner of the Inshallah Gallery and Nic Cha Kim, an arts activist and playwright. At that time, there were only three galleries in the area: Inshallah Gallery on Main Street near 3rd, bank (Lorraine Molina) on Main Street near 4th, 727 Gallery on Spring Street near 7th (Adrian Rivas, James Rojas). The borders of the proposed district was largely driven by the desire for inclusion of the existing art venues, as well as the obvious potential for expansion and infill in the largely vacant district.

In 2003, much of the Historic Core shared attributes with Skid Row. By day, the area was marginally active with shoppers and other visitors, but by 6:00pm everything closed up and most people left for elsewhere. Block after block of dirty, dingy streets were frequently populated after hours by high numbers of drug dealers, users, homeless and dispossessed people.

Known also as a commercial loft district for working artists, there was a core community of artists and other residents, and the pioneering Old Bank District (Tom Gilmore) and Spring Towers Lofts & Premiere Towers (Izek Shomof) residential buildings were occupied. A few stubborn visionaries saw great potential in this amazing collection of quality, vintage architecture. But the general public was skeptical.

The City Council motion (co-sponsored by Jan Perry and Antonio Villaraigosa) to designate Gallery Row was passed in July of 2003, and “Gallery Row” street signs were installed in the fall. Chaired by Nic Cha Kim and Santonia Amberly, the AAC Committee met weekly at Inshallah Gallery to plan an official opening ceremony, which was scheduled for May 15, 2004. Joining the AAC was Bert Green (Bert Green Fine Art), Kathryn Hargreaves and Tim Quinn (Dangerous Curve), Rex Bruce (LACDA), Liza Simone (Phantom Galleries LA), Don Garza (LA Town Crier), Kimba Rogers, Cheyanne Della Donna, and many others.

Inaugurated at Biddy Mason Park, the event consisted of a ceremony hosted by Los Angeles City officials, temporary galleries set up in empty storefronts by Phantom Galleries and THE MAX, a series of theatre readings at LATC, and information booths supporting the local community.

Important moral, logistical and political support was provided by both Mayors, (Jim Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa), the Mayor’s Office (Hamid Behdad), the VEDC (Warren Cooley and Audrey Madrigal), The Center City Association (Carol Schatz), the Downtown Center BID (Hal Bastian), DLANC (Brady Westwater, Doug Wance, Russell Brown), City Council (Jan Perry, Jose Huizar, Marie Rumsey), and local property owners and developers (Tom Gilmore, Izek Shomof, Michael Delijani, KOR group, Alex Moradi, Steve Reinstein, Rob Frontiera, Paul Su, Kevin Taylor), the arts community downtown (Julie Silliman, Michael Alexander, Danielle Brazell, Lauren Reilley, MOCA, Jeremy Green, Center Theater Group, The Music Center, Tom Pratt), and many, many others.

Subsequently, several galleries set up shop in the area. By September of 2004, there were 8 galleries operating, and the Downtown Art Walk was begun by Bert Green, a month in advance of the opening of his downtown gallery at 5th and Main. The AAC committee was spun off as the nonprofit Gallery Row Organization, which serves to promote and develop the cultural resources of the district.

In the months leading up to the launch of the Downtown Art Walk, a series of meeting were held among the various interested arts venues, artists, property owners and government arts officials. This exhaustive process resulted in the decision to hold the event on the second Thursday of every month, from noon to 9:00pm. The rationale for the hours was to be as inclusive as possible. The approximately 450,000 people working downtown would be courted in the day, and the local residents, artists and the general public in the later hours.

At first, the Downtown Art Walk encompassed all of downtown LA, from the 110 to the LA River, and from the 101 south to the 10 freeway. By late 2005, the number of participating galleries had increased to more than 15, and in 2006 to more than 20, although the boundaries of the Art Walk were reduced, and its focus became Gallery Row, where the center of gravity was shifting.

