The World Wall - A Vision Of The Future Without Fear At SPARC

The World Wall is another wonderful project conceived by artist Judy Baca, and SPARC held an opening last weekend to unveil the Canadian section of the wall.

The World Wall: A Vision of the Future Without Fear is a traveling installation mural that began in 1987 and is still in progress. Currently, the wall is made up of nine 10 X 30 foot portable panels, and when completed it will include 14 works, with 7 from different nations, and 7 led by Baca. Thus far, Finland, Russia, Israel/Palestine, Mexico, and now Canada are represented. It addresses the big issues facing the world today, like war, peace, cooperation, environment, interdependence, and spiritual growth ... and it is beautiful.

SPARC opened its doors last weekend to show off the new contribution from Canada, The Inuit Send The World A Canary, by Tania Godoroja Pearse (assisted by Kriss Boggild and Kathy Kaiser). It shows an oil pipeline pouring into the doom of climate change on one side, and nature with people working together on the other, and it is a triumph of color and meaning. When this entire wall is complete and assembled, it is going to be a wonder of the world. Like I want to nominate Baca for the Nobel Peace Prize degree of wonder. This is one of the most important works of art happening today, in my humble opinion - and just straight up fact.

There was fine food and drink for all who attended the opening at SPARC, and though I had to run off to another show, I did get to catch up briefly with the SPARC gang to congratulate them. We also discussed how Joel Silver needs to give back the Edward Biberman Venice mural that was in our former post office to be on public display permanently at SPARC. It's for the entire Community to enjoy, not some private production office that isn't even up and running after years, leaving the old P.O. an empty ghost building of no neighborhood vision. It's just sad. And wrong. Give it back, Silver!

I digress. Please take this exceptional opportunity to view an artistic miracle in progress while it is on exhibition at SPARC until October 13, 2017. This is how you create world peace and progress, by working together as one world, one heart, one love. When you see spectacular works like this, you know that it is indeed possible.

SPARC
685 Venice Boulevard
Venice

The Venice Design Series - Beautifying And Benefiting Venice

The Venice Design Series is a wonderfully unique way for one to both experience the best of our local architecture and design, and also to support the extremely important efforts of Venice Community Housing. In a time when affordable housing is increasingly rare in Venice, the good works of the VCH are more necessary than ever.

A series of events that blend art, architecture, design, cuisine, and performance make up the Venice Design Series, showcasing the artistic talents of our community from Malibu to Playa Vista. Participants get a glimpse into some of the most spectacular homes and buildings of Los Angeles, while learning and enjoying fine food and entertainment.

I was invited to this past Saturday's events by Linda Lucks, VDS Co-Founder. It included a Malibu Art and Architecture tour in the daytime that I did not make, and a tour of the gardens at Beyond Baroque and SPARC led by its designer, VDS Co-Founder, Jay Griffith. Anyone driving down Venice Boulevard over the last few months can see the wonderful progress of these beautiful free gardens being made outside of these two Venice historical institutions. Indeed, there is such an abundance of flowers and plants reaching for the skies there on Venice and Shell that, as Griffith said, "We're gonna make people get it at 40 miles per hour." You can't miss it.

The garden is maintained by the Kiss The Ground organization and countless volunteers are working out there for free to create something great. The produce is donated to the volunteers from St. Joseph Center's homeless/low-income culinary students, who also take classes on gardening at the site. SPY (Safe Place for Youth) brings homeless kids for a 12 week gardening job training program, so everything about this program is for the good of all in our Community.

Garden Manager, Matt Finkelstein told us that soil sequesters carbon, and that "the most efficient way to combat climate change is to regenerate agriculture." Basically, everyone needs to get gardening!

The gardens are open to the public, and there is plenty to do and learn about in there.

The garden beds radiate out from a central point/stage area, where tall trees have been painted turquoise as a beacon of welcome to this "Venice Arts Plaza".

There is a big compost area, and a bin for the worms that do all of the work. There is a green house, and a tool shed, and the whole area is dedicated to bringing us back to a healthy relationship with the soil that sustains us.

