LACMA rock keeps the party rolling in Long Beach's Bixby Knolls

Long Beach's Bixby Knolls district rocked out Wednesday -- quite literally. Its rock/block party for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's 340-ton boulder was a big success.

The event, which started at noon, had already drawn 15,000 to 20,000 people as of 4 p.m., said Michael Clements, who is Councilman James Johnson's chief of staff.

"This is like First Fridays, but relocated down the street," Clements said, referring to the community's monthly art, music and shopping showcase. "Bixby Knolls is the center of the arts community for Long Beach, and we wanted to celebrate it."

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

The carnival-like atmosphere included sidewalk musicians, pop-up art installations and crafts for kids such as -- not surprisingly -- rock painting. Street artists painted wildly different renditions of the rock and its custom bright red transporter. The boulder eventually will be the centerpiece of Michael Heizer's outdoor sculpture "Levitated Mass" at LACMA.

One highlight was a more than 10-foot-high stilt walker, dressed as a Swiss mountain climber. As he lumbered down the sidewalk, towering over the crowd of rock rubberneckers, he bellowed: "I am Klaus. And I think the rock is not so tall!"

The much-publicized boulder, resting in a steel sling on its 200-foot transporter, enjoyed a prime parking spot smack in the middle of Atlantic Avenue. Gawkers streamed by on both sides of the street, snapping pictures and shooting video.

MAP: Follow the route

Businesses such as the Bake n Broil on Atlantic were appreciatively swamped. Hostess Brooke Lapierre said foot traffic today was "ridiculously crazy."

Meanwhile, local artist Douglas Orr, owner of Long Beach's Gallery Expo, said he thought Heizer's art project was cool, but he also balked at its $10-million price tag.

"I would've made them a rock for $1 million," he said.

Emmert International, the company handling transportation of the boulder,
said everything was on schedule for the monolith to take off at 10 p.m. Wednesday. It will travel on Atlantic, then Ocean Boulevard, and it will cross the L.A. River on a bridge at Pacific Coast Highway. It is slated to arrive at LACMA early Saturday morning.

Culture Monster will be riding with the rock caravan, live tweeting throughout Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Follow the tweets here.

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-- Deborah Vankin

Twitter.com/@debvankin

Photo: Block party participants dance on the sidewalk in front of the LACMA rock in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

LACMA's boulder is drawing crowds in downtown Bixby Knolls

The massive transporter hauling the 340-ton boulder wrapped in plastic that eventually will be the centerpiece of Michael Heizer's outdoor sculpture "Levitated Mass" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is parked until Wednesday night in a commercial strip of Bixby Knolls, a Long Beach neighborhood just up Atlantic Avenue from the 405 Freeway.

The massive transporter takes up the center two lanes of the four-lane street. The boulder hits the road at 10 p.m., headed for Vermont Avenue north of Carson Street. 

Meanwhile a block party, extended until 7 p.m., is under way.

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

At lunchtime there was a DJ, a live band, food trucks, a taco stand, a booth selling T-shirts ("Bixby Knolls Got Rocked"), street artists spray-painting on cardboard sheets, several TV cameras, many still cameras, lots of cellphone cameras, a makeshift table display labeled "Pop Art" (stacked cans of Rockstar Energy Drink), some buskers, dogs on leashes (including mine), pontificating actors from a local theater, plenty of security guards, plenty of slowly moving traffic (although no actual traffic jams) and a steady stream of hundreds -- no, probably a few thousand -- looky-loos filing along the crowded sidewalks.

The boulder, quietly suspended within the transporter's industrial cradle amid the hubbub, seemed positively petite.

LACMA's rock gets its own block party in Long Beach

Some neighborhoods throw block parties. On Wednesday, the Bixby Knolls neighborhood of Long Beach is throwing a rock party. And the area is going all-out.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s 340-ton boulder –- on an 11-day trip from Riverside County to the mid-Wilshire museum –- currently is parked in the middle of the road on Atlantic Avenue, between 36th  and 37th streets.

The local business association is throwing an all-out, carnival-like party for the rock Wednesday, complete with river rock painting, stilt walkers and a DJ playing at Patricia’s Mexican Restaurant (first song? Queen’s "We Will Rock You," of course.)

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

The party was originally planned for noon to 4 p.m.; but the massive boulder -– resting in a steel sling on its football field-length transporter -- has become such an attraction that festivities have been extended until 7 p.m. Scores of locals and other gawkers have been stopping by on their way to work, and five groups of schoolchildren have already come through on field trips this morning, says the museum.

L.A.’s newest “rock star,” which will soon become part of artist Michael Heizer’s massive sculpture for the museum, “Levitated Mass,” is now more than halfway through its circuitous 105-mile journey. On its most recent leg, it set off at 10 p.m. sharp Tuesday and traveled from South Street and Palo Verde Avenue in Lakewood to its current location in Long Beach.

