The Venice Art Crawl (VAC) presents its annual 2023 Legendary Women Artists of Venice Awards event on Thursday, March 16, 2023 from 7:30pm – 10:30pm. Honorees include film director Catherine Hardwicke, fine artist Sandy Bleifer & photographer Edizen Stowell. The event will take place at the Gall3ry, 1324 Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice. Nominations are open for the Emerging Artist Award, to be presented the same night. Artists Nicole Buffet & Julie Pacino will be special guests for the evening. Nominations are open for the Emerging Artist Award on website. See Below for Ticket prices and info.
HONOREES
Catherine Hardwicke’s first film as a director was the critically acclaimed coming-of-age Thirteen, which won numerous awards including the Director’s Award at Sundance, Golden Globe nominations for Holly Hunter & Evan Rachel Wood & an Academy Award nomination for Holly Hunter. Hardwicke has since become best known as the director of Twilight, which launched the blockbuster franchise & earned nearly $400 million at the global box office. Hardwicke’s other credits include Lords of Dogtown, Miss You Already, Red Riding Hood & Miss Bala. For television, she has directed episodes of “This Is Us,” “Eye Witness,” “Low Winter Sun,” “Hell on Wheels” & the 14-part Quibi series “Don’t Look Deeper” (Don Cheadle, Emily Mortimer). She holds an Architecture degree from UT Austin & did graduate work in animation at UCLA Film School.
Hardwicke’s latest work includes the gritty family drama “Prisoner’s Daughter” (Kate Beckinsale, Brian Cox), filmed on the “back streets” of Las Vegas, which premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival. For Samuel Goldwyn’s global anthology film “Tell it Like a Woman,” she wrote & directed segments based on true stories about tough, inspiring women. She directed “Dreams in the Witchhouse” (Rupert Grint, Ismael Cruz Cordova), inspired by a J.P. Lovecraft novella – for the October 2022 Netflix anthology series Guillermo del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities.” It features a tree root witch & a talking rat with a human face.
Hardwicke’s wild action/comedy “Mafia Mamma,” filmed in Rome (Toni Collette, Monica Bellucci) – will be released theatrically by Bleecker Street April 14, 2023.
Sandy Bleifer is a Venice based artist who received her B.A. in Fine Arts at UCLA & has worked as an Artist-in-Residence for the Beverly Hills Schools & Central High, a continuation high school in downtown LA, as well as an art teacher, docent & publisher of curriculum materials in the arts. She works in her own hand-made paper & has exhibited & sold her work at many galleries & museums including the Downey Museum of Art, University of California, Berkeley, Loyola Marymount University, Mt. St. Mary’s College, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Riverside Art Museum, Chapman College, Palos Verdes Art Center & the art rental galleries of the Newport Harbor Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Albuquerque Museum of Art & the Kitakamakura Museum, Japan.
For the past 5 years, Bleifer has sought support for her vision of a neighborhood arts “colony” that would include affordable live/work space for Venice’s dwindling artist community.
For the past two decades, Edizen Stowell has been documenting life in Venice, California. This photographer’s journey started on the boardwalk in 2003 selling artistic prints & photo keychains. Stