A Monthly Gem - The Downtown LA Art Walk

Downtown's Art Walk turns the streets into an artistic carnival. Here on Gallery Row -- bounded by Main and Spring streets from 2nd to 9th streets -- the scene is as eclectic as the people it has attracted: haircuts being given on sidewalks; saxophone melodies wafting through the smoggy air; a retrofitted 1940s school bus shuttling attendees to off-site galleries. Inspired by the scene, artists let the environment dictate the imagery as they paint on makeshift canvases taped to chain-link fences.

When it was founded in 2004 by Bert Green of Bert Green Fine Art on West 5th Street, the streetscape was a less-than-desirable place to stroll at night. Drug dealers and homeless people roamed the area, Green said.

But art didn't go slowly into the night. The monthly walking tour has grown from eight galleries and 100 visitors to more than 40 galleries and between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors.

That kind of growth demonstrates the richness of L.A.'s art scene, said developer Tom Gilmore, whose conversion of old bank buildings along Main Street into rental lofts nearly a decade ago helped spark the revitalization of the area.

For more information on the exhibits, as well as local restaurants offering deals for attendees, check out the official site at http://www.bgfa.us/daw/.

Parking is available for $5 flat rate any time of day (no ins or outs) at the Athena Parking lot at 415 S. Main St.

This month, music in the Biddy Mason Park Gallery at Hoagies and Wings on Broadway, 332 S. Broadway between 3rd & 4th St at Noon & 6:00-11:00 p.m. Live Music: Ardom Belton: Jazz, Dez Hope : Acoustic Hip Hop, Nicholson: Punk Rap, Live art and DJ Sets by DJ Evan Lasry.