Help us clear out our current used vinyl inventory to make room for a very exciting announcement that we’ll be making very soon.
Stay tuned.
All used vinyl on sale for 50 cents!
(except priced vinyl on the wall and 78 boxed sets)

If you haven’t been by the store recently (well, shame on you) and also you haven’t seen our new window display created by Jamie Russom (mooninjunepress.com), Marilyn Larios and Charlene Russell. It was done as a holiday display but this one is definitely going to stick around for much longer.
Here are a few teaser photos, [...]

Are you {open}’s facebook friend? Like this tree on {open}’s facebook page and we’ll give you 40% off all the used books in a single purchase until Christmas! Merry Christmas!

sept 23 // 8pm // $5
Fresh from their win at the Buskerfest, Wild Pack of Canaries will be bringing their infectious rhythms and grooves to {open}, with a stripped down, almost-acoustic version of themselves. Hence the new name, Mild Pack of Canaries.
Plus we are very proud to present Stephen Steinbrink from AZ. Check out some [...]

We occasionally get some beautiful street ’round these parts … this morning upon arriving I found this …

In addition to being a beloved part of 4th Street, Pete Toulios was a dear friend to us at {open}. We miss him greatly!

We’re featuring six new {open} t-shirt designs from six awesome {open} artists! From top left: Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs, Jeff Oonchitti, Gabo Gaete, Robert Pokorny, Greg Brown and Matt Maust.

Early pics are in from this amazing evening featuring some incredible musicians: Billy Corgan (vocals and guitar), Dave Navarro (guitar), Mike Byrne (drums), Mark Tulin (bass), Mark Weitz (keyboards), Kerry Brownon (percussion), Ysanne Spevak (violin), Linda Strawberry (backing vocals), and Kevin Dippold (flute and mandolin). Thanks for rocking our bookstore!

… for readers who like to explore the unknown—whether in fiction or Holly-weird—Long Beach’s {open} bookstore is the place to discover some fascinating, uncharted avenues of the art and literary worlds.

“They all go together and it seems natural to have them all here in one place, spun up together.”

” … it takes a moment to see the face hidden within the shape of the man himself, one eye staring back at you in side profile.”

As part of our five-year anniversary, we’ve created an evolving art installation: the story of {open}. Show your {open} love: buy a page in our story!

Please join us Saturday, September 27 for Last Saturday and our opening reception for Transitions, paintings by Robert Pokorny.
 Saturday’s opening reception features:
• Transitions, a series of 13 original paintings (cel-vinyl acrylic on wood panel)
• prints from Robert’s series The Red Zone: In The Zone, The Sipper, Daddy Long Legs and Mind Body & Soul
• a [...]

Retro Row Features Evening Of Art

By Julian Bermudez /Gazette Arts Writer

Last Saturday turned out to be a successful art night for Fourth Street’s “Retro Row.” Throngs of artists, musicians, gallerists and the public-at-large took part in an evening filled with art, entertainment, food, drink and dance.

First on the list was Open.

Check out a great video of Castledoor performing here at {open} for the What It Is: What It Is book release party on May 10, 2008. Posted by The Market.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoowdIc6V9g[/youtube]

{open} is pleased to present SOUND! from LA artist Andy Carey.

SOUND! features a series of pieces inspired by the music of The Beatles, the Chemical Brothers, Portishead and other. In his work, Carey uses wooden discs to create a dotted texture that evokes the pop culture portraits of Roy Lichtenstein and a 3-D canvas that [...]

An Evening of Poetry with Frank X. Gaspar
saturday, april 26 // 8pm // $7 (pre-sale only)
It’s April, so it’s National Poetry Month and we’re celebrating the medium accordingly with not one, but two (!) poetry events. Our second evening of poetry will turn its ear to Frank X. Gaspar, an accomplished poet and novelist [...]

the {open} 4th st. anniversary party
saturday, april 12 // 7-10pm // free (RSVP only)
Can you believe it? It’s been a whole YEAR since we moved to our new digs here on 4th St.! We opened “new” {open} on April 8, 2007, with a tooth-chippingly awesome performance from poet Derrick Brown and The Blank [...]

“Camera Eye”
Polaroid photography from artist Marleah Tobin
opening reception // saturday, mar 29 // 6-9pm // free

Marleah Tobin’s work is unplanned, unchoregraphed and unscripted, what she calls “a left-hand path to digitization.”
Her goal is to capture an image as it happens, “the way your youth was captured. Tangible, visceral, but simultaneously dreamlike.Things immortalized not [...]

we’ve got a sounds are active show on the 16th, two performers and a short film on 3rdThurs (the 20th) and a new art show opening on Last Saturday (the 29th).
Check back soon for details …. or join our mailing list and get ‘em in your inbox.

