Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk and Clifton's Cafeteria

Clifton’s Cafeteria Pacific Seas - 618 South Olive Street, Downtown Los Angeles

(Back of photo reads: July 30, 1949 Sightseeing bus we took on our tour of Warner Bros, Hollywood and Downtown. Jeannette, Maryann and Bobby Polite in front seat window)

The Los Angeles Downtown Art Walk in its sixth year of promoting the downtown art community has come across a fiscal Don’t Walk sign. The organization’s website announced that the art walks for the rest of 2010 would be cancelled and would resume in 2011, but the board of directors just announced that the Oct 14th Art Walk would go on as planned. The main issues are money and power which is the case with almost any problem Los Angeles encounters. The event is now wearing grown up clothes and attracts thousands of art walkers not only in search of the art scene but in search of drinking, eating and party establishments all which have benefited from the increased foot traffic. Paint it, sculpt it, design it, photograph it and promote it and they will come, by the thousands. With the masses comes an ever increasing security and cleanup tab that awaits the community and the organizers of the Art Walk the next day when the hangover hits. The art walk is a free self guided tour through the area called Gallery Row but there are also guided tours of this historic downtown core that meet up at the last standing Clifton’s Cafeteria located on Broadway and 7th street. I have personally enjoyed both the self guided and guided tours, but I have always avoided the “Double D” words, driving to downtown and instead opt for public transportation which is fast, reliable and plentiful in this area of downtown. Hopefully all will be worked out and the Art Walk will continue on.

The original Clifton’s Cafeteria Pacific Seas shown in this snapshot with its "Pay What You Wish" motto was demolished in 1960 and is now a world famous…….parking lot.