The enthusiastically hyped Culver City Art Walk (thanks, Culver City bureau of Tourism!) Would’ve usually been met by my same incredulity towards art walks (walking? JAZZ? Gag me), but I had heard a lot of good things about Culver City’s Art Walk So, being relatively new to Los Angeles and a fan of the Museum of Jurassic Technology, I thought I’d give it a go. Actually it would be an understatement to call me a mere “fan” of The Museum of Jurassic Technology. MJT for the unenlightened (yeah, I’m an asshole) is the crowning achievement of Southern California’s museum circuit, in my opinion, and the most progressive, most wonderful museum in the United States of America. It’s not hard to beat the red states, but let me tell you, New York and Chicago- look out. If you know of MJT, it’s offbeat collections and installation-like commentary on art culture comes as a welcome and familiar addition to Culver City’s landscape. The Culver City Art Walk was supposed to be the “it” girl of the art walk circuit, and with my love of MJT on my sleeve, I was ready to find out. First thing’s first- Culver City is it’s own animal, in the midst of obvious gentrification. I noticed this first and foremost when biking towards Washington Avenue- hip moms and Dads with Babies wrapped in skull T-shirts, French Brasseries, Boutique Furniture Stores, small dogs. And, Jazz. White, rich people Jazz. Ugh. I started at a show entitled “Convergent Gestures of Line and Texture” at some open studios. The Art was as pretentious and unremarkable as the title, to be sure. And, no snacks! Still, I forged forward. At this point, I realized that I could not comfortably “walk,” to most of the galleries, thus defeating the purpose of an Art Walk. The Michael Kalish gallery had attractive women cooing at manipulated license-plate art (licenses as an American flag, licenses as Sitting Bull, licenses as Jesus. Kennedy. A Shitload of Flower buds). I moved on quickly. And for the record, coffee shops and furniture stores aren’t normally part of art walks (I’m talking to you, Alan Desk!). But it got better: The Project Gallery had a truly excellent array of artists at impressive prices: Nate Frizzoli, Rebecca A. Urias, Edwin Ushuro- I know I’m biased towards recent art school grads (to be sure, the Project Gallery reeked of post-MFA newness), but I’m owning it, and it refreshed me to see young artists in the mix. The Corey Helford Gallery’s “4” had the best food, hands down, and some great, great shit. Still- a warning: where there’s lots of food, there are lots of slow, artistically disinterested patrons. As much as there are Other highlights included the Cerasoli gallery (loved Catherine Ryan’s elegant, acrylic work and James Kirkpatrick’s boy like abstractions) and the Project:gallery (gorgeous, large-scale graphite works by Theresa Sapergia) Overall, I wasn’t blown away, but you certainly can’t pooh-pooh some of the galleries, with an undeniable commitment to giving new and emerging artists a go at influencing a distinctly affluenza-accruing part of town. Lots of galleries, lots of people, though I wasn’t awed, I certainly would make my way back, stopping for a visit (of course) at my beloved MJT.