The 10th Biennial Mid-City Studio Tour, taking place June 3 – 4, is allowing the public to take a look inside the studios of twenty-five professional artists throughout different parts of Long Beach.
This self-guided tour gives the public an opportunity to learn from painters, photographers, sculptors, and other kinds of specialty artists about their inspiration and artistic processes.
The Mid-City Studio Tour is completely free and will be operating from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. this first weekend of June. Artwork will be available for sale, and some artists will be offering coloring for children attending with their parents.
This year’s tour has a lineup that is predominately female and will be featuring the works of artists such as Helen Cox, who will be presenting her series Black Lives Matter: Entering an Era of Rebellion.
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, the painting “Black Lives Matter” in this series highlights the protests that have occurred in response to the political turmoil of the past couple of years. Other paintings in the series examine the parallels between injustices toward African Americans in the past and present.
The Mid-City Tour will also feature the works of Slater Barron, who was known for her lint portraits and sculptures and had even appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson for her curious works. Her most recent exhibit at the Greenly Art Space in Signal Hill featured an installation about Alzheimer’s disease that capture the emotions and experiences of individuals living with the condition.
To view a map of where the studios of Helen Cox, Slater Barron, and other artists are located throughout Long Beach, click here. You can view all of the artists and their artwork on the Mid City Studio Tour website.