It’s just a plain parking lot adjacent a former bookstore in Downtown Long Beach — at least right now.
Next weekend, the same drab lot will be one of the most lively and artistic corners in the city when it fills up with live dance, theater, spoken-word and other artists creating and displaying artwork thanks to the return of A Lot.
The citywide art show turns empty or underused outdoor spaces into active art galleries and cultural hubs with dozens of artists and art-related activities and performances.
Admission is free and while it’s meant to entertain and provide family-friendly activities for the weekend, A Lot is also about bringing art to a community that may not otherwise be exposed to it and bringing life to otherwise lifeless spaces, organizers say.
“A large part of the purpose behind it is creative place making, taking some rather unloved spaces in the city and using the arts to turn these into very creative spaces,” said Victoria Bryan, executive director of the Arts Council for Long Beach, which organizes the event now in its second year.
This year A Lot will take place on two separate weekends, starting with A Lot Downtown at the parking lot on Long Beach Boulevard and Third Street on Saturday and Sept. 28.
It returns Oct. 18-19 on another side of the city with A Lot North, set for the corner of Artesia Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue.
Saturday’s A Lot Downtown will start with an event called “State of the Arts: Arts Learning Showcase.” The 1-3 p.m. event will highlight some of the artists and organizations that bring art programs to Long Beach students. The main attraction for the day is a curated event called “Color Me Long Beach: A Multicultural Urban Arts and Video Experience,” presented by the Creativity Network and the Homeland Cultural Center.
The 4-9 p.m. activities are being billed as a celebration of the many cultures and art that make up the fabric of Long Beach. It will encompass live performances from groups like the Dembrebrah Drum and Dance Ensemble, the Homeland Street Dance Crew and Long Beach singer-songwriter Halle Johnson.
Art exhibitions created during A Lot include an exhibit that will use discarded items found at beaches to create mixed-media art on old surfboards. Another will allow A Lot visitors to record video and design 3-D printed pieces.
On Sept. 28, the day will be filled with performing and visual arts groups that are no strangers to turning outdoor spaces into active art stages.
Among the theater and dance groups is the Santa Monica-based company Donna Sternberg & Dancers, which will present a piece created by interviews Sternberg conducted with nearby residents about why they love Long Beach.
“It’s a contemporary piece about what a neighborhood means to people,” Sternberg said. “We’re hoping at the end to invite the audience to come dance with the dancers.”
The company has performed at theater venues as well as lofts and art galleries. But Sternberg has also brought her dancers to places where most people wouldn’t expect to suddenly see a contemporary dance show, like parks in Santa Monica and Culver City and in front of libraries.
“You get a really different audience then you get in a normal space,” Sternberg said.
The A Lot initiative was made possible thanks to a $150,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Long Beach was the only city in Southern California to be selected to receive the grant through the Arts Council.
It isn’t the only place, however, where art is happening in unexpected spaces.
Last month, for example, more than 100 billboards and bus shelters throughout Los Angeles became part of a sprawling, open-air art gallery as more than 50 pieces of artwork were reproduced and displayed publicly.
The initiative, called Art Everywhere U.S., was a collaboration between five U.S. museums including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.
In Santa Monica, the biennial city-organized Glow event turns the Santa Monica beach into an all-night vibrant art gallery with dozens of temporary art pieces that include video projection artworks, experimental sculptures and performance art.
In the past, it has attracted as many as 250,000 people. According to the city, it’s set to return in September 2016.
Meanwhile, the Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles encourages solo instrumentalists to practice their acoustic instruments in outdoor public spaces at the Music Center and Grand Park through its Public Practice initiative. And on Oct. 11, the Music Center is organizing the Pop-Ups @MusicCenterLA, a collaboration with various performing and visual artists to create interactive art events at the Music Center Plaza.
“I think this is part of a major movement that’s happening, recognizing that we can’t just sit passively inside our concert halls, our museums or theaters and just wait for the audience to come to us,” Bryan said.
For members of the Los Angeles-based Cornerstone Theater, performing in unusual outdoor spaces is second nature.
The company will return to A Lot to perform a Spanish-language play about day laborers on Sept. 28. The Downtown L.A.-based ensemble has performed plays in Home Depot parking lots, basketball courts and parks.
“We believe activating an empty space with art brings culture to the community and advances the community and allows people a place to express themselves,” said Sara Adelman, general manager for Cornerstone.
“It’s amazing to stand in the parking lot and see people come in and have the space activated by an audience who wouldn’t traditionally come into a theater.”
Those looking for the Long Beach lot will have no trouble finding the space; besides the people and artists filling the lot, there will be a 30-foot tower with abstract artwork attached to all sides.
“We see it as almost like the beacon for the whole weekend,” Bryan said. “It’s going to be up there as a sign of things to come and to draw people to the site.”
