Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.

The biennial Mid-City Studio Tour isn’t something you can buy (admission is free) but it is something you definitely want: a peek inside the studios, homes and in most cases home studios of some of Long Beach’s most recognized visual artists. Organized by artists Cynthia Evans, Annie Stromquist and Sue Ann Robinson, the self-guided studio tour is a rare opportunity to glimpse what’s behind the creative process—the back house, for example, where Stromquist keeps a darkroom, three table surfaces, seven flat files, a sink and (this comes in handy) a bathroom. “It’s perfect,” says Stromquist, the author of Simple Screenprinting: Basic Techniques and Creative Projects. “I can take my cordless phone out there with me or not, feel separate from my routine whenever I want to, but also pop back in easily to fix a quick lunch with only a two second commute.”

Still, working from home myself, I understand how difficult it can be to transition from office/work mode to home/host when others come around—putting on clothes, turning up the lights, tossing empty beer cans. It’s troubling. “I do get a little nervous the morning of the event,” admits multimedia artist Sandy Abrams, whose converted garage studio marks another stop on the tour. “It is so easy to go from one project to another and before I know it the [studio] looks like a disaster zone. Having an open house is a good opportunity for me to reevaluate whether I need to keep this or that—artists have a tendency to collect interesting finds.” Let’s just hope they don’t clean too much—beer cans, sure, but leave those paint-splattered CD players and cats snoozing on the carpet, please.

The Mid-City Studio Tour featuring Sandy Abrams, Slater Barron, Victoria Damrel, Cynthia Evans, Gisele, Moira Hahn, Sue Ann Robinson, Joan Skosberg Sanders, Annie Stromquist and Jamie Sweetman will be held on Sunday October 7 from 10am to 5pm. Maps available until the day of the tour at the office of the Arts Council for Long Beach 110 W Ocean Blvd | Long Beach 90802 | The Long Beach Museum of Art 2300 E Ocean Blvd | Long Beach 90803 | and at Oasis Gallery at Chroma Glass Designs 4242 Atlantic Ave | Long Beach 90807 | www.midcitystudiotour.info

Tags: Arts, studio tour