LongBeachCulture.org CenterStage Blog

By Greggory Moore
Photos Copyright 2006 by Jay McKinnon – Used with permission

For over six years, Second Saturday has been a mainstay of the East Village Arts District in Long Beach. However, recently there has been division in the ranks of the East Village Association, and one of the results is Last Saturday, similar in spirit to Second Saturday but with a different focus and vector. This last Saturday of February (no one will ever be accused of obfuscating with the name) was the second installment and the first time I’ve been since the changeover.

It’s a pretty simple concept: once a month (everyone gets when at this point, right?) between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., Linden Ave. is closed off between 2nd and Broadway, booths (etc.) are set up, and most businesses stay open—some taking an active part in the goings-on, some just having extended hours to capitalize on the extra foot traffic. The former type, while I’m sure looking to make some money, are generally antithetical to the hard-sell, instead encouraging visitors to come in and just hang out, with designs on fomenting a sense of community. Some examples:

the folks at {open} (144 Linden), a bookstore/performance space (see, it’s open (again with the truth in advertising!), had a DJ inside and a small spread of wine and cookies/crackers/&c.;

Village Treasures (146 Linden)—a store tastefully crammed with all manner of Afrocentric art, furniture, artifacts, clothing, iconography, etc.—featured an absolutely delicious vegan-friendly spread (meatless meatballs, chunks of fruit, pita wedges with hummus &c., wine…), asking nothing in return but what you would give voluntarily;

The Village Grind (443 E. 1st), a coffeehouse, featured a DJ inside, prime (though limited) sidewalk seating for people-watching, and owners who couldn’t be friendlier;

and, of course, the several art galleries, pretty much every one playing music and freely offering wine and assorted munchies.

Outside, there were no more than 20 booths—rather fewer than I’ve seen during the Second Saturdays. They were selling mainly what you’d expect: clothing, jewelry, accessories, visual art, etc. However, the EVA is looking to make this area less like the street fair that it has been, with plans for an interactive exhibit and more of an “outdoor gallery” feel. There seems to be a particular emphasis on craftsmanship, the activity of it. Painters were at work on canvases of various sorts: brushes on small squares on easels, spray-paint on large rectangles leaning against lampposts.

A collective called the Handmade Union was set up so that you could collaborate in the making of your purchase. For example, select a basic wallet type, choose a stitching pattern, get to work with the paints, et voilà—a custom-made wallet without your knowing anything about wallet-making. Quality control seems to be at a premium, the idea being that everything sold is truly original; any kind of prefabrication is strongly discouraged. Jewelry, for example, must be 75% original for it to be permitted to be sold.

There was also a main stage, which features four acts a month (one beginning at the top of each hour), always including one youth performance and one performing-arts piece. During the down time, there was music broadcast by a DJ from the CSULB radio station, K-Beach. The only act I caught any of was the final one, LBOG, an improv electronic progressive funk band.

For some reason, Broadway wasn’t getting much foot traffic. The Blue Nile, a coffeehouse more or less on the corner of Broadway and Linden (along with Aspects, a clothing store featuring custom screen-printing that is related (and will soon be literally connected) to The Blue Nile), was jumping with activity outside and a line of DJs spinning just inside the door.

Beyond there seemed to be an invisible curtain that many were reluctant to walk through. This was too bad, as a few businesses there were very much in the spirit:

L’exotique Appeal (at 416 East Broadway), a store specializing in lingerie and more (I couldn’t tell: since I lack both a gal and a penchant for lingerie, I didn’t go inside), had a fiddler out front, a pretty line of white-bagged candles, and lights strewn amongst the trees;

437 E. Broadway was being used as an ad-hoc photo gallery by Michael Ziegler and offered (along with high-end photo prints, many featuring the ocean and other SoCal sites) wine, hors d’oeuvres, and chocolates;

Ginia, an intimate art gallery at 445 E. Broadway, offered not only wine (for free) and paintings (for sale), but live art in the front window for the musical enjoyment of passers-by—first a short stay by a violinist, then an extended stay by atmospheric guitarist Sumako (complete with outside amplification that put forth a palpable sonic mist).

Similarly, there wasn’t much foot traffic on the south side of 1st—even though the north side bustled with activity; and I am told that there were participants up as far as Elm and 4th. Frankly, I was oblivious to both. One of the kinks to be worked out is how to extend the flow of people from the current locus of the street closure. As the event grows, natural overflow will help, but that overflow will need to be channeled—perhaps by implementing some kind of guided walking tour. In any case, the EVA is aware of this problem.

Last Saturday is only in its nascence, and yet its ethos is self-evident: come one, come all, take part. This “review” is not meant to be definitive, just to give you a general idea of what’s going on. For more information—including about how to sign-up as an artist/vendor (the EVA is actively recruiting artists from all over SoCal)—please visit www.lastsaturday.com (currently a work in progress).