Arts Tour in Northeast Los Angeles

What I love about this tour is the chance to meet working artists in their studios and see a part of the community that you never get to see otherwise.

The 17th annual Arroyo Arts Collective Recovery Discovery Tour takes place this coming Sunday, November 22,

2009. This is a unique event—a self-driving tour that takes place all over northeast Los Angeles and features the work of over 100 artists. To find out more or to buy tickets online, go to www.ArroyoArtsCollective.org or buy tickets in person for $10 each at Galco’s Old World Grocery, 5702 York Boulevard, Highland Park. Tickets at the door are $15, still quite a deal. This year, they are giving $10 “Arroyo Bucks” coupons with each ticket when you check in, good towards an art purchase that day of $100 or more. You get $20 if you can prove that you arrived via Metro. The start for the Tour is the Charles Lummis Home at 200 E. Avenue 43, Highland Park, at 9:30 am. There will be shuttles driving the route all day, or you can drive yourself.

What I love about this tour is the chance to meet working artists in their studios and see a part of the community that you never get to see otherwise. As a tourist driving through, say, the top of Avenue 53 off Montezuma, would you ever think there were probably a dozen artists living within a few blocks of each other? Or along Marmion Way at the base of Mt. Washington? Plan to spend the whole day if you can, and you still won’t see everything. This is a rare glimpse of a vibrant community of creative souls, many of whom have lived in these communities all their lives. This is the real LA.