Galleries too far away from the center were suffering for traffic, but Gallery Row was seeing remarkable increases in visitor numbers. Olympic Blvd then became the southern boundary, and San Pedro Street the eastern boundary. This shift ensured the pedestrian nature of the event.

In 2007 the number of participating galleries reached 30, and in 2008, above 35. In 2007, DLANC sponsored the Art Walk shuttle, which began service in June 2007, and is now entering its second year. Keeping in mind that until only recently, the area was still challenging after dark, it took some time before the numbers of visitors increased substantially. But increase it did, steadily from an estimated 75 brave souls in September 2004 to more than 3,000 today.

Between 2003 and 2008 the area has also seen an explosion in residential conversion of formerly vacant or underused commercial buildings. As the resident population increased, so has the cultural vitality of the district. The public is not as skeptical as it was. The Downtown Art Walk now attracts many thousands of people, and the Historic Core and Gallery Row are becoming recognized as one of the most significant success stories in Los Angeles history.

by Bert Green

JANUARY Friday, 2- La Luz de Jesus, Silver Lake (8-11pm) Saturday, 3- Stephen Cohen, West H’wd (7-9pm) Rosamund Felsen, Santa Monica* L2kontemporary, Chinatown (6-9pm) Sunday, 4- Project_210, Pasadena (4-7pm) Thursday, 8- Downtown Art Walk (12-9pm) Art Slave Crewest Downtown Gallery (6-10pm) El Nopal Press Gallery at REDCAT G727 Bert Green M.J. Higgins (6-9pm) The Hive Infusion (6-10pm) Katalyst (6-10pm) L.A. Artcore L.A. Center for Digital Art (7-9pm) MOCA MONA Morono Kiang Niche.LA Pharmaka (6-9pm) PYO Gallery LA Julie Rico Spring Arts Collective Phyllis Stein Zero One San Pedro First Thursday (6-9pm) The Loft Medéa tudio 345 Studio 478 Laguna Beach First Thursday (6-9pm) JoAnne Artman Peter Blake Sue Greenwood Laguna Art Museum Laguna College Marion Meyer Rohrer seven-degrees Santa Barbara First Thursday (5-8pm) Artamo Channing Peake Edward Cella Patty Look Lewis UC Santa Barbara S.B. Contemporary Arts Forum Santa Barbara Museum Sullivan Goss Fresno Art Hop (5-8pm) Arte Americas Fig Tree CSU Fresno Fresno Art Msm Gallery 25 Spectrum Friday, 9- Forum, West H’wd (7-9pm) G2 Gallery, Venice (6-9pm) Santa Monica Clg, Santa Monica (6-8pm) thinkspace, Silver Lake (7-11pm) Creative Arts Center, Valley (7-9pm) Tasende, La Jolla (6-8pm) Scott White, San Diego (6-8pm) Saturday, 10- Acme, West H’wd (6-8pm) Marc Foxx, West H’wd (6-8pm) Gagosian, Beverly Hills (6-8pm) awrence Asher, West H’wd (6-10pm) Louis Stern, West H’wd (6-9pm) Sundaram Tagore, Beverly Hills* Steve Turner, West H’wd (6-8pm) Daniel Weinberg, West H’wd (6-8pm) FIG, Santa Monica (4-6pm) Richard Heller, Santa Monica (5-7pm) Kinkead, Culver City (6-8pm) Kinsey/DesForges, Culver City (6-9pm) Koplin Del Rio, Culver City (6-8pm) Walter Maciel, Culver City (6-8pm) Roberts & Tilton, Culver City (6-8pm) Leslie Sacks, West L.A.