The Mid-City Studio Tour, a free citywide event in which local artists throw open their doors and invite you into their workspaces, returns the first weekend of June.
This year’s event features 25 local artists, with studios located all over the city. The public can tour the workspaces of painters, photographers, sculptors, jewelers and printmakers, while also getting to know the artists and their creative process.
The studios will be open Saturday and Sunday, June 3-4, from 1-5 p.m. Many of the studios will offer refreshments for visitors, and some are also offering activities for children. Guests will also have the opportunity to buy art from the artists, if so inclined.
The Mid-City Studio Tour, one of the oldest studio tours in the city, was launched in 1999 to help connect local artists with the public and to showcase the works of female artists, whose talents have historically been underrepresented in museum and gallery spaces. This year’s lineup will again feature a predominantly female cast.
All of the participating artists are selected under a juried process in which the artists must submit quality work, have professional experience and have a considerable exhibition record—so every artist is easily worth the visit.
Some returning artists this year include multi-media artist and printmaker Annie Stromquist, whose works have been exhibited in the U.S. and Europe. In addition to teaching printmaking and Long Beach City College for 12 years, she’s also published a book on printmaking.
Helen Werner Cox, also a returning artist, is a well-known fixture in the local art scene, not just as the exhibit coordinator at the Long Beach Creative Group gallery, but also as a classically trained painter and mixed media artist. At Cox’s studio, she will be featuring her exhibition titled, “Black Lives Matter: Entering an Era of Rebellion,” a collection of paintings inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests and civil unrest in 2020.
View this post on Instagram
Sculptor Susan Erikson Hawkins is also participating this year. Her figurative sculptures are made from a variety of mediums most often including bronze, terracotta and plaster.
View this post on Instagram
The 10th Biennial Long Beach Mid-City Studio Tour is free to attend and open Saturday and Sunday, June 3-4, from 1-5 p.m. daily. Click here to see a map of all the open studios and click here to learn more about the participating artists.