Need a fun and free activity to do in Long Beach, California, for your visit? Long Beach is a diverse city with lots to do. However, I want to give you something unique while you’re here. It will not only burn a few calories, but it’s Instagram worthy on all levels. Who doesn’t love art in an urban environment as only the LBC can deliver? I’m talking about Long Beach graffiti hunting!

Long Beach Graffiti

Graffiti is controversial across the globe. Is street art a real form of art? Do people find it offensive? Should the city paint over it? Things aren’t that different in Long Beach. However, Long Beach has discovered the power of great graffiti, and now it’s become a yearly event.

Although famous artists like Invader and Banksy have only touched the surface of Los Angeles. None have arrived in Long Beach, California. Graffiti, in general, is not fully recognized as an art form yet. Although its technically still illegal, several artists are making an excellent name for themselves in LA with this yearly graffiti art event.

I love my graffiti art, but I have yet to go graffiti hunting regularly. Something I need to start doing around my home. This will allow me to search for patterns and even artists with multiple murals around town.

I’ve gone graffiti hunting in Paris and Berlin. However, with the introduction of Pow! Wow! Long Beach, graffiti hunting around here can be a lot easier.

POW! WOW! Long Beach

Pow! Wow! Long Beach has turned our city into a beautiful artistic landscape of culture and art. Every year, for a week, many artists gather and create a stunning piece of artwork. Many Long Beach graffiti murals are walking distance from other paintings. It can easily become an urban treasure hunting game. Considering, you can use the map from Pow! Wow!’s website, which pinpoints the exact place of each mural (it even gives you the address and name of the artist,) discovering Long Beach has never been this much fun.

A Few Highlights

You might be thinking, “who cares?” Well, here are a few highlights. Upon downloading the map, you’ll notice most, if not all, of the graffiti murals, are in places you probably want to stroll by in Long Beach California anyway, so why not make it into a fun game.

The murals in Downtown Long Beach are located near shops and tasty restaurants. You also have The Pike Outlets for all your major shopping needs. There’s Pine avenue, which boasts many great restaurants and events throughout the year. You can also walk to Rainbow harbor to soak in some beautiful sights of the Queen Mary.

Opposite downtown you have Fourth Street, our vintage neighborhood. You’ll find an array of vintage shops and thrift stores along with great coffee houses to sit and enjoy some downtime.

Stroll through our gay neighborhood, or as we call it “The Gay Ghetto.” You can stop at some of the great murals nearby but also go bar hopping along Broadway as you do so.

The gay scene in Long Beach is hopping and there are many gay venues to choose from. More to come on which gay venues to hit in Long Beach California, but for now, check out last year’s post I did in collaboration with QVoiceNews.com!

Even if you’re just passing by and tired of looking for murals, you can walk to the beach and take a nap on our sand while getting a tan. How awesome is that?

The great thing about this is that it’s FREE! Long Beach can be what you want it to be. It can be your urban landscape or it can be a beach getaway. Since I prefer urban landscapes, I thought I would make sure you knew about all the Long Beach graffiti around town that’s worth checking out.

Things To Note

Sometimes these murals are painted over, making room for new ones. This means there might be a new mural when you’re in town. Take some pictures since this might be the only time you’ll see a particular one.

I’ll leave a current map and name and addresses of some of these murals just in case.

You might want to keep an eye out for murals and graffiti art created by other organizations and graffiti artists around town. Pow! Wow! is not the only game in town. There are many gorilla artists taking stencils to the streets and creating their own stunning works of art in our neighborhoods. Organizations also hire their own to paint a side of their building by local artists to bring a fresh new look to their building.

Let Me Break It Down For You:

Long Beach graffiti hunting is a great and free activity when you’re in town. I’ve done it myself and there are so many new murals I need to hunt down.

It’s free.

It’s a great way to see our city.

The murals are impressive.

Check out http://www.powwowlongbeach.com for more info and to download their most recent map.

Long Beach is a great Los Angeles suburb and this is just one of the ways you can get out and explore it.

If you’re looking for more hidden gems in Los Angeles check out this post of hidden gems across LA.

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