My Pick of the Week, has to be…the Venice Art Crawl. You may say…Again? but it’s the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, or BIRTHDAY. Whatever you want to call it, it’s gonna be fun! Get out there and party with the rest of us!!!
Check out my latest aritcle on the Examiner http://www.examiner.com/art-events-in-los-angeles/eat-cake-and-celebrate-with-the-venice-art-crawl
Better keep track of the time, you’ll want to be at one of these great events for the birthday VAC Flash Mob celebration. At exactly 9:00pm all VAC pop up venues and galleries all over Venice will halt their activities, so that everyone at that specific location can sing Happy Birthday to VAC. Everyone gets the chance to celebrate as art curators at participating Art Crawl venues will be provided with their own VAC Birthday Cake, candles, party hats, etc.

And after the Art Crawl enjoy a weekend in Joshua Tree. This Saturday, the Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency presents their 5th annual Art Exhibit at Joshua Tree Art Gallery.
See all the info under Saturday’s events….it’s gonna be a wonderful opening.

Save the Date Wednesday August 24th, for another Voice in the Well, Public Works Theater production at Warszawa entitled “Fools Delight.” More details on my Upcoming Events page. http://www.ktrpromo.com/p/upcoming-events.html

The UCLA Learning Resource Center offers and early art opening from 4:30 pm till 6:00 pm. Featuring, artist Rose Lynn Fisher, the show is entitled, Art via Microscope. The images in this exhibition are created using the same tool, an advanced microscope. The medical researchers are trying to solve problems or record data, and their images serve utilitarian purposes.

Guitarology happens again at the Melody Bar & Grill (9132 S. Sepulveda Blvd., 90045) offers some fantastic players from 8:00 pm till 11:00 pm. Preston Smith is guest hosting. Guitarology has become a musical haven for incredible musicians.

This series has picked up “Best Live Music Event of The Year” from Los Angeles Magazine (get there early-reservations suggested) 310 670-1994.

Thursday August 18^th

 

 

Time to party with my Pick of the Week, the Venice Art Crawl. Whatever you want to call it, a Birthday or an anniversary…Venicewill be hoppin’ tonight…By now you should know that it happens every third Thursday of the month. There also new venues, one is the Terrace on Washington Blvd and the Beach, which is not listed, but it is their first time…so who knows what to expect. Let me know if you get there, if it is worthy to make my list.

 

This is a basic map, but if you would like to see the official VAC August map, go to the Maps Page. http://www.ktrpromo.com/p/maps.html
Now remember to keep track of the time, you’ll want to be at one of the following events for the birthday VAC Flash Mob celebration. At exactly 9:00pm all VAC pop up venues and galleries all over Venice will halt their activities, so that everyone at that specific location can sing Happy Birthday to VAC.


Everyone gets the chance to celebrate as art curators at participating Art Crawl venues will be provided with their own VAC Birthday Cake, candles, party hats, etc.

You may want to start off the Crawl at Whole Foods in Venice who gets into the act by starting a bit earlier. They will feature David Hinnebusch and live music from Ketchup Soup from 5:30- 9:00 pm.

Then head to the beach to Figtree’s Café who will be celebrating the big day. Enjoy complimentary wine and appetizers. Also stay for dinner and receive 10% off on food only (between 6:00 pm till 8:00 pm).

Tonight, Figtree’s Café will feature a fun event with live music. Also enjoy art on display from Andrew Lisowski and Carmen Perez (see image)

Don’t forget to head a block north to Rose and pop into the Venice Ale House, (2 Rose Ave on the Venice Boardwalk), who features wearable art by Made in Earth. Also the brand new beachfront store from Arbor will be displaying their groovy street art boards.

Better head back south down the boardwalk and don’t miss Treeman’s place. Treeman is a wonderful work of art on his own, gliding through the streets of Venice, a true walking sculpture/art installation.
Treeman is adorned with an incredibly life like tree costume, complete with leaves. Each Art Crawl blockbuster movies are shown on a large screen on the boardwalk at treeman’s art garden along with the cast of retro-active entertainment: fire and pole dance artists, magicians and various musicians. South of Dudley, right next to the Venice Bistro).

Definitely stop in the Bistro…to see The Venice Street Legends performing from 5:00 pm till 10:00 pm. A wonderful band, and there is a happy hour here too.

You may want to stop by later as this one always goes late. For the one year anniversary of the Venice Art Crawl, Dogtown artists will host a live painting performance from the famous French street artist Speedy Graffito at 811 Ocean Front Walk.

Renowned street artist, Shepard Fairey himself, came down to paint a mural at this venue last month.

Further down the boardwalk, heading south, you’ll come upon Ocean Blue, who will be celebrating the Venice Art Crawl’s one year anniversary in a big way.
Ocean Blue, a fun store that sells jewelry, gems, candles and all kinds of neat trinkets is located at 1313 Ocean Front Walk right on the beach, the cross street is Horizon Ave., one block south of Westminster Ave. http://www.shopoceanblue.com/.

