More than 20 artists have signed up to be included on the studio tour. Three shuttle buses will transport festival participants between the studios and galleries or visitors can pick up a map and tour on their own. Call NancyLissaman at 481-0142 for more tour details

Artists who want to be included in the professional exhibition have until Sept. 10 to submit their slides or photos to Echo Park Artists Festival, 1539 Parmer Ave., LA, CA 90026. Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of materials. The show, which will run on Oct. 10 & 11, will be curated by artist OliviaSanchez Brown.

KatrinaAlexy and her crew are busy spreading the word at local schools about the student art exhibition and art workshops. The exhibition is open to students in k-12. The student exhibition group is approaching local arts stores and business who would like to contribute art supplies or services that will be give away as prizes. If you would like to volunteer, call Katrina at 662-6083.

Master muralist ErnestoDe La Loza has identified a wall on Mohawk Street and Sunset Boulevard that will serve as the site for the festival mural. Call Ernesto at 484-1272 to get involved in mural project.

They still need a lot of help on the day of the festival. You can serve as neighborhood tour guide on a shuttle bus or gallery sit. Please call (213) 250-4155 to find out how you can get involved.

The most notable feature of the intersection of Echo Park and Morton avenues used to be Magic Gas station. Now, the same area is emerging as the neighborhood’s gallery row. By late September, three galleries are expected to be open in side-by-side store fronts on Echo Park Avenue. Joining Ojala Fine Arts & Crafts, which opened in May, will be Delirium Tremens (look it up), at 1553 Echo Park Ave. Owners AaronDonovan and PattyCastillo will open their space in early September with a group exhibition featuring the paintings and drawings of VanArno, StaceyLande, JohnParra and JasonKraus.

Next door, MerrickMorton, RobinBlackman and KatrinaAlexy are ripping out walls and restoring historical features as they prepare to open Fototeka, an exhibition space for the photographic arts. They are planning a late September opening. Call 661-5563 for more information. All three exhibition spaces are scheduled to participate in a Eastside Gallery tour on Thursday Sept. 24 and Friday Sept. 25, when about a dozen art venues in Echo Park, Silver Lake and Los Feliz will be open from 5 PM to 11 PM.

An exhibition featuring the photography of DellaRossa will be held during the month of August at The Perfect Exposure in Los Angeles. The Day They Killed Ruben Salazar includes photos from Della’s book on the death of the Los Angeles journalist on August 29, 1970. The sow opens with a 7 PM reception at Friday, Aug. 7. The Perfect Exposure is located at 3501 W. Sixth St. Call 213-381-1136 for more info. Paintings by NancyLisssaman and ZohrehPartovi will be on exhibition at Ojala Fine Arts & Crafts, 1547 Echo Park Ave., during the month of August. The opening reception included a performance by Echo Park musician DevinSarno.

In September, WilliamNettles will exhibit his photographs at Ojala as part of a historical exhibition and debut of a new book–Ghosts of Echo Park–on local history. The opening reception and book signing will take place on Saturday, Sept. 5. Call 250-4155 for more information. Painter CooperTomlinson was part of the Mad River Post Summer Collection exhibition in Santa Monica. Photographer MartinCox is included in the LA NUDE VI exhibition at Photo Impact–931 N. Citrus Ave.– in Hollywood. The show runs through Sept. 18. KatrinaAlexy and HillaryMushkin were part of the most recent show in the While You Wait Series at the Hollywood Department of Motor Vehicle.

MerrickMorton’s photographs from a recent trip to Cuba were included in a group exhibition titled Not So Distant Lands at George’s in Los Feliz. Paintings by PatssiValdez and an installation by EricaSuderberg were included in the COLA: 1997-98 Individual Artists Grants show at the Municipal Art Gallery at the Barnsdall Art Park. Patssi and Erica were among the 12 artists exhibited in the May-June show who received $10,000, unrestricted grants from the city.