Frogtown Artwalk Is Festive, Free, and River-Close

Head to the art-awesome community for Corgi sightings, dance exhibits, live screen-printing, and cool places to nosh.

What to Know

  • Saturday, Sept. 22
  • 4 to 10 p.m.
  • The Elysian Valley

Shaking off the week is one thing.

We might head for a bike ride, or to yoga class, or to spend time with our dad, or to take a walk in the park.

But moving from one season into the next?

That feels a little more monumental, like it has some heft, and locating the appropriately awesome doorway from summer to fall seems as though it might be as difficult as shaking off a dozen weeks.

It's not hard, though, in fabulous Frogtown, the well-loved, community-cared-for, avant-garde-y (but relaxed) enclave near the Los Angeles River in the Elysian Valley.

Art is at the funky heart of this water-adjacent area, an area known for being incredibly come-one, come-all to the wider SoCal region, when the matter of enjoying art, the evening, and each other is at hand.

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And that will be at hand on Saturday, Sept. 22 from 4 to 10 p.m., when the 11th annual Frogtown Artwalk returns, with charm, flavor, and rad stuff to soak in through eyes, ears, and your senses.

A lot of highlights are packed into those six hours, but look for "studio tours and curated performances" from artist Michael Todd and musician Mia Doi Todd (indeed, they're father and daughter).

The LA River Corgis open the event with a 20-minute walk, and so much other goodness will follow, including an interactive light installation near the river, live dance, live music, a place for kids to play with chalk, hula hooping, oodles of art on view, and other expressions of those called to make and share idea-inspiring, heart-growing things.

Again, this is all free, save for any art purchases or food you'd like to buy. And, oh yes, Frogtown is known for its vivacious vittles, too.

Call this all a bit low-key, too, and not particularly splashy nor showy. And yet this event is not understated in the warmth or joy department, nor in the sense that Frogtown continues to be as Frogtowny as ever.

Why do we make such a claim? It truly keeps to its artist-supportive character, year in and year out, through the return of each and every artwalk. Call it a close and creative neighborhood that continues to thrive in our mega-metropolis.

And call it the perfect place to leave summer for autumn. The start of fall happens on Sept. 22, making the event a beautiful doorway into what's next.

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