Ocean Bluewill be offering refreshments and snacks, along with a hoppin’ party featuring several artists showing their works. There will also be live painting, live music, stilt walkers and dancers.
Artists include, artist and teacher, Marty Katon (see image, left) as well as his star student Andrew Torres (image, right), along with artists Stacey Catanzaro (bottom left), Shana Koenig (see image, above left), Ray McCray, Sona Mirzaei, Jean Paul. Live music with the Geoffrey J. and the Furious Seasons.
Amir Magal will also be doing some live body painting early on in the evening. (See body art image, below right) Treeman will be visiting too.

Artist Ray Mc Cray (image on left) works with a verity of media to construct abstract and representational collages. He will bring a selection of works and splash a painting or two. http://artistraymccray.com

Sona Mirzaei (image on right) has been a busy woman. Sona has been working nonstop, showing her work in San Francisco, Toronto, and all over Los Angeles.
She is collaborating with other artists on a public art project for the City of Los Angeles, she was recently requested to show selections of her work at the San Francisco Convention Plaza, her work is currently on display at Hotel des Arts in San Francisco, and she will participate in Elephant Parade Singapore 2012.
Mirzaei just found out that The Elephant Parade committee chose her elephant to lead the Elephant Parade that will take place in Singapore during the winter of 2011/12. http://www.sonamirzaei.com/ 

Left image by Stacey Catanzaro, right image, body painting my Amir Magal and below left ,The Furious Seasons.

For more info see artist and musician websites
http://www.stacey-cat.com/ 
www.geoffreyj.com, 
http://www.katonart.us/, http://shanakoenig.com/,http://www.amirmagal.com/ 
http://artistraymccray.com, http://www.sonamirzaei.com/, http://www.thefuriousseasons.com/

A few steps away, you will see, The Sidewalk Café, who is also participating with an artist lounge that includes drink specials for sale and live acoustic music, as well as Small World Books, right next door at 1407 Ocean Front Walk will be featuring mixed media artist Deb Loucks. Open from 6:00-9:00 pm. They will be serving light refreshments.(310) 399-2360; www.smallworldbooks.booksense.com/

Continue on the boardwalk to Venice, Maui & Sons at 1415 OFW, between Horizon/Market always has a scene brewing with new artists. Then pop by the Pop up Gallery at Jay’s Rentals, at 1501 Ocean Front Walk to see what’s cookin!

 

Keep walking on the boardwalk to South Venice Blvd, then hook a left and on the right side, you will find The Alkaline Water Gallery, who will be showing, Kathy Shorkey-Confer. This small but sweet little gallery, curated by Leila Levi will also have on display a variety of wearable art, jewelry and accessories. Snacks and wine will be served. The Alkaline Water Gallery is located at 18 North Venice.   http://www.leilalevi.com/.

 

Then continue towards Pacific Ave., and saunter into James Beach at 60 North Venice, for a group show entitled, “Street Art Saved my Life.”

Also the Canal Club right across the street, always has a yummy happy hour (from 5-7pm) featuring Attaway. Music with Miss Jessica after 8:00 pm. http://www.jamesbeach.com/canal_index.php.

Then circle around to Pacific Ave. to Santinos at 1611 Pacific Ave, Enjoy yummy empanadas (at a great price).

Next door, stop by the Hotel Erwin, which has two venues. You will immediately see the downstairs one, in the driveway right next to Hash Café.
There will be several artists showing here, Rachel Rubenstein, Marioe, the artist and others. There are specialty drinks on sale downstairs, but occasionally you’ll find some free wine being offered.

 

Also you won’t be able to miss the always fun pop up venue, The Gas Station, located at 1697 Pacific Avenue directly across from Hotel Erwin. This pop up artistic abandoned gas station holds a variety of artists and had quite the buzz going on last month.

 

There are some great Art Crawl events with food and drink specials happening. Stop in at Hama Sushi 213 Windward Ave to see Danger Dogs.
At Danny’s Venice at 23 Windward, for their drink specials! Dakota Rayfield is the featured artist. http://dakotarayfield.net/; http://www.dannysvenice.com/.  
Skip right across the street to the Townhouse, (56 Windward) who always has a scene going on. Artist Gary Garay will be exhibiting his work.

 

Now here’s another new one, at Cairo Cantina, a new eatery located at 46 Windward Ave. In the back patio, Artist and teacher, Bobbie Rich curates a Children’s Gallery with live music by art student Asia Graves.

For the special one year anniversary, Momentum has moved back to Market St., 85 Market to be exact. (the old Advark store) Artists featured will be Marshall Carbee, Mare Costello and Isabelle Alford-Lago. Music by DJ Lyf, Kwaku (just flew in from Detroit) and DJ Hoff.
As always there will be a jumpin party as well as the after party which runs till 2:00am!.