* Billy Shire, Culver City (7-10pm) TAG, Santa Monica (5-8pm) Taylor De Cordoba (6-8pm) Terra Galleria, Santa Monica (5-9pm) Track 16, Santa Monica (6-9pm) Western Project, Culver City (5-8pm) Charlie James, Chinatown (6-9pm) Jancar, Chinatown* Brand Library, Northeast L.A. (5-8pm) Black Maria, Northeast L.A. (7-10pm) Cella, Valley (7-11pm) Little Bird, Northeast L.A. (7-10pm) At Space, Orange Co. (6-9pm) NELAart Second Saturday (5-10pm) Acorn another year in LA (7-10pm) Avenue 50 Studio (7-10pm) Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock drkrm. Kristi Engle (6-9pm) Judson Monte Vista MorYork Outpost for Contemporary Art Sea and Space (7-10pm) Young Pomona Art Colony Second Saturday (6-9pm) American Msm of Ceramic Arts Armstrong's Bunny Gunner Cal Poly Pomona Downtown Center dA Center dba256 57 Underground (6-10pm) Latino Art Museum SCA Project Soho Gallery (6-10pm) Sunday, 11- A Shenere Velt, West L.A. (3-6pm) Frank Pictures, Santa Monica (6:30-9:30pm) LA Artcore, Downtown (3-5pm) LA Artcore Brewery Annex, Downtown (1-3pm) VIVA, Valley (2-5pm) Offramp, Pasadena (2-5pm) Monday, 12- La Sierra Univ., Inland Empire (6-8pm) Wednesday, 14- OCCCA, Orange Co. (6:30-8:30pm) Thursday, 15- L.A. Louver, Venice (6-8pm) Friday, 16- Art Rental Gallery, LACMA, West H’wd (6:30-8:30pm) Gebert, Venice (7-9pm) Huntington Beach Art Center, Orange Co. (6-9pm) Saturday, 17- Couturier, West H’wd (6-8pm) Tobey C. Moss, West H’wd* Ruth Bachofner, Santa Monica (4-6pm) George Billis, Culver City (5-8pm) Sherry Frumkin, Santa Monica* Craig Krull, Santa Monica (4-6pm) Frank Lloyd, Santa Monica (5-7pm) Patrick Painter, Santa Monica (5-8pm) Pepperdine Univ., West Side (6-8pm) William Turner, Santa Monica (6:30-8:30pm) Found, Silver Lake (6-9pm) Tinlark, Hollywood (6-9pm) David Salow, Chinatown (6-9pm) Tarryn Teresa, Downtown* Clg of the Canyons, Valley (3-6pm) Cal State LA, East L.A. (6-8pm) Beatrice Wood Center, Ventura Co. (2-6pm) Tuesday, 20- Fullerton Clg, Orange Co. (5-7pm) Thursday, 22- Fahey/Klein, West H’wd (7-9pm) Pitzer Clg, Claremont (6-8pm) CSU Bakersfield, Bakersfield (5:30-8pm) Friday, 23- Santa Monica Msm, Santa Monica (7-9pm) Saturday, 24- Robert Berman, Santa Monica (5-8pm) Honor Fraser, Culver City (6-8pm) LA Contemporary, Culver City (6-8pm) Otis Clg, West Side (4-6pm) Lora Schlesinger, Santa Monica (5-7pm) MoronoKiang, Downtown (2-6pm) Pomona Clg Msm, Claremont (5-7pm) , Claremont (7-9pm) City of Brea, Orange Co. (7-9pm) Monday, 26- Chaffey Clg, Inland Empire (6-8pm) Wednesday, 28- Cypress Clg, Orange Co. (6-8pm) Thursday, 29- Pitzer Clg, Claremont (6-8pm) Friday, 30- CSU San Bernardino, Inland Empire (7-9pm) Palos Verdes Art Center, South Bay (5-8pm) Irvine Fine Art Center, Orange Co. (5-7pm) Saturday, 31- Gallery 825, West H’wd (6-9pm) M+B, West H'wd (7-9pm) Regen Projects, West H’wd (6-8pm) Sam Lee, Chinatown (6-9pm) 57 Underground, Pomona (6-9pm) UCR/Ca Msm of Photography, Riverside (6-10pm) UC Riverside, Sweeney, Riverside (6-10pm) CSU San Bernardino, Inland Empire (5-7pm) Studio Channel Islands, Ventura Co. (4-6pm) Sylvia White, Ventura (3-5pm)