ANNUAL WALKING TOUR OF ARTISTS’ STUDIOS

If you get lost, look for the “Molecule Men at 3014769.”

Jonathan Borofsky’s futuristic image serves as the logo for Art Walk ‘87--a walking tour of Venice artists’ studios--and for pink T-shirts worn by hosts of the May 31 tour.

About 60 artists, ready to show and tell, are expected to open their studios during the eighth annual event. More than 250 contemporary artworks also will be on exhibit and up for sale in a silent auction. All Art Walk proceeds benefit the Venice Family Clinic.

“Generally, one see’s art in a very pristine gallery and you view it on your own,” explains Art Walk chairwoman Sheila Goldberg. “Here, you view it through the eyes of the artists, in the environment in which they created it.

“It also gives people an opportunity to see Venice in a different way,” Goldberg says. “Behind a lot of boarded-up walls, set in quiet little back streets, you see all this creative work going on in unexpected places. . . . It’s a real relaxed, casual day, you wander at your own pace. That’s what makes it fun.”

Art Walk ‘87, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will comprise two types of tours: One is a $35 self-guided tour of 43 studios belonging to such artists as Peter Alexander, Laddie John Dill, Martha Alf, Ruth Weisberg, George Stone, John Okulick and Anne Pixley.

The other trek, at $75, will be led by docents discussing of the work of another 15 artists including Eric Orr, Don Bachardy and D.J. Hall. Among docents are Josine Ianco-Starrels, head curator at the Long Beach Museum of Art, Al Nodal, director of Otis/Parsons Art Institute’s art gallery, and Anne Ayres, associate curator at the Newport Harbor Art Museum.

Both tours will begin at Westminster School, 1010 W. Washington Blvd., Venice. Tickets will be sold at the school or may be bought in advance from the Venice Family Clinic at (213) 392-8630.

Live music in some artists’ studios and at Westminster School will create “a constant show,” Goldberg says. “There’s also going to be video art playing continuously at one venue.”

One-hour historical tours of Venice, its canals and murals, will also be offered at Art Walk ’87. A benefit dinner with dancing and entertainment will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Filmland Corporate Center. The $200 dinner ticket includes the self-guided art tour.

The Venice Family Clinic is a free primary health care facility serving the homeless and working poor. Art Walk ’87 may be made on foot, though bus transportation is also offered. Goldberg said Art Walk ’86 attracted 4,500 participants.

IT’S OUT IN THE OPEN: The Museum of African American Art, on Crenshaw Boulevard, has used the Crenshaw District’s redevelopment project as a springboard for its current exhibition.

“Art in Public Places” features six artists’ proposals, represented by blue prints and models, for projects they have imagined for a new mall to be built by Haagen Development. The firm has not formally commissioned any works.

Artists in the exhibit--Elizabeth Catlett, Mel Edwards, Maren Hassinger, Richard Hunt, Masayuki Oda and George Smith--have also contributed models, photographs and drawings of public art installations they have created around the country.

“Art in Public Places, the Process,” a May 30 symposium, will also feature the artists, plus an architect, a developer and a representative from the Community Redevelopment Agency. Panelists will attempt to “break down the myths about how artworks go from an artist’s studio through the bureaucratic process and into the public domain,” says Douglas Humble, museum registrar/preparator.

“A lot of people in the community feel disenfranchised from art that appears in public, in a park, in front of a building, or wherever,” Humble says.

The symposium costs $5 and runs from 1 to 5 p.m. Reservations are suggested: (213) 294-7071. The exhibit ends Aug. 31.

The Museum of African American Art holds its annual Art-Auction Benefit Dinner at 5 tonight at the Stouffer Concourse Hotel. The public is invited to watch Ed Bradley, of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” auction artworks by Artis Lane, Vera Johnson, John Outterbridge, Stanley Wilson, Ruth Waddy, Sandra Rowe and others. Artist Richmond Barthe will be honored at the dinner. Proceeds from the event benefit the museum. For tickets, at $175 each, call (213) 294-7071.

PICTURE THIS: Constance Glenn, director of the University Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach, has been named recipient of the 1987 California Museum of Photography Members’ Award. The award is given annually by the members’ board of the California Museum of Photography for outstanding contributions and achievements in the field of photography.

For 15 years, Glenn has curated photographic exhibitions “of consistently high quality, and was among the first Southern California curators to pay such attention to the medium,” says a statement from the California Museum of Photography.

Meanwhile, the museum prepares to move from its UC Riverside site to the center of downtown Riverside. Dorothy Evans, a museum spokeswoman, gives October, 1988, as a projected relocation date. The new museum site will have five times its predecessor’s gallery space, she says.

AND THE ENVELOPE PLEASE: Project proposals by four Santa Barbara artists have won them the chance to create artworks for Artseen II, a public art competition and exhibition sponsored by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Each winner--Ruth Butler, Colin Gray and Michael Graham for site-specific sculptures and Betty Walberg for an environmental dance piece--will receive a $1,000 cash prize and $500 for production materials and technical support.

Selecting the winners from about 500 Santa Barbara County artists was a three-member jury made up of George Muro, art department chairman at Hancock College in Santa Maria, Paul C. Mills, former director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and Susan Larsen, associate art history professor at USC and critic for Artforum and Art News magazines.

The Artseen II exhibition will take place simultaneously in two outdoor Santa Barbara county sites, the sculpture garden area near the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and at the Cook Street entrance to the mall in Santa Maria. The series opens at both sites on June 6, with new segments scheduled to follow June 13, 20 and 27. Information: (805) 963-4364.