The Long Beach Antique Market brings together locals and newcomers to marvel over works of art, collectibles and unique trinkets.
The event takes place at Long Beach’s Veterans Stadium on the third Sunday of every month, from 5:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m..
A Long Beach city tradition since 1982, over 20 acres are dedicated to booths of entrepreneurs who show off their products to the public eye.
Long Beach local and antique market entrepreneur Julio Vazquez visits the stadium continuously to sell decorative road signs to men.
Vazquez explained that he gathers the road signs “Here, there, and everywhere,” while gesturing to his displayed pieces.
United States manufacturer and entrepreneur Roberto Vivar stood alongside Vazquez eager to promote his business, The Vivart Company.
The Vivart Company disassembles and reassembles ordinary objects into furniture, sculptures, and wagons.
As a self-taught wood and metal worker, Vivar learned to take advantage of market fairs because of his strong dislike of disregarding any object with potential use for transformation.
“I started off going to this swap meet looking for stuff, looking for junk and looking for weird things to repurpose,” said Vivar.
“It was one of those things where I started making wagons and going to shows like this and I met a museum curator and she had a show, so she offered me the opportunity to put items into there and I had never done anything like that before so it was pretty cool,” Vivar added.
Vivar’s wife, Gabriella Vivar, envisioned the design of the art while Vivar utilized his influence of cars to access parts for the sculpture.
Together the couple scouts the streets for any stray object that may play a part in whichever piece Vivar is constructing.
“We work together and both love rusty old metal junk stuff,”
“I help with the design and I’ll just grab parts that I like,” said Gabriella Vivar.
Vivar’s art has been exhibited in the San Diego Automotive Museum in 2018 and continues to grow in an exposure.