What does an art tour that once filled more than 50 Northeast Los Angeles homes and studios look like when it fits into five stops?
You'll be able to see for yourself this Sunday, November 8. The Arroyo Arts Collective is bringing back its Discovery Tour under a new name, ART/FOUND. It's a one-day, self-guided driving tour and holiday art market with stops in historic private homes, artist studios and Avenue 50 Studio on Fig. According to Discover Los Angeles, it runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free. Artillery lists the same hours.
The details that matter for Sunday come from the tour's history. The tour now has far fewer locations than it used to, and all of them run through one small storefront at 3714 N. Figueroa St. That storefront became Avenue 50 Studio's home after the gallery moved from the building it had used for 25 years. A smaller tour and a smaller gallery have ended up sharing a starting line, and that changes how the day works.
Three Versions of the Same Sunday Drive
The Arroyo Arts Collective was founded in 1989 by artists, writers and performers who lived and worked in Highland Park, Mount Washington, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights and Eagle Rock. It started the Discovery Tour in 1993, at a time when the area had only one art gallery. Here's how the format has changed since then.
| Edition | Date | Format | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Discovery Tour | Yearly, 1993 through the 25th edition in 2017 | Open homes and studios across Northeast LA | 500 to 700 visitors, 50+ homes and studios, 70 to 120 artists each year |
| Discovery Tour Revival | Saturday, September 17, 2022, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | $15 ticket, only selected locations rather than open studios | Homes and galleries in Highland Park and Mount Washington |
| ART/FOUND | Sunday, November 8, 2026, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free, curated holiday art market | Avenue 50 Studio on Fig plus four other locations, about 40 artists |
The narrowing started in 2022. That year's revival page said the event was "not an Open Studio Tour as in the past." Instead, visitors went to a selected group of locations where participating artists had been placed. ART/FOUND keeps that model. The Collective's call for art described a curated event with limited space, open only to current Collective members. There was no application fee, and annual membership costs $25. Lisa Tomczeszyn coordinated the call. Artists could submit paintings, jewelry, textiles, assemblage, mixed media and handmade crafts, with two-dimensional work limited to 40 by 40 inches. At most stops, expect work you can take home this season, not museum-scale pieces.
The Collective's page lists the contributing artists by name. The list includes Raoul De La Sota, Iris Schneider, Katsu Yokoyama, Betty Wan Hamada, Heather McLarty and C. Michael Frey, who also painted this year's poster. The organizer hasn't published the other four addresses. You get the route on paper at the start, which means everyone begins at the same door.
The Starting Line Moved Down Figueroa
For a quarter century, that door was at 131 N. Avenue 50, just west of Figueroa. That's where the 2022 revival handed out its maps. Caló News reported that Avenue 50 Studio had been a cultural center for Northeast LA since 2000. It also reported that after a Notice to Vacate at the end of 2024, the gallery moved to a storefront where Highland Park meets Cypress Park and renamed itself Avenue 50 Studio on Fig. In the same article, founding executive and artistic director Kathy Gallegos described the new room this way:
"It's a smaller space, so we might not have as many exhibitions as in our old place and won't be able to host as many people. But it's ours, and I can't wait to mop the floor, paint the walls and open the doors to the community."
The new gallery's first show, Changes/Cambios, was scheduled to open March 8, 2025, Caló News reported. Some of its artists had shown at Avenue 50 in earlier years. The same piece notes that the Arroyo Arts Collective was one of the community groups the gallery hosted at its old address. The two organizations have shared rooms for a long time. On Sunday, the smaller storefront is where every route starts.
The gallery's stated mission is grounded in Latino and Chicano culture and focuses on artists who are underrepresented in mainstream galleries. That mission shapes the first room you'll walk into on Sunday.
What Is on the Walls When You Pick Up the Map
Visitors who come for a map on November 8 will be walking into Amor Eterno / Eternal Love, a group show curated by Rebeca Guerrero. It's named after Juan Gabriel's ballad and brings together 22 artists whose work deals with the bonds people keep with those they have lost. The show opens with Margaret Garcia's The Happy Couple, an oil painting of two skulls leaning toward each other. It continues through paintings, prints and altars by artists including Jose Antonio Aguirre, Will Loya, Sandra Posada and Tigre Fino. Lea Chavez made a community altar focused on suicide awareness and prevention.
Garcia's place on that wall has history. Caló News reported that she was the artist who walked Gallegos through getting a business license when the gallery was starting out, and she was among its early exhibitors. Suzanne Urquiza, who has work in Amor Eterno, is also on the ART/FOUND artist list as Suzanne Urquiza de la Cruz.
Amor Eterno runs through November 21. Regular gallery hours are Saturday through Thursday, 1 to 5 p.m., so you can come back on a weekday afternoon if Sunday is too crowded to take it all in.
Building Sunday Around One Address
The tour is designed for driving and starts at a single address, so the order you do things in matters.
- Get there close to 11 a.m. Pick up your map at 3714 N. Figueroa St. and spend some time with Amor Eterno before heading out.
- Visit the four other stops in the order the map gives. Some are historic private homes, so treat them as someone's house and stick to the rooms that are set up for showing work.
- Have a late lunch farther up Figueroa. Mokja, Yi Cha's Korean-inspired market café at 5715 N. Figueroa St., has a build-your-own ramen bar, grab-and-go banchan, sandwiches and café drinks. Resy reported in October that chef Debbie Lee was planning to bring back weekend brunch next door at Yi Cha.
- Finish your shopping before 4 p.m. ART/FOUND is described as a holiday art marketplace, and the whole thing lasts one afternoon.
If you have kids along, November 8 is also the last day of Bob Baker Marionette Theater's Hallowe'en Spooktacular in Highland Park, according to The Eastsider's Día de los Muertos guide. The theater's next show, A Holiday Wonderland Special, hosted by Demitrius Nova Twinklestar III, runs November 14 through January 17. Between ART/FOUND and that show, Highland Park's holiday season starts within a week.
Who Is Paying for the Comeback
Public money is helping bring the tour back. The Collective credits support from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the LA County Department of Arts and Culture and Creative Recovery LA. That initiative is funded through the American Rescue Plan and the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, administered by CalOSBA. The Collective calls this year's event the Discovery Tour Revival 2026, and it uses the same partner and the same map pickup model as 2022.
The first stop is 3714 N. Figueroa St., 11 a.m., Sunday, November 8.
If an afternoon in Northeast LA's historic homes leaves you thinking about the one you own, I'd be glad to talk about how to present its character when the time comes. I'm Nichole Dunville, and I'm always happy to talk about older homes and the people who care for them. Let's Connect.
