The Whole Month Is a Work of Art

If you consider art a Sunday experience, a way to relax and get out of the house on your day of rest, we’ve got a whole month of Sundays for you in October.

In fact, so many activities are planned for Long Beach’s monthlong arts extravaganza, we don’t have the space to get philosophical here, or make bad jokes.

Put together by the Public Corporation for the Arts and sponsored by businesses and individuals, October Is Arts Month starts Friday.

Steven Sondheim’s musical comedy “Company” opens at the Long Beach Civic Light Opera. The Hall of Frame on Broadway opens an exhibit of work by local artists Sarah Arnold, Judith Brody, Trace Fukuhara, John Montich and Alice Foss-Thorne. And the South Bay Contemporary Museum II presents a show juried by Manuel O’Campo, titled “Anti-Cultural Day of the Dead,” an interpretation of the Mexican holiday through the eyes of artists from different ethnic backgrounds.

Take a breath. We didn’t include all of Friday (like the California Repertory Company’s production of “Hamlet” at Cal State Long Beach), and we haven’t yet started Saturday. One of the most popular events of years past returns Saturday with the seventh Long Beach Art Expedition, a self-guided tour through private artists’ studios and alternative exhibition sites. This event costs $8 if you buy tickets in advance, $10 if you dally. It begins at 9 a.m. at the FHP Hippodrome Gallery at 628 Alamitos Ave.

That same evening, you can take in the sixth annual Day of Music in downtown Long Beach. There will be blocked-off streets, lots of bands, and it lasts until 2 a.m. The headliner is Rudy Regalado and Chevere, the Los Angeles-based salsa band, performing at Birdland West.

You want more? On Saturday you can also take in the Anaheim International Street Festival, next to MacArthur Park on Anaheim Street, see a demonstration of printmaking at the Long Beach Museum of Art or visit the Long Beach Bach Festival, being performed at the First Christian Church, 440 Elm St.

More? You are a glutton. Sunday, there is a Celebration of the Arts in East Village--that’s downtown near Linden Avenue and Elm Street--with musicians, singers, dancers and a mural creation. Also, artist Daniel Martinez’s solo show, “Day of the Dead--Second Sight”, opens at the United Nations shop. Then there is a home tour, a production of the musical “Annie” and an opening of works by Ecuadorean artist Herman Villazicencio.

Look, your best bet is to call the Public Corporation for the Arts at (310) 983-3820 and ask them for a schedule of events.

We’re just not up to all this relaxation.