Gallery Row is a strip in Downtown Los Angeles that the City Council designated in 2003 to promote the concentration of art galleries along Main Street and Spring Street and to create a thriving, pedestrian-friendly, culturally abundant, urban neighborhood. Gallery Row spans north-south along Main and Spring Streets from 2nd Street in the north to 9th Street in the south.
Gallery Row was started based on a proposal by artists Nic Cha Kim and Kjell Hagen as members of the Arts, Aesthetics, and Culture Committee of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC).
At that time, there were only three galleries in the area: Inshallah Gallery on Main Street near 3rd, bank (Lorraine Molina) on Main Street near 4th, 727 Gallery on Spring Street near 7th (Adrian Rivas, James Rojas). The borders of the proposed district was largely driven by the desire for inclusion of the existing art venues, as well as the obvious potential for expansion and infill in the largely vacant district.
In 2003, much of the Historic Core shared attributes with Skid Row. By day, the area was marginally active with shoppers and other visitors, but by 6:00pm everything closed up and most people left for elsewhere.
The City Council motion (co-sponsored by Jan Perry and Antonio Villaraigosa) to designate Gallery Row was passed in July of 2003, and “Gallery Row” street signs were installed in the fall. Chaired by Nic Cha Kim and Santonia Amberly, the AAC Committee met weekly at Inshallah Gallery to plan an official opening ceremony, which was scheduled for May 15, 2004. Joining the AAC was Bert Green (Bert Green Fine Art), Kathryn Hargreaves and Tim Quinn (Dangerous Curve), Rex Bruce (LACDA), Liza Simone (Phantom Galleries LA), Don Garza (LA Town Crier), Kimba Rogers, Cheyanne Della Donna, and many others.
Inaugurated at Biddy Mason Park, the event consisted of a ceremony hosted by Los Angeles City officials, temporary galleries set up in empty storefronts by Phantom Galleries and THE MAX, a series of theatre readings at LATC, and information booths supporting the local community.
Subsequently, several galleries set up shop in the area. By September of 2004, there were 8 galleries operating, and the Downtown Art Walk was begun by Bert Green, a month in advance of the opening of his downtown gallery at 5th and Main. The AAC committee was spun off as the nonprofit Gallery Row Organization, which serves to promote and develop the cultural resources of the district.
The Downtown Art Walk occurs every 2nd Thursday of the month. The Downtown Art Walk is a monthly, self-guided tour of the art exhibition venues in Downtown Los Angeles, which includes commercial art galleries, public museums, and non-profit arts venues.
In 2007 the number of participating galleries reached 30, and in 2008, above 35. In 2007, DLANC sponsored the Art Walk shuttle, which began service in June 2007, and is now entering its second year. Keeping in mind that until only recently, the area was still challenging after dark, it took some time before the numbers of visitors increased substantially. But increase it did, steadily from an estimated 75 brave souls in September 2004 to more than 3,000 today.
Between 2003 and 2008 the area has also seen an explosion in residential conversion of formerly vacant or underused commercial buildings. As the resident population increased, so has the cultural vitality of the district. The public is not as skeptical as it was. The Downtown Art Walk now attracts many thousands of people, and the Historic Core and Gallery Row are becoming recognized as one of the most significant success stories in Los Angeles history.
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