You can print maps from the Maps Page: http://www.ktrpromo.com/p/maps.html
Maps will also be available at most of the participating galleries/venues. Check out the website at www.veniceartcrawl.com.
Have a Great time and Be Safe!!!

 

Friday August 19^th

 

Venice MoZaic celebrates “Venice Sunshine” at The Talking Stick. Featuring songstress Sista Jean, Zebra Party, The VeniceVille Players and DJ Noj is spinnin’ his favorite records. Nikki Black hosts the evening. The Talking Stick offers delicious, reasonably priced salads, sandwiches, hummus & pita, tasty desserts, and an array of smoothies, coffees and teas in a cozy, family-friendly atmosphere. Free parking and BYOB (with $8 corkage).

 

The Talking Stick Coffee Lounge is located at 1411 Lincoln Blvd. Venice 90291. Free admission, 7:00 pm till 10:00 pm. 310.450.6052. http://www.thetalkingstick.net/

Or in Chinatown, LeBasse Projects  presents, announce ŒGolden Structure,’ a solo exhibition from LA based artist Ken Garduno from 7:00 pm till 10:00 pm. This exhibition will feature a series of works in charcoal on paper – the first time the artist has shown work in this form. LeBasse Projects Chinatown is located at 932 Chung King Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90012; www.lebasseprojects.com

 

Saturday, August 20^th

If you are near Joshua Tree, stop you’ll want to take in some culture at this lovely group artist reception. Joshua Residency presents their 5th annual Art Exhibit at Joshua Tree Art Gallery.

 

This is a fantastic organization that helps artists….I love that! Five artists have been accepted for this year’s Joshua Tree Highlands Artist in Residency program. They are Wendy Given from Portland, OR, Betty Hageman from Seattle, WA, Lola Ramona Lanxinger from Los Angeles, CA, Cyrus Lemmon from Chico, Ca and JoJo Luzhou Li from Brooklyn, NY. This exhibition is the fruits of their labor. Yeah!

 

Five years ago FrederickFulmer and Jim Berg stepped up to the plate and sponsored the first annual JTHAR program. This year they are joined by co-sponsors Sarah Kennington, Steve Bardwell, Ruth and Steve Rieman.

The JTHAR program is growing a group of ambassadors for the desert that carry the message about this special place to people around the world. Artists participating in past years came from all over the US plus Argentina, Brazil, England and Austria. They discovered and learned to love the empty fullness they found here in which to live and create. Several have returned for visits to experience more.

The reception will be held at Joshua Tree Art Gallery, located at 61607 29 Palms Hwy., Suite B from 6:00 pm till 8:30pm. http://www.jthar.com/

Treat yourself….get out of LA….and enjoy.

 

Or if you decide to stay in this city,  head to Culver City and drop into LeBasse Projects who will be presenting the opening reception for Risk and COOZ: “That Was Then, This Is Now.” This is the first major collaborative exhibition by Kelly Graval and Nathan Ota, aka Risk and COOZ. The traveling exhibition reunites these artists whose friendship began before they would respectfully become graffiti legends in the streets and revered artists in galleries and museums internationally. LeBasse Projects (6023 Washington Blvd. 90232) Opening reception runs from 7:00 pm-10:00 pm. 310.558.0200; www.lebasseprojects.com

 

In Santa Monica at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave in Santa Monica, (D-3)TAG Gallery offers a group show from 6:00 pm till 8:00 pm. 310.829.9556; http://www.taggallery.net

Also from 6:00 pm till 8:00 pm, pop into the Patrick Painter Gallery (A8 & B2) to see the group show “Rear Window.” Love that movie. 310-264-5988; http://www.patrickpainter.com

 

If you have not been, get downtown to “Grand Performances.” it’s a Free event that happens in Downtown L.A.’s California Plaza. Grand Performances’ offers wonderful performers, all established singers, dancers and musicians in this free performing arts summer series. 

 

Tonight’s show features PHRANC and Peter Case. Two original voices from the folk music scene come together on one stage for an evening of witty, tongue-in-cheek yet heartfelt songs. Show starts at 8:00 pm.  http://www.grandperformances.org/

Sunday, June 19^th
How bout some interesting edgy 3D filmmaking? Los Angeles Film forum and LA 3D Club are delighted to welcome avant-garde stereoscopic filmmaker Ken Jacobs back to Los Angeles. Excerpts from Jacobs’s 3D work will be shown and projected in both anaglyph or 3D without spectacles.
Be aware there is a $10 charge, or if you are a current LA3D Club member, it’s half off. For USC Students are free. Check their website for more details. Roof top reception following the event. The street parking is free on Sundays though.

Read more http://www.ktrpromo.com/2011/08/pick-of-weekthis-thursday-its-one-year.html