Brewery Artwalk isn’t your “average” art show

LA Brewery Artwalk

LA Brewery Artwalk: the art show’s title itself indicates two of my favorite things: Art and walking. Kidding! Beer and art, of course!

LA Brewery Artwalk isn’t your “average” art show in many ways. Unlike typical exhibition openings and runs, Brewery Artwalk is only open twice per year, in the Spring, and in the Fall, for only one weekend at a time. This year’s Brewery Artwalk was open October 21st-22nd, 2017, 11:00am – 6:00pm. Brewery Artwalk is an “open studio weekend”, where artists actually inhabit and live in the confines of the former Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery. Yes, I (among many others) toured over 100 individual artists’ homes to look at the studio art they’ve produced and are selling.

Also radically unlike your typical art exhibition runs, Brewery Artwalk’s open studio weekend was located at the world’s largest art complex. In 1982, the PBR Brewery became home to live/work artists’ spaces, since the passing of the Artist-in-Residence code permitted artists to rent in industrially zoned buildings. The Brewery rented only to artists, and to this day, the Brewery Artwalk only rents to artists. In July 1997, LA Weekly cited the Brewery Artwalk as the “world’s largest artist-in-residence community”, and later in 1999, LA Times quoted The Brewery as being the “world’s largest art complex.”

Spanning the Brewery’s 16 acre campus, over 100 studios were open for the Brewery Artwalk. Two days were definitely needed to see everything since, in a span of twenty feet, you were able to walk through a number of apartments/galleries.

At Brewery Artwalk, people were able to see new work, speak with the artists, purchase artwork directly from the artist studios, and curate your new list of favorite artists.

The Brewery Artwalk varied greatly in the media it offered: painting, sculpture, architecture/interior/landscape, ceramics, mixed media, fashion/costume/jewelry, design/illustration/printmaking, performance/installation, photography, gallery, artisan/applied arts, and video/multimedia works.

Truth be told, the sheer volume of art that was available for viewing was overwhelming. There’s a nice mix of specializations and functional versus strictly visual art, so I did get the sense that there was something for everyone. You just had to sieve through the artist’s lofts to find your favorites. Since this was my first year going, it’ll be interesting to see which artists still hold studios at Brewery Artwalk, and if their expressions have changed from the last Brewery Artwalk.

Uniquely, I did hear one of the artists make a comment where he described attendees as “Lookie Lou’s”. My feeling is that Brewery Artwalk is free and open to the public, who art objectively is created to serve and be enjoyed by, and artist exposure and fan bases are built through large scale, free events like Brewery Artwalk. I would like to add, however, many of the other artists were very friendly and engaging, even all the way through Sunday, as each artist welcomed strangers into their home.

Future Brewery Artwalk – Spring 2018:

Brewery Artwalk happens twice per year – the next Brewery Artwalk will be Spring of 2018.

Price:

The price is right for The Brewery Artwalk! Admission and parking are free.

Travel:

Public Transportation: The Metro 76 bus stops directly in front of the Brewery on Main Street at Ave 20. Other Metro lines drop off at Main and Daily. Consult the Metro Trip Planner for alternative routes.

Rideshare: Designated pickup and dropoff location for rideshare is at the corner of Main St. and Moulton Ave. for Lyft users.

Parking:

Free parking in available in the UPS lot next door, and there is free street parking. However, arrive early because the UPS lot and street parking fills up fast!

Food & Drink:

The centrally-located beer garden will feature available food and drink. There’s also an on-site restaurant, Barbara’s at the Brewery. Unfortunately, Vegan menu options aren’t yet available, but they are working on accommodating Vegan friends in the near future.

Furry Friends:

Since all artwork is exhibited within the actual living quarters of each artist, The Brewery kindly asks that you leave your furry family members at home.

Location:

2100 N. Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90031

Date:

Upcoming Spring TBD

Artist Media:

Painting, sculpture, architecture/interior/landscape, ceramics, mixed media, fashion/costume/jewelry, design/illustration/printmaking, performance/installation, photography, gallery, artisan/applied arts, and video/multimedia works.

Price:              Free!