Art Walk

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said after an initial review of last week's skirmish between officers and protesters during downtown's monthly Art Walk event that he believes the department "overall responded appropriately. " He added that department officials were conducting a more thorough review of the night's events, in which they would look into whether the "hard-line enforcement" approach that police took was necessary. "I would much prefer to resolve these things through negotiation and cooperation, rather than hard-line enforcement," he said.

Fred Weisman was getting a lot of grief for someone being revered. Billy Al Bengston, the painter, told him he shouldn't have worn a tie ("I shouldn't?" said Weisman), and Carol Jeanne Feuerman, a sculptor who is making a life-size resin likeness of Weisman, wanted to make sure he didn't muss his pin-stripe suit. "That's the same suit I'm doing you in," she reminded the art collector and philanthropist. "OK," said Weisman. "I won't spill anything on it."

Last year, Venice Art Walk chairwoman Sheila Goldberg decided to make this year's walk a two-day event. "But don't tell the artists I said that," she added. Now they know. More than 50 artists from the Venice area--including Chuck Arnoldi, Robbie Conal, Guy Dill, and Laddie John Dill--will be opening their homes and/or studios to the public on May 19 and 20.

It seems like just yesterday that the blue-chip gallery Blum & Poe moved onto La Cienega Boulevard and the Culver City Art District was born. But the district south of Venice Boulevard, once a string of warehouses and decaying auto shops, has grown up quickly since 2003, and its annual art walk has matured. This Saturday marks the fourth annual Artwalk Culver City, and from noon until 8 p.m.

Connecting with the hip, the happening and the culturally curious is Billy Fong's mission as art consultant and coordinator for Muse (the young affiliates group) at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Sure, his parties are inspired, but where Muse really hits its high note is in demystifying the often-elite world of art for the young collector. Q. What purpose do LACMA's art walks serve? A. We've always done an annual art walk in Santa Monica near Bergamot Station.

It's tedious being the entertainment capital of the world. "The Hills" might be L.A.'s most visible cultural export today, but it misrepresents us. (OK, not all of us.) In the last 20 years, Southern California has cultivated a supremely vibrant art scene. To celebrate, more than 30 museums, galleries, nonprofit spaces, retailers and other venues are banding together for Los Angeles Art Weekend, a sort of giant art walk across the city (with stops in Valencia and Newport Beach too).

The premise behind Friday night's Gallery Walk in downtown Ventura was simple. By organizing gallery schedules, printing up handy maps and arranging an early evening art walk, the Department of Parks and Recreation has sponsored a movable art forum that, with any luck and public support, will become a tradition on more than just a once-a-year basis. Along the way, art walkers could be found brushing elbows, taking in the sights and downing the usual refreshments.

The tourists think big. Arriving in Southern California, they expect to conquer Disneyland and Hollywood, perhaps on the same day, in between the surfing and snowboarding. Then they get stuck in traffic. Then come the recriminations, the tears, the vows to visit an island next time. The locals think small. Tracing tight little loops between home and work, they dodge freeways and alien neighborhoods. There are Los Feliz people who haven't set foot in Venice since the latter Bush administration (I'm one)