OPaf (Other Places art fair ) 8

Free admission or $5 suggested donation

OPaf 8 features booths by local, national, and international contemporary galleries and artist projects gathering in and around Battery Leary-Merriam, a decommissioned Army battery on the grounds of Angels Gate Cultural Center. Operating outside traditional art systems, Other Places art fair provides a platform for artists of all backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses, creating an inclusive, entirely outdoor space for artistic projects united by the intention to exist in alternative settings free of commercial boundaries. Accessibility info here

This year's OPaf Workshop Tent  includes hands-on weaving, voice and rhythm meditation, embroidery, printmaking, and mixed media sculpture workshops. These artist-led sessions serve as a vibrant hub for community engagement, and cater to individuals of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds, fostering a sense of community through shared artistic experiences. The workshops will culminate with a communal kite building project which will be flown at the closing of the event. 

Additionally, OPaf 8 will feature artist readings and talks and a music and performance area hosted by bed crumb show*

Other Places art fair (OPaf) was born eight years ago as a response to the expansion of LA Art Fair Week™. We felt a need to provide a limitless gathering place for all the off-the-grid and under-the-radar contemporary art spaces and projects excluded from broader conversations. OPaf was founded in the belief that boundaries - whether fiscal, physical, or imaginary - should not influence decisions to show or make art.

The bloating of the art market and the Fairs at its core have made the ground contemporary art currently stands on unstable at best and completely eroded at worst. As the art world grapples with its latest last gasp moment we seek a new, undefineable first breath, unaffected by tradition and power and gate keepers.

At this year’s event we are leaning into the moment and encouraging beautiful confusion, community gathering, hands-on making, and discussion as we navigate what’s next, together. 

Won’t you join us?

Other Places is committed to providing a public exhibition space with a focus on equality and community. OPaf is community-driven and culturally relevant, welcoming people from all backgrounds.

A calendar of Other Places art fair related events will be posted at OPaf.info

With: Devils Food Vending / Gene's Dispensary / Roofless Painters / bed crumb show* / SULA Turner Residency (AJ Miller / Danielle Chandler / Melanie Bisbach) / Harvest & Gather / P.A.D. [Project Art Distribution] / Senses Coffee Project / Department of Devotion / LAWWSS (Los Angeles Woodwind Skill Share) / GAG! (Gallery Attendants' Gallery) / Ditch Projects / Flower Head / Yadira Dockstader / Project PAINT: The Prison Arts Initiative / Locker 2  / Gracie Moon  / Saint Remy Arts / QuorumQuorum / Brian Black and Zane S.B. : Graphite Meditation Station / Bren Perry / Farshid Bazmandegan / Upwell Art Lab / MystiCorp / and more.

Workshops by: Cindy Macias / Rafe Axne / Jess Ofelia Sandoval / Cristina Tejada / Benjamin Reiss & Chris Warr / Kristen Jean Wheatley

Readings, Talks, & Performances by: Yadira Dockstader / Morgan Mandalay / GAG! x the burbank police department / Diana Relth / Cindy Macias

OPaf is a project by Other Places, a 501 (c)(3) arts organization, and would be impossible without a grant from the Los Angeles Department of Arts & Culture, and the generosity of  Supervisor Janice Hahn, and viewers like you.

For more information please visit opaf.info or email opaf.info@opaf.info