Cartwheel Art Tours Coverage: Neighborhood Explorations in DTLA, with Cartwheel Art Tours Host – Deborah Vanakin
“Media, Arts and a Changing Downtown L.A.”
Deborah Vanakin, Arts & Culture writer for the LA Times, led Neighborhood Explorations for guests of the Airbnb Open-Los Angeles, in Downtown Los Angeles, covering The Grand Avenue Corridor and its immediate surroundings–a hub of media, civic engines and arts and culture. The Neighborhood Explorations were curated and produced by Cartwheel Art Tours founder, Cindy Schwarzstein.
Stops on Deborah’s Neighborhood Explorations, included viewing the historic LA Times building, that sits across from City Hall and the Federal courthouse, along with Disney Hall, the Music Center, the Broad Museum, Colburn Dance School and the Museum of Contemporary Art that are all within one block, and covered by Deborah in her writing for the LA Times.
Deborah showed on her Neighborhood Explorations, how this small-but-bustling pocket of the city is brimming with arts history dating back to mid-’50s and the development of the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the LA Opera now performs; is also a dynamic area that for the past several years, has been in the throes of transition — most recently with the addition of the new Broad museum.
The LA Times building at First and Spring, was the meeting place for the group. The Neighborhood Explorations began while walking up First Street to Grand Avenue, where guests were provided the opportunity to look at the historically and architecturally significant buildings.
During Deborah’s time with the guests, she shared tid-bits of history as well as personal stories of covering them, and even brought print-outs of her articles, about a few of these sights to distribute.
MOCA’s courtyard and the storied Angels Flight staircase, that runs beside the atmospheric, 1901 cable car, were the next stops on the Neighborhood Exploration, before guests passed through the recently remodeled Grand Central Market — the oldest open-air market on the west coast. From there the group continued along Broadway Street (an area also in throes of re-development), past Eloy Torrez’s famous “Pope of Broadway” mural (depicting actor Anthony Quinn) as the last stop on the Neighborhood Explorations, led by Deborah.
Contact Cindy to have her organize a unique and immersive experience, with Deborah, for your private group or organization.