Volunteers work every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm at 681 North Venice Boulevard, and any questions can be directed to garden@kisstheground.com.

After the lovely garden tour and talk, it was time to take our prosecco and stroll down the walk streets over to the spectacular home of Tiffany Rochelle and Paul Hibler (of Superba and Pitfire Pizza) for a cocktail hour and dinner, again to benefit Venice Community Housing. Hibler has a legit pizza oven out on his patio, and they were serving up their delicious creations as we sipped on some great tequila drinks.

The Hibler home is worthy of its own design tour, and it was fun to see how diverse the homes of Venice really still are, as their very modern, wide open plan home (designed by Kulapat Yantrasast) was right next door to a beautiful purple Craftsman.

The friendly faces of Venice mingled about discussing the homes and the gardens seen that day, and everyone got to know each other a little better, another perk of these intimate gatherings designed to both promote and support the citizens of Venice.

There is a great opportunity to do both coming up this weekend, when the Venice Design Series hosts THE Party at 72 And Sunny in Playa Vista. The former Howard Hughes headquarters will be the venue for "Mid Century Flight", the gala finale of the 2017 Venice Design Series. A tour of the facility, drinks, food, and dancing under the stars will all take place at this fundraiser for our Community's affordable housing, an endeavor that is more important now than ever before. Tickets are still available for this Saturday's mid-century shindig, and it's all for the most basic of human needs - our homes.

Thank you in advance for your support of Venice Community Housing and the Venice Design Series.

Viral: 25 Years From Rodney King - The Wonderfully Important New Show At SPARC

There was an opening reception for the wonderful and terribly important new art show at SPARC this past Saturday night, Viral: 25 Years From Rodney King. 

Operating from the premise that the video showing Rodney King being beaten by the LAPD in 1991 was truly the world's first viral video, putting the spotlight on the racial injustice and police corruption in America that has only seems to have grown worse in the 25 years since that horror show.

SPARC's building was formerly the Venice Police Station, so the art work displayed inside was especially fitting for this show, as we were all behind the bars of the old jail while observing the awful timeline of this particular nightmare epidemic of trouble in our country.

Artists from all over are featured in this group show, curated by Daryl Wells of Art Responders. Wells had a mentally ill brother who had been continually been harassed by police and wound up dead in murky circumstances. She introduced the show with an emotional speech about the frustration, pain, anger, and helplessness she had felt, and could only imagine the pain of the families left behind by victims like Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, and so many more to mention.

The show is interactive, as you walk the timeline around the room from 1991 - 2016, with all the visual art complimented by audio listening stations for music and spoken word poetry.

There was a playlist created for the show, with all supremely worthy of inclusion tracks, but the song that kept playing through my head was the one released a day earlier from Ben Harper - "Call It What It Is (Murder)" from his brand new album of the same name.

In it, Harper name checks these same murder victims, while pointing out that there are black and white cops, good and bad cops, of course, but let's call it what it really is - Murder. That cops are just getting away with. That MUST stop. That's all I could hear running through my head as I traversed the room ... Call it what it is, call it what it is ... Murder.

There is even a virtual reality station where the viewer can experience Perspectives 2: The Misdemeanor, where there are cops and possible perpetrators, and someone gets shot, and how you feel about it depends on your perspective. It's pretty heavy, and really a great tool for putting yourself in either set of shoes.

I was moved by a really powerful watercolor from Sanae Robinson depicting the uprising in Ferguson, Missouri. The events in Missouri were really so painful for me to watch going down on t.v., with utter disbelief that we still STILL have to even be having this conversation. WE ARE ALL ONE!!! Why WHY is that so very hard for some to grasp?! Ugh... Robinson's painting really captured that anguish for me.

Overstreet Ducasse has several pieces in the show, with pieces done on the target practice charts from his state of Floida, called the Floreada Series. Ducasse carried his art right over on to his jacket, which put an exclamation on his point.

This show, as the press release states, "asks vital questions about the last quarter century of developments in our criminal justice system, and how various systemic failures have allowed this phenomenon to frustrate the dream of a post-racial America ... it tackles the intersection of social media, the arts and criminal justice advocacy in order to bring about much-needed dialogue regarding systemic racism and its impact on communities of color."

