Artist Kohl King frequents many exhibit openings throughout Los Angeles, sipping on the free wine as she seeks inspiration. But it was a little-known gallery in Inglewood that caught her by surprise.
Abstract works adorned the wall of the first floor of the Beacon Arts gallery. The exhibit, "Optimist's Parking Lot," spilled over onto the top level of the four-floor building. There, colorful structures that incorporated Christmas lights and train tracks seized the art aficionado's attention.
For King, it was more than the works that haunted her. It was the space itself.
"It was so intimate, wonderful, contemporary and inspiring," said King, a mixed-media artist. "The gallery put Inglewood on the map."
But when the city hosts its annual Inglewood Open Studios this fall, a two-night event of studio-hopping that allows local artists to showcase their works, the Beacon Arts gallery will receive its first visitors in months.
This summer, the gallery quietly shut down after mustering only a small following, mostly of artists. The closing pushed back the city's dreams of creating a cultural district that would highlight the burgeoning art community.
"It made a lot of noise for its size," said real estate developer Scott Lane. "But it wasn't fulfilling its destiny as a dynamic force. It was a meek storefront."
The space will temporarily reopen during Open Studios as a "pop-up gallery."
Initially, it wasn't hard getting art enthusiasts to make the trek into Inglewood. The gallery's location off La Brea Avenue, a major city thoroughfare, was a plus.
But getting people to buy the pricey paintings — some for upward of $60,000 — became a challenge.
Still, the dozens of artists who have set up studios in the city pinned their hopes on the gallery as the first piece of what would become a vibrant art hub that would rival Venice, Santa Monica and Culver City.
For years, sculptors and painters have been quietly trickling into Inglewood, lured by cheaper rent and the cool ocean breeze.
Many settled into clusters tucked away in pockets throughout the city.
A concentration of architects, photographers and musicians live and work inconspicuously behind a chain link fence off Hyde Park Boulevard. A half-mile away, a handful of painters hole up along a street corner.
They have to maintain a low profile. Many of their studios double as their homes, an illegal practice that the artists have been trying to change by lobbying the city to allow live-work permits.
Kenneth Ober, one of the pioneers, converted a spare room in his fourplex into a work space, where he paints conceptual pieces that require thousands of tiny brush strokes. When he moved to Inglewood more than a decade ago, he felt he had few options.
"Downtown was too hot," he said. "Venice and Culver City was too expensive. And Hollywood was cranked on steroids or Starbucks."
In Inglewood, Ober found inspiration from his diverse surroundings. He painted a collection inspired by the fireworks that burst from his neighbors' backyard during the Fourth of July. Unlike in L.A., pyrotechnics are legal here.
The loose network of artists eventually came together in 2006 to form the Inglewood Open Studios. The tour is the closest thing the city has to an art walk, Ober said.
Soon, students from the nearby Otis College of Art and Design joined in.
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