MAP: Follow the route

The entire 6-mile stretch took just three hours to complete -– it's the fastest that the unwieldy, 100+-person rock caravan has traveled yet. The crew from Emmert International turned in early Wednesday, at 1 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. as planned.

The monolith will pull out of Long Beach at 10 p.m. Wednesday, at which point it will travel along Atlantic Avenue and Ocean Boulevard. It will cross the Los Angeles River on a bridge at Pacific Coast Highway. The Long Beach stint is the most populated, urban stretch of the rock's journey so far -- with far more utilities, such as power lines and traffic lights, to be maneuvered for a clear passage.

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Photo: Children gather at the LACMA boulder's Lakewood stop. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

The LACMA rock: The overnight run to Long Beach

The 340-ton boulder winding its way through the Southland to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will be hitting the streets of Long Beach Tuesday night, and folks there are ready to party.

Local business leaders are throwing a bash in Bixby Knolls to welcome the monolith, the centerpiece of "Levitated Mass," a work by artist Michael Heizer that will be installed on the grounds of the county museum near its Resnick Pavilion.

"We’ve had crowds at every stop, and a lot of people have been following it the whole way," said LACMA spokeswoman Miranda Carroll.

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

The boulder arrived at its latest pit stop, along Palo Verde Avenue in Lakewood, early Tuesday morning and heads to Long Beach starting around 10 p.m. The rock, cradled in a mammoth trailer of heavy-duty steel girders, will spend Wednesday on Atlantic Avenue, between 36th Street and 37th Street.

The boulder’s 105-mile journey to LACMA began last week in Riverside, where the giant chunk of granite was blasted out of the earth at a quarry in the Jurupa Mountains. The rock is scheduled to arrive at the museum on Saturday.

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Photo: The rock back at the quarry, being prepared for the trip. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times.

LACMA rock's week begins smoothly

Sunday night marked the fifth night of travel for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s “big rock,” as it’s been dubbed. The 340-ton, near-two story high granite boulder, now well on its way to the museum to become the focal point of artist Michael Heizer’s landmark sculpture “Levitated Mass,” is now a seasoned veteran of the SoCal roads.

The monolith traveled 11 miles on Sunday night, setting off from Pathfinder Road near Fullerton Road in Rowland Heights a little after 10 p.m., and ending up in the city of La Mirada about 5 a.m. Monday morning.

This most recent stretch of its long, circuitous 105-mile journey from Riverside County to the Mid-Wilshire museum went off without a hitch. The more than 100-person rock caravan traveled along Colima Road, which has fewer sharp turns and steep hills -- cumbersome for the boulder’s 200 foot long transporter -- than on previous nights.

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

The transporter is now parked at Leffingwell Road, just west of La Mirada Boulevard, where it will sit for the day.  It sets off Monday night at roughly 10 p.m. headed for the city of Lakewood, where it will park early Tuesday morning.

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--Deborah Vankin

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Photo: The rock for Michael Heizer's "Levitated Mass" during its 11-night journey. Credit: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times

The LACMA Rock: the weekend report

Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s in-transit boulder –- now four nights into its 105-mile journey from Riverside County to the Mid-Wilshire museum –- pulled a double shift of sorts last night.

The most recent driving stint took 4 1/2 hours longer than expected, and the unwieldy, near 100-person rock caravan found itself inching along Pathfinder Boulevard, in Rowland Heights, in the light of day Saturday morning.

The rock was supposed to reach its destination at Pathfinder Road near Fullerton Road around 5 a.m. Saturday, but difficulties traversing several hills last night put the rock behind schedule, the museum said. Additional “push and pull trucks” were needed to guide the transporter up and down the steep hills. And at each juncture, the position of the trucks needed to be reconfigured, which further slowed things down.

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

The rock is supposed to travel exclusively at night, on roads closed to traffic, from about 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning. But at 4:30 a.m. Saturday, a decision was made between Emmert International, who’s handling the move, California Highway Patrol and Caltrans to continue driving through the morning until the rock reached its planned destination at Pathfinder Road. It was decided that on this particular stretch of the journey, Pathfinder was the safest and least invasive place to turn in for the day. So the rock caravan continued onward into the morning.

MAP: Follow the route

The transporter parked at 9:30 a.m. One museum representative said there were minor traffic backups for a block or two along Pathfinder, heading west behind the transporter. But Emmert International’s Terry Emmert said traffic on Pathfinder was light Saturday morning, and that the transporter didn’t cause significant traffic delays.

The rock, on its 200-foot long transporter, will remain at its current location until Sunday night, when it will resume its trip at roughly 10 p.m.