When the veteran bookstore clerks debuted their business in November 2003, they vowed to create a meeting place that would host more than mere author signings. They wanted to schedule events that would make nightclub owners jealous.

Come check out the amazing Matt Maust show and take in a performance by We Barbarians at 7pm. Five other art receptions will be taking place along Fourth for the first of the new series Last Saturdays on 4th!

Check out our three kickin’ posters for January:
1. For 3rdThurs, done by Scott “Madman” Petersen
2. For Last Saturday, done by Matt Maust
3. For The Year Zero/Yellow Fever show, done by someone whose name we don’t have at the moment.

Saturday, December 8 // 8pm // FREE

For five years, Chris Shlarb has been creating a piece of music. That creation has emerged as Twilight & Ghost Stories, a dense, forty minute, modern composition featuring the contributions of more than 30 musicians and composers from the avant-garde, folk, jazz and electronic communities. [...]

Check out this amazing video story made by Long Beach photographer Russ Roca. It’s from our event with Davy and Peter Rothbart from Found on November 5 and it’s a perfect example of why you should never miss another {open} event! =)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU2VSaYrtFY[/youtube]

- Readings from a Burning Shore
- Writers in Residence
upcoming at {open}
- if{open} anniversary celebration + art show
- Found magazine (the crime issue)

__________________________________________________________

this week at {open}

Readings from a Burning Shore
Friday, October 26 // 8:30 p.m. // free

It’s a fitting week for “Reading [...]

Wow!
Did you miss us? We sure missed you! We had some cool things going on over the past few weeks that we wanted to tell you about … two amazing poets read new work last Saturday evening and dublab broadcast live from Open all day Tuesday.
We hope you wandered into the store and happened on [...]

You know how you like cool things? Well, on Sunday, we’ll have a whole bunch of cool things in, during the Handmade Sale by whoodini handmade at {open}!
All sorts of knicks and knacks, plus bags, accessories and more. And, not to forget, we’re in the midst of a FORTY PERCENT OFF SALE.
Come get cool things [...]

come visit our new location at:
2226 e. 4th street (between cherry & junipero)
in the heart of Retro Row
re-opening april 17th

 
That’s right. as of April 2007
                     {open}’s NEW LOCATION IS:
2226 E. 4th. St. // Long Beach, 90802
                       (between Cherry & Junipero)
                             in the heart of Retro Row
Stay Tuned for More Details.
                                
                                                            - {open}
 

Yes, the 3rd annual SoundWalk is here to arrouse your ears and excite your eyes. Not to be missed. There are also 3 nights of performances surrounding the event. All details below:
SoundWalk2006

Saturday, October 7th
5-10pm // free
East Village Arts District,
Downtown Long Beach

For more info:
www.soundwalk.org
562.499.6736

SoundWalk2006 Participants:

Aaron Drake / Alan & Carolyn Lechusza / Albert Ortega / Alessandro [...]

“Atlas EVAD”
new work by Glenn Bach
Long Beach artist Glenn Bach presents “Atlas EVAD,” the most recent project in his extended Atlas series. Over the summer of 2006, Bach walked and investigated the East Village Arts District in downtown Long Beach, California
 
 
Using drawings, photographs, found texts, and sounds, Bach has created a multi-faceted portrait of [...]

artist: j.frede
show: gray rooms 
august 26 – september 24

Los Angeles based artist j.frede presents Gray Rooms, a collection of new works based on the Beat Generation. frede is a multi-disciplinary artist and this show represents his work in the photography, sound sculpture and print, following the conceptual boundaries set in reference to the location in which [...]

Jamie Hammel-Russom 
Floating Shift   
Mixed Media
 

June 24 - August 22 
Opening Reception July 29, 6 to 10pm
w/ an acoustic set by VAVAK @ 9pm 
info: 
Equally balanced with current forward thinking trends and his origins of eclectic gritty-beach soul, VAVAK is finding a niche within the diverse sounds of Long Beach, California. From the city that gave us Snoop Dogg, [...]

Thomas Lee Bakofsky
Thirty-two Ounces
Mixed Media

May 27 – June 20
Opening Reception May 27, 6 to 10pm
::light refreshments and DJ ::

More on the artist at: www.bakofsky.com

Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page puts the campaign in Newark into context with what is going on across the country. Find out why Cory Booker, Barak Obama and other younger leaders look like signs of the changing times. MORE

Join {open} SATURDAY NIGHT for Popcorn & Politics!
{open} is screening the Academy-Award nominated documentary STREET FIGHT.
(see below [...]

hello! if you’re seeing this post, it’s because you have come while we are futzing around with the next stage of thestoryofopen.com.
we are experiementing with ways to make is easier to keep you up to date on all things {open}.
come see our current show featuring illustrative work by margie darrow-stretz (margiemargie.com).