Hecho En Venice - Outfitter To Venice Locals

You can't go very far in Venice without seeing someone wearing something with "Hecho En Venice" on it, and that clothing brand starts with Oscar Galan. I've wanted to know this story for a long time, so I called him up and we made plans to meet at his "office" - which was the tailgate of his truck parked in front of Hinano's. We sat and chatted in the sunshine as a constant stream of friends went by shouting greetings and stopping for a handshake, and I saw firsthand just how much a part of Venice this cool cat is.

Galan was born in El Salvador, but his family with six kids came to Venice in 1979 for a better life. He attended Venice High, where he fell asleep in class a lot due to a dish washing gig his brother got for him, keeping him up late. Whenever he wasn't working, he was hanging out at the Breakwater, learning to surf. One day a local asked him to fight him for being a kook, and Galan shrugged and said "Sure". His confidence probably prevented that brawl, and gained him the respect of those locals who then deemed him to be cool (and still do).

Circle Skate (now what was Subway by Windward Avenue) hired Galan to work at the skate shop, and after a while of owing him money, the owners gave him the shop instead - complete with their inventory - as they wanted to hang it up. The name was changed to "Venice Extreme" (then "Venice Breakwater") and it became a hangout in its own right, where local kids learned to surf and skate and hang out with those kinds of dudes vs. the gangs. Galan moved the shop across the street to what is now the poké spot under the Venice sign, and all the while kept working at restaurants, now as a chef (which he still does in addition to running his own business!).

While working at the Venice Breakwater shop, Galan had spied a girl looking for change for a parking spot out in front of the shop. She wouldn't give him her number, but he went back inside the shop and said, "I'm gonna marry that girl."

As it goes, once he blew her off, she was interested, and gave him not her number, but her address. And he showed up. That was Galan's wife, Rita, and they've been together ever since (and just finally got hitched last year!). Two sons came along - Isaac and Jason - and soon thereafter, Galan closed the shop. He didn't want to, but he had to cut the overhead, and that was the end of his brick and mortar shop.

The surf/skate culture was in Galan's blood by now, and when he saw the "Hecho En Mexico" logo, he thought, "Hmmm, I could change that to Venice", and quickly taught himself to sew on YouTube. He created a bunch of shirts and hats with the new "Hecho En Venice" logo, and they've been in hot demand ever since. "I do this for fun," says Galan, and you can tell that he means it. I've always been kind of reluctant to don this apparel, as I was NOT made in Venice, but when I expressed this to Galan, he answered, "I wasn't born here. But I grew up here, and became who I am here." I guess I did too, so now I feel like maybe I can sport these duds. The only thing Galan asks is that you wear the almost always navy blue items with PRIDE. No problem.

"Real locals that know me get the secret stash. Before it was if you didn't know me, you can't have a t-shirt. Now, everyone knows me, so they can all have a shirt!", laughed Galan. That certainly seems true, as the respect and friendship continued to be shown to Galan the entire time we talked by everyone going by that knew him - and several were already in Hecho En Venice gear. "The people of Venice is what it's all about. Be friendly. Support local businesses." Yeah. For Galan, that also applies to sticking up for people. You may remember the brawl on the pier a few years back between the lifeguard and drunk tourists. Galan had been dining with Rita in Washington Square, and said, "I'll be right back". Those tourists soon found out what it meant to mess with a Venice lifeguard, as Galan came in swinging - and they left hurting. Venice will have your back.

With all the cool stuff in Venice, Galan's favorite thing about it is still "The water. Go surf!" And he's out there all the time. You can find him out in the lineup, having coffee at The Cow's End, or in his truck office. You can find Hecho En Venice all over town, but for sure at Maui & Sons on the Boardwalk, Rider Shack, Titanic, District, Rip City, Bay Street Surf Shop, Principessa, or at their online store, ShackedStore.com.

Oscar and Rita Galan are the real deal, and it's an honor to know them, and now their story. Their Hecho En Venice line (now including everything from shirts to hats to coffee mugs!) have given all of Venice a way to show their pride - worldwide. Get yours!

*All photos (after the first one) are courtesy of the Galan family.

Art Crawl Is The Best

I love the Venice Art Crawl. I do. It's so fun every time, you always see people you know, and you always see some cool art that you'd like to have for yourself.  It reminds me of old First Fridays, when it was by and for the locals, pre-the shit show it has now become, that we all avoid.

The VAC feels old school because the pop up gallery operators (from shops to private galleries and homes) all have a sense of fun, drinks are served, music is played, and I actually saw MOSTLY Venetians at this last March one ... so many that it was actually a problem if you wanted to see all the art, because you kept stopping to catch up with friendly faces. Thus, I didn't get around to even a small fraction of the nearly 40 stops.

My first encounter was with a young man named Joey Thompson and his "Interactive Inspirational Art". He made what he called "Story kits" ... a frame made out of palm tree wood, with 52 blocks with art on them, and 52 matching blank blocks. The idea is that you give the painted one away, then take the blank one and write the story (however you like, so you can be creative too - he used pen and Sharpie, I might go more painty/flowery than that, so your frame winds up looking great) of how and who you gave it to on there. It's a very sweet idea, and you can get a kit from Thompson at clothes2theheart@yahoo.com. He also makes roses out of palm leaves, which he presented me with as I took my leave. Art with a heart is the very best kind.

Another tent at the "Unique Boardwalk" stop featured bright, black lit pieces in Dayglo colors ... very Boardwalk indeed.

As were the vibrant skateboard decks also at this stop, all too pretty to ride.

Frank Strasser was showing at Hama Sushi, and then it was time to say hello to the Venice Symphony Orchestra friends at their fundraiser at the Containers on Main Street. In a very non-Art Crawl vibe, I was told that the Orchestra was not allowed to play that night because of some random ordinance I didn't understand. Dumb. So we had a beer and looked ahead to more music from them soon.

Jules Muck just finished a new mural on the side of this Main Street building. Every time I see a Venice building covered in an expansive mural, it makes me so happy. All buildings should have murals, it would be so much more fun-looking everywhere.

The Dennis Hopper mural faces the new Muck one, and a guy had a drone camera flying around catching the whole scene as it swooped around over our heads. That thing is super cool. (You can kind of see it in mid-air if you squint.)

Lightning Bolt and Venice Originals were both having fun parties, with snacks and beers, as everyone seemed to serving up tall PBR's on this night. To the point where Pabst should consider being an official sponsor.

The scene at Gotta Have It was spilling out on to the sidewalk, where even more PBR's were consumed as revelers admired the art of Miss Lacey Cowden (you will recognize it from The Hart and The Hunter's walls).

Cowden was really extra-exhibiting her talents, as she also played a full set of her story-telling ballads for the packed room. It was awesome. I love my friends.

From there, it was on to The Ave to see the Venice photography of Chuck Katz ... and to drink still more PBR's. Packed again, and a total blast to be there with random fun friends, some that I hadn't seen in literally years. People were OUT.

I regret to even say that the posse next moved only a couple doors down to The Townhouse to close out the night. Most VAC stops shut down at 10, and it was well past that by then. I'm mad at myself for missing other great art stops, like Sunny Bak and Ray Rae and about 30 others ... but the people I saw more than made up for that. Next time I will plan better, and factor in time to allow for surprise encounters ... or just drag them along. It's ALL good.

The next Venice Art Crawl is June 19th, and you really don't want to miss it. Any of it. Especially if you've lived here a while and miss your O.G. pals ... chances are you'll have a super fun reunion (sponsored by Pabst).