Thousands of artists, musicians and locals will...

Thousands of artists, musicians and locals will bump and grind, mix and mingle to the second annual Downtown Lives ’94 bash starting Friday.

Organized by the Downtown Arts Development Assn., the three-week event features paintings, sculptures, theater and dance performances by 500 artists.

Three warehouses at 1895 Bay Street, between 7th and 8th streets, have been converted to gallery space.

Performance arts--from poets to one-act plays to a multimedia presentation--will take place on weekends.

DADA, a group of artists who formed to promote the Downtown arts scene, is hoping to draw a more diverse crowd this year.

“There’s a larger general acceptance of the event by the arts and surrounding community,” said organizer James Mahaffey. “We have a larger participation by the Korean American and Japanese communities.”

Downtown Lives ‘94; exhibition hours: noon to 11 p.m. Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. Sundays . Friday’s opening reception will be from 7 p.m. to midnight. Admission is $2 ; information: (213) 625-3232.