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Photo: The boulder for Michael Heizer's sculpture "Levitated Mass" during a daytime stop earlier this week. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

The $10-million LACMA rock caravan stops a few miles short

LACMA's massive boulder successfully completed its third night on the road Thursday into Friday with no major glitches, something that continues to amaze observers considering the thicket of logistical challenges involved with moving a 340-ton rock across 105 miles.

Still, Thursday night's stretch of the journey proved a tad more complicated than expected. The rock was scheduled to stop at Chino Avenue and Chino Hills Parkway in Diamond Bar for its daytime break.  But the rearranging of power lines so that the boulder could pass through slowed things down. The rock caravan turned in for the night a little after 3 a.m., two miles short of its intended destination.

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

The transporter hasn't yet crossed into Diamond Bar. It's now sitting at Chino Avenue at the 71 freeway.

The unplanned stopping point is not an ideal spot for pedestrian visits, as there's very little safe parking. So the museum is encouraging people  inclined to visit the rock to wait until Saturday. The rock will spend the weekend parked at Pathfinder Road in Rowland Heights, near Fullerton Road. It will not travel Saturday night, so it will remain there until late Sunday night.

The caravan will resume its slow crawl toward the museum Friday, at roughly 10 p.m.

As has been widely publicized by now, for 11 nights the granite rock is being transported from a Riverside quarry to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where it will soon become the focal point of artist Michael Heizer's sculpture "Levitated Mass."

MAP: Follow the route

On average, it has been traveling four to five miles an hour, with dozens of Emmert International workers, in glowing vests, traveling on foot behind it.

The entire project –- the art rock, construction of its sculptural site and the move –- will cost upward of $10 million in private donations; LACMA paid $70,000 to the quarry for the rock alone.

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Photo: Workers move power lines for LACMA's rock caravan. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

The big LACMA rock is a draw as it spends the day in Ontario

The 340-ton boulder traveling from Riverside to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art continued to be a big crowd pleaser Thursday on the second pit spot of its 105-mile journey, this time in Ontario.
Gawkers trickled in throughout the morning to take a peek at the massive rock, the centerpiece of "Levitated Mass," a work by artist Michael Heizer that will be installed on the grounds of the county museum near its Resnick Pavilion.

“This is just a once-in-a-lifetime thing. How often do you see something like this?" asked Terry Kuntz, 54, a seamstress from neighboring Upland. “I’m definitely taking my kids to see it when it gets to L.A."

MAP: Follow the route

The rock pulled into a dirt lot west of the Ontario International Airport runway, just off Mission Boulevard, around 10 p.m. on its second leg of the trip. The rock travels only at night. The mammoth, wide-load trailer hauling the granite monolith made the 8-mile trek from its first stop in Glen Avon “without a hitch,’’ said LACMA spokeswoman Erin Wright.

PHOTOS: Giant rock rolling toward LACMA

“Everything just went beautifully last night. All they had to do was move some street signs, and things like that," said Wright.

On the road with LACMA's big rock, minute by minute

After months of delays, a massive rock heading to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art got underway Tuesday night. The 340-ton granite boulder and its caravan are weaving their way from a quarry in Riverside to the midtown museum.

The 105-mile journey is expected to take 11 days -- nights actually, as the traveling will be done between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

MAP: Follow the route

The giant boulder eventually will be the focal point of artist Michael Heizer's  landmark sculpture, "Levitated Mass," on the grounds of LACMA.

During the first leg, the caravan traveled 4 to 5 mph, with dozens of workers from Emmert International, the company handling transportation of the boulder, traveling on foot behind the rock. It has stopped for the day in the town of Glen Avon.

Joining the first leg was Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Vankin, who live-tweeted from the scene until early Wednesday. Here, for those who were not following in the middle of the night, is a recap of her tweets and photos.

 

 

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Photo: Mark Albrecht of Emmert International, the company handling the transportation of 340-ton boulder checks it out on its first stop in Glen Avon. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

LACMA's 'Big Rock': A report from its first night on the road

LACMA’s “Big Rock,” as it’s been dubbed, is now enjoying the Big Sleep. It’s currently parked in a field by the side of the road at Mission Boulevard and Bellegrave Avenue in Glen Avon, having successfully completed the first stretch of its 11-night journey from a Riverside County quarry to the Mid-Wilshire museum. The launch went surprisingly smoothly.

The 340-ton granite boulder –- which will soon form the centerpiece of artist Michael Heizer’s enormous, landmark sculpture “Levitated Mass” -- embarked on its painfully slow, 105-mile journey a little after 10:40 p.m. Tuesday. On average, it traveled 4 to 5 miles an hour, with dozens of Emmert International workers, in glowing CHP vests, traveling on foot behind it.