SOLD OUT!  Wait list here through Atlas Obscura.

Cartwheel Art Tours takes Obscura Society LA, the Los Angeles’ exploration arm of Atlas Obscura–the online guidebook to the world’s most wondrous places– on a living art and history walking tour featuring the area’s past, present, and future.

The Atlas Obscura Society LA guides fellow adventurers through the unknown, the curious, and the obscure across the Los Angeles area, and the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District has many hidden treasures for all the senses. The founder of Cartwheel Art, Cindy Schwarzstein is an Arts District resident, a Los Angeles River Artists and Business (LARABA) Board Member, and a founding member of All City Mural Endeavor. She has designed and lead Arts District tours for the Los Angeles branch of the American Planning Association, the LA Art Show, and other groups, including Obscura LA Tour’s previous Art District adventure in June. (June’s tour sold-out within 24 hours of the announcement of the tour.) UPDATE: September’s tour sold out within 7 hours of tickets going on sale!  Wait list here through Atlas Obscura.

On this Cartwheel Art tour created for Atlas Obscura Society LA, Cindy and this tours selected guest speakers, Steve Grody, author of Graffiti LA, Carlton Davis, author of  “Tales of the Art Dock: The Drive-By Gallery” and others, will provide the opportunity for participants to receive “insiders’  knowledge  of  the once  gritty section filled with disused warehouses, train tracks and manufacturing plants by the L.A. River, that has now rapidly become the hippest, most vibrant and dynamic art-centric part of Los Angeles.

Guests of this tour will discover, explore, and experience a full-on immersion into the culture of the Arts District community on the east side of Downtown Los Angeles, something only provided on a Cartwheel Art Tour.

DISCOVER  –  Murals of contemporary urban street art and graffiti art:

• There are over 100 murals by internationally well-known artists & graffiti crews from Los Angeles in the DTLA Arts District and with more planned, this is a highlight for many on the tour to discover. With the mural ordinance in effect beginning last year after the mural moratorium ended, and with Cindy’s connection to the artists through Cartwheel Art, and organizations that she is connected to, she will offer her knowledge to the group of the murals of the contemporary urban street art genre. Meanwhile, Steve Grody, author of Graffiti LA who has been documenting graffiti in the LA area since 1990 and who lived in the district for twenty-five years, will be presenting and describing the difference in graffiti styles, symbols and signatures as we view the work throughout the district and on the bridges. Here is a clip of Steve presenting a talk for a TEDx program

EXPLORE – Significant and historical points of interest:

• We will be exploring Seventh Street, Sixth Street, Fourth Street and the First Street Bridges, all used for location shoot for film and television. The Arts District is one of the most filmed locations in the world, hosting as many as 800 films a year (“Turn left on Traction!” a character shouts at a climactic moment in the animated Pixar film from The Incredibles). Some of the movies that have been filmed along the bridges include Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), Grease (1978), Blue Thunder (1998), To Live and Die in LA (1985), Chinatown (1974), Horrible Bosses (2011), The Dark Knight Rises (2013),  and Taken 3 (to be released).

• Carlton Davis, guest speaker and author of Tales of the Art Dock: The Drive-By Gallery, will walk us around the outside of the Pickle Works/Citizen Warehouse, one of the last surviving Victorian era warehouses in Los Angeles, dating back to 1888. This building was a haven for artists beginning in the 1970’s. Most artists lived on the premises illegally and created a flourishing underground arts community.  Carton Davis was one of those artists who also created the rogue gallery known as Art Dock in the building. His book tells the stories of the exhibitions, and artists that occupied the building and experimented with many alternative means to show their art, including Davis’ gallery and studio space. Guests of the tour will have the opportunity to meet Carlton and ask questions about the period before 1981, when the City of Los Angeles passed its “Artist in Residence” ordinance, thereby making this unique revitalization effort legal.

EXPERIENCE: – the areas unique specialty & artisan businesses and developments planned for the future.

• Over the past thirty plus years, the DTLA Arts District has seen a proliferation of art and community, shaping the area into what many claim to be gentrification. Cindy will point out new developments planned, the existing an past developments as we walk the streets of the Arts District. Some of the highlights will be viewing the outside of the old Model T-Ford building, also known as the Imperial Toy Building; the Hauser, Wirth & Schimmel gallery complex, set to open in January 2015 with a three week show occurring before the massive renovations begin; and others developments that are in the planning stages.

•  The Bread Lounge is an example of the new type of industry in the Arts District. A contemporary artisanal bakery and cafe, they distribute their bread throughout the restaurants and markets of the Arts District. It is here that the tour will begin and where we will be offered a sampling of a few of their freshly baked breads and pastries, baked on-site daily. We will also be making a stop at Urban Radish, a market and eatery for those that need to grab water or other beverage to take on the tour.

• Stumptown Coffee Roasters, where they roast their own coffee is another example of the new type of industry in the Arts District. There will be an option to end the tour at Stumptown Coffee Roasters where they will present a “cupping” (sampling) to include coffees from three regions around the world.

 NOTE: THIS TOUR IS SOLD OUT  Wait list here through Atlas Obscura.

Notes for this Cartwheel Art urban adventure for Obscura Society LA:

– This is a long walking tour that will take us from the Seventh Street Bridge to the First Street Bridge with a few detours on side streets and back to the Seventh Street Bridge.

– Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

– We will meet at 10 AM outside of The Bread Lounge, at the front entrance, to begin the tour.

– There’s no additional charge for the sampling at the Bread Lounge, thanks to their sponsorship!

– The tour is open to all ages.

– Sunscreen, a hat, and water are recommended

– There’s an option to end the tour at Stumptown Coffee Roasters where they will present a “cupping” (sampling) to include coffees from three regions around the world. There is no additional cost for this thanks to Stumptown Coffee!

 Wait list here through Atlas Obscura. Price of tour is $20.00