Long Beach Wonderland

From LONG BEACH WONDERLAND by Kenny McBride.

Wear decent walking shoes to Long Beach’s Second Saturday Art Walk because ArtExchange (ArtX) is pulling out all the stops this weekend. The non-profit announced that a series of special exhibitions will be shown in celebration of the holiday season during the upcoming December 13 Second Saturday Art Walk in Long Beach’s East Village Arts District.

SketchingSpecial Exhibitions will include Long Beach Wonderland by painter Kenny McBride, viewable at McArts Studios at 352 East 3rd St., Sound & Line by artist Christine Fuchs, also at McArts Studios and, last but not least, Sketching, by artists Noel Madrid and Rebecca Giesking, viewable at Room + Border at 342 East 3rd St.

Regular exhibitions and open studios will include works by resident painters Steven Frost, Jorge Mujica, and Renee Tanner. sketching1“TRANONMAI, About Revision No. One” is a short film by artist and filmmaker John Thatcher Montgomery to be screened during the walk. Artist Leah C. Dixon of illuminodial Arts will be opening her studio to display works from this year’s exhibitions. Margie Darrow will open her studio to display a variety of paintings, drawings and mixed media artwork. The Printmaking Collective will display works by Christian Ward, Alex Fridrich and Alexis Anderson.

“I am humbled each month we open the doors to our main gallery and artist studios,” said ArtX CEO Nicolassa Galvez in an earlier statement. “The work from our studio artists and collaborators, along with the contagious excitement of the communities they attract, is truly impossible to beat.”

The festivities will continue at 9:00PM with “artXwalk After Dark,” which will feature musical performances by Charles Fullwood, The Black Noise and Hopeless Romantics, presented in collaboration with LIFR, a community organization.

Lastly, the ArtExchange Main Gallery will feature its Third Annual Holiday Salon, a showcase of 30 artists and over 200 pieces, designed in the spirit of a French style salon, to run through January 30, 2015. In the scramble for last-minute holiday shopping, this may be the place to spend your money.

All other artwork from SKETCHING by Noel Madrid. 

Asia Morris is a Long Beach native covering arts and culture for the Long Beach Post. You can reach her @hugelandmass on Twitter and Instagram and at asia@lbpost.com.