I had just read that when I saw a little girl in the jail cell with her Dad, and almost choked up with the hope that she doesn't have to think about any of this for very much longer. That we can all just, as Rodney King implored 25 years ago, GET ALONG.

I ran into Francisco Letelier and we talked about the importance of shows like this, but also of getting people to GO to these shows. To keep that dialogue going. To support the artists that are often the loudest voices shouting for change.

He told me that this SPARC show will be one of the stops on the upcoming May 15 edition of Art Block - the incredible gathering of our local art and artists that invites you into their studios - for free. I hope everyone will put an asterisk next to SPARC on their maps, as everyone living in America today should see this fantastic show. (But you don't have to wait until May ... go now! Every day!)

Viral: 25 Years From Rodney King is on at SPARC through June 3, 2016
681 Venice Boulevard
Venice

The Venice Artblock - Excellent and Free!

The very first Venice Artblock was held on Sunday, and it was fantastic. And FREE! After many of our local artists were denied participation in the official Venice Art Walk this past Spring, they took it upon themselves to create - in a very Venice-spirited way, a little anarchist, take the power back style - their own event, free and open to the public, without any lines, wrist bands, or corporate headquarters ... just art, art and more art! In these times, that's both highly commendable, and historical.

It was done just as legit (if not more) as the Art Walk, with a great map, balloons and signs to signify where the stops were, and even a shuttle to get you around if you forgot your bike (always the best way to cover the most ground at these type of events). It was very spread out, from the beach to almost Lincoln, and from Venice Blvd. to Rose. The area around Vernon and Sunset was kind of the hub, with the most concentrated number of studios to hit.

It's so great to go around, and get to see inside the studios of artists that you may just know socially, or have heard of, and then get to peek inside their work space and understand how they operate. What a treat to have them share so much of not just their art, but themselves.

It was a party atmosphere at the studio of William Attaway, with Argentinian barbeque being grilled up, and music thumping. Attaway has a new series of paintings going that feel very bright and tropical, and it's always fun to see his sculptural works in progress.



Alberto Bevacqua's photographs are always haunting and provocative, and stood in stark contrast to the wooden circus animals of Pamela Weir-Quiton down the street. There is certainly something for everyone to admire in Venice.

Gary Palmer had his studio open and shared some stories about his recent excursion to participate in a big sidewalk chalk drawing event in Atlantic City. If you saw his Abbot Kinney in chalk at the Street Fair, you know Palmer is a master of this craft. His oil paintings are collected all over the world, and it's cool to see where it all begins. Very cool.

I always love to see what they have going on at the Curio Studio, one of my favorites in town.  

361 Vernon, where Palmer's studio is, also had a whole slew of studios open, from video installations to ceramics and everything in between. There is so much going on all the time, that you don't have any idea about, which may explain why so many people feel that Venice truly IS a creative vortex.

With SO much going on, it was difficult to hit all the points on the map, especially when you get held up chatting and catching up with other art lovers enjoying such a remarkable day. I stopped by to see what performance artist  and awesome lady Amy Kaps had going on, and she showed off her works while performing hostess duties all decked out in black, white and hot pink. She is a Venice treasure, for sure.

Across the street on Electric, Rohitash Rao was showing his paintings done mostly on garbage. Faces and phrases painted on empty coffee cups or other flotsam, all comic with an edge. Good stuff, good hang too.

I got a late start so it was already almost 5 (closing time) when I got over to SPARC. The talented and erudite Kay Brown showed some of us how her gorgeous wood block printing, and how the printing process is done. Her floral print reminded me of Attaway's flowers at the first stop. Full Circle.

SPARC always has wonderful things to look at, and the murals surrounded by the old bars of the town jail that the building once was lend even more power to the images you're seeing. SPARC is a hallowed institution and if you live in or care about Venice, it really warrants your time to explore and know about.

Every person I ran into along the way raved about how excellent this event was, and how wonderful that it was free and open to absolutely anyone, not just those who can cough up the steep admission price of the official Art Walk. It somehow felt more REAL too ... like art for art's sake, not necessarily profit, though work was being sold, and perhaps as importantly, being seen, learned and known about. The community was out in force, great conversations were being had, and every artist I encountered was beaming with the success of the day ... and the FUN!

Artblock was in fact SO cool, that I have to imagine they're already plotting the next one. And you should be there. It's the REAL deal. Thank you to all the artists involved, for inviting us all into your creative spaces, and for being there in the first place. Venice needs you!!! Sincerely, Thanks.

Shark Toof and SPARC's 35th - A Venice Saturday Night

It has been all about the art lately in Venice, and this last Saturday night was a big one for it. C.A.V.E. Gallery on Abbot Kinney had the opening of renowned street artist Shark Toof's Ping Pong Show AND it was the big celebration for SPARC's 35th Anniversary. A full night of greatness.

My dear friend, Shana Nys Dambrot, wrote the introduction for Shark Toof's new and completely gorgeous coffee table book, and we discussed Shark Toof's fine art works on canvas with the man himself.

Shark (I'm gonna call him that, as I have a hard time with the f) opined on the state of sexual taboos in the world that gave his show its name.

"Ping Pong" does not refer to the hooker trick of yore, but rather the sex industry mores of Asia vs. here in the U.S.

Bright fluorescent stripes on the walls caromed about and around the paintings, giving the whole gallery an installation feeling, picking up the colors exploding off the art. The gallery was packed with collectors and hipsters, locals and even a couple tiger face-painted babies that could have climbed out of one of the paintings.

Shark is best known as a street artist, and his work has shown up on exterior walls all over the world, often featuring sharks.

With this new, crucial book, and gallery shows like this, Shark has taken his outdoor pieces inside, and successfully bridged that gap previously crossed by folks like Shephard Fairey and Banksy. "Post Art Bills" reads the box that houses his book. Yes.

The show is bright and profound and you can check it out on Abbot Kinney now through November 11th.

I raced from C.A.V.E. over to the SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center) affair at its headquarters in the old jail on Venice Boulevard. The entire building was lit up, with murals hanging from every inch of it.

The back parking lot had been transformed into a Big Fish style outdoor party, with lights strung up everywhere and music blasting from the stage, courtesy of Venice's own Tom Schnabel spinning his KCRW brand of world beats, and later jazz and blues legend Barbara Morrison and her band getting everybody up and dancing.

SPARC was founded by Judy Baca, Christina Schlesinger and Donna Deitch in 1976 with their first project, The Great Wall of Los Angeles. It is the longest mural in the world, taking the viewer through important moments in our history all along the L.A. River bank. They offered tours of the massive mural (all done by volunteers and at-risk youth), led by Baca. I couldn't attend the mural tour, but encourage everyone to get down there and see this true wonder of the world as soon as you get the chance. It is truly massive, and makes abundantly clear the importance of art as a tool for social expression and teaching history.

Awards were given, speeches were made, and there was an air of jubilation over the entire affair. It was a delight to see so many neighbors all out and having a good time under the stars, dancing, drinking (theme drinks like "The Mural"), and eating delicious fare from the booths set up by Hal's, Casa Linda, and Ben's BBQ.

You could participate in live mural painting on one of the back walls, and it gave you a sense of the camaraderie and effort that goes into creating the more massive pieces that adorn our fair city.

Every surface was adorned with a mural illuminating important cultural characters and events. Even in the bathroom. In a time when street artists (folks like Shark Toof) get busted and jailed for beautifying spaces, and murals are under attack by small-minded building owners and corporate advertising, this was an especially satisfying evening in homage to the importance of art's role in social justice.

Once all the donation pitches and speechifying was complete, it was time to simply party. Barbara Morrison and her excellent backing band tore it up, and people kept dancing even as the event was being cleaned up around them. A great cause, a great night of wonderful art, and another exclamation point on the SPECIAL! place that we call home.

As SPARC's saying goes, "BE the Spark - to bring the past into the present to inspire the future."

Shark Toof
The Ping Pong Show
C.A.V.E. Gallery
1108 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Through November 11th

SPARC
685 Venice Boulevard
Hopefully Always