The Long Beach Experiment

www.myspace.com/thelongbeachexperiment  

www.thebluecafe.com

This is a one night only type of event that occurs on the third Wednesday of the month at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach, California.  Our next show is October 21st, 2009.  Set up time is 6pm-7pm, no exceptions.   The Long Beach Experiment is a gathering of live music and art of various genres.   It is in a building with two floors, bar, pool tables, and two stages.  There will be live music of all kinds on both stages for most shows.  All of the art will be upstairs.    It is located near Broadway and Pine at 210 The Promenade, Long Beach, CA  90802.   All artists and patrons must be at least age 21.  

There are pay parking lots nearby, and the one on the other South side of Broadway (parking garage) validates for 2 hours.  This lot is $2-14 to park depending on how long you are there.  There are meters in the area North side of Broadway (open lot) that sometimes has an attendant and sometimes doesn't.  Enter this lot from 3rd Street (turning left down the last alley on the left before you get to Pine).  The promotor says that he parks there all the time when there isn't an attendant and says they sometimes issue a ticket to those who didn't pay, but it isn't a real ticket and he hasn't paid for a single one of them and hasn't been towed.  Rumor has it that that lot charges about $4 to park for the day.  However, I am not responsible for your parking decision.   This is also only about a block from the Metro Blue Line if anyone takes public transportation. 

There is a loading zone for us to use before and after the show.  Between Pine and Long Beach Blvd, on Broadway (one way street), at Promenade (pedestrian only streetish thing), you can turn left and park near the entrance to load and unload only.  Please be mindful of not blocking entrances to the businesses and to not stay there long so that others can do the same.  There will be lots of bands and artists wanting to use the loading zone.  The loading zone is about 30 feet closer to the venue than the parking lot on the North side of Broadway at Pine. 

Each artist is allowed to bring up to three easels worth of art to display.  You can hang a lot of pieces on one easel, trust me.  You can also use other types of displays as well, but you should not take up more than 6 feet of space.  There is a limit of 25 artists per show until we can show them how great we are to have there.  For this show, I will be assigning spots first come first serve during set up time only.  No advanced space selections will be available at this time. 

Each artist is responsible for providing their own transportation, display, art, power chord, power strip or splitter, lighting, labels, etc.  Nothing can be taped, nailed, or otherwise attached to the walls.   They do have some tables that you can use, but you should bring your own table cloth to make it clear that it is part of the art exhibit if you decide to use a table or two. 

Each artist is responsible for helping to promote the event.  Not only does this help the event, it also helps you.  The more people that show up, the more likely you will sell your work. 

Each artist can get one person in for free.  If you have a helper, that should be your guest listed person.  The artists will also get in for free.  I need to know this person's name by the Sunday before the event!

Entry is $5 at the door.  Each time someone comes and mentions your name while they arrive will be tallied.  For each paying guest that gets tallied under your name, you get $1 at the end of the night.  So you have another reason to promote the show.   There will be a general printed flyer for this show soon.  There is also the digital flyer at the top of the page. 

There is no commission or fees involved in this show.   You keep all of the money that you make from selling your art.

There are no restrictions for the type of artwork at this time.  Any kind of art is appreciated.

This event goes until midnight, at the moment, but will be extending until 1:30am in the next few months as the event builds on itself and the summer approaches.  Artists may begin to pack up their art 1 hour before the show ends.  So for the current moment, that is 11pm.  Artists who pack up early, don't stay on my preffered list very long.   

Directions:  Located right off the 710 South Long Beach Freeway. Exit Broadway and we are one block past Pine Ave on the left hand side on the city Promenade, half a block from Pine Avenue Restaurant Row, within walking distance from several major hotels and The Long Beach Convention Center.  Keep in mind that there is MAJOR construction on the 710, between the 105 and 91, for the next several months.  On a Sunday afternoon with hardly any traffic it took me 45 minutes to get there from Pasadena and just over an hour to get back.  It will take longer during rush hour to get down to Long Beach on a Wednesday night.  Please allow extra time, especially if you haven't been to this location before.