Los Angeles River, Hyperion Bridge. | Photo: Daniel Medina.

Come one, come all for 51 miles and 51 weeks of play on the mighty LA River starting September 13, 2014. Join Play the LA River to explore, enjoy, reclaim, and reimagine the river as a grand civic space that can green and connect our communities.

Early one morning just outside the Los Angeles River Center, a crowd of about forty or fifty gathered around the baseball-capped Jenny Price, eager to experience the 51-mile Los Angeles River in person.

But first, a question is raised, "How many people have been on the Los Angeles River?" At times, a few hands rise, hesitantly. At others, none. After years and years of bringing people on her Los Angeles River tours, Price had yet to reach critical mass, it seems.

"It just felt to me that every time I had these forty or fifty people on the LA river tours, none of them really knew where it was," says Price, "Even though there's a $1 billion revitalization going on, if you stop someone randomly on the street, they wouldn't know what's going on. I felt that even with all this activity, policy, planning, and re-engineering, the public knowledge isn't there really."

Though an indelible part of Los Angeles history, its river occupies a strange space in the minds of Angelenos. Like a mythical creature, many people have heard of it, but hardly anyone has ever really seen it.

Los Angeles River, Glendale Narrows. | Photo: Daniel Medina.

Two years ago, Price sent out a few invitations to colleagues in the hopes of changing that unfortunate circumstance. Price's invitation was to form Project 51, an artist collaborative around increasing awareness of the Los Angeles River. The result? Play the LA River a yearlong public art and community project that hopes to push the Los Angeles River into the forefront of the regular Angeleno's mind.

Project 51 is composed of John Arroyo, Barron Bixler, Allison Carruth, Amanda Evans, Catherine Gudis & Price. This team is joined by a programming and outreach group, which includes Erika Barbosa, Lila Higgins, Kat Superfisky, Allison Wyper & Natale Zappia.

At first glance, Play the LA River is deceptively simple. It centers on a deck of cards. Created with the Los Angeles River in mind, the deck of cards will be available for free after September 13 at the LA River Center & Gardens (570 W Avenue 26 #475, Los Angeles) and at UCLA's Humanities Building (415 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles).

Each deck consists of four suits (or neighborhoods): the Valley, the Glendale Narrows, Downtown and South. In every suit, thirteen sites in the neighborhood are highlighted. Extra wild cards designed separately by Leo Limon, Judy Baca, Christine Nguyen and the Ulysses Guide to the Los Angeles River are also included, highlighting an important site off the river.

Every card includes, an aerial map of the area; bubbles that call out important information about the area; specific features such as murals, kayak zones, fishing spots; and finally lighthearted suggestions on how to interact with that site.

The headwaters card, for example, tells players this site is where two concrete creeks converge, built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The card highlights the nearby schools, non-profits along with scenic spots in the area. "With each card, we want to give people a sense that this is place on the river and in Los Angeles," explains Price.

It doesn't stop there. The card also cheekily suggests players sing Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" in homage to the location's significance. Though Project 51 doesn't expect people to burst out into song, its playful attitude encourages Angelenos to have fun with the river and to take ownership of what's around them. "The beauty of play is that it can take so many forms. So the river becomes this 51-mile-long blank grey canvas for the collective imagination of a city, of many cities," says Barron Bixler, a documentary photographer and designer and Project 51 co-founder, "There's no right way or wrong way to play. We just want people to embrace a sense of fun and adventure, get out there and experience it for themselves."