Recently I went down on a sunny afternoon to check out the art scene on the Venice Beachfront, thinking I would find the usual blown glass pipes and bad tattoo parlors. Rest assured, those iconic establishments are still going strong. But amongst the throngs of tourists and vagabonds is an underrated art gold mind. So if you decide you don't have the money for a day at LACMA , or the taste for BCAM's contemporary space, or the gas to get to Pasadena to visit the Huntington, or downtown to MOCA - what am I saying? If you decide to find art somewhere other than the local bureaucratic nightmare we call museums, then strap on a pair of walking shoes, spray on the sunscreen and get yourself over to Venice Beach.

For starters, there is always something going on. Whether it's Bacardi giving away free swag or, in my case, Hare Krishna's celebrating the 32^nd annual Festival of Chariots. Colorfully decorated four story chariots trekked from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium all the way down Main Street before finally parking on the Ocean Front Walk Plaza, where there was a free feast ready to feed thousands, games, stages, and booths offering more food for meter change. It was a smorgasbord of everything Indian- all (and I learned this at one of the booths, where I was also given a free Hare Krishna cookbook) in the celebration of Lord Jagannatha, the Lord of the Universe.

After eating half a watermelon for $2 and sucking down a lobbed off coconut (coconut milk straight from the teat is really very gross, but it looked awesome), we checked out the Venice Art Walls. If you've ever been down to Venice and seen a scattered cement garden amongst spray painted palm trees, trash cans, even a washed up old boat, then you've found inexpensive, premium urban art that isn't Shepard Fairey-esque gallery crap.

One of the few spaces in Los Angeles where a dedicated few are committed to keeping a place for graffiti art accessible to the public, the Venice Art Walls is curated by the In Creative Unit. ICU has taken up its protective post since 2000, when they helped save the walls from being destroyed as part of the Oceanfront Walk refurbishment. To paint: come up with a design, submit it, fill out the artist' agreement and presto! You're given a permit (which you must wear at all times) and commit to painting on a designated day (weekends only).

If braving those hardcore-looking graffiti souls isn't your idea of an alternative to BCAM's Jeff Koons, well then try one of the many sidewalk artist and performers.

Live Art! Man sculpting out of sand right before your eyes!

Lastly, on your day away from the Getty, MOCA and all those other abbreviated - or named after rich white guy institutions - get yourself a little cheap food. (Notice I used cheap here, not inexpensive - art in Venice has an aesthetic quality that I would never call "cheap," the food on the other hand, well, you get what you pay for).

How can you go wrong with under-a-buck Indian?

So get out of your house even if you're flat broke and can't afford to buy those flip flops or that fifth ticket to see The Dark Knight - go seek out art all over this crazy town. Flip flops, I've heard, have been discovered to be bad for your feet, and The Dark Knight? Well, theaters are overpriced.

THE DETAILS:
www.veniceartwalls.com
www.festivalofchariots.com

Story by Liska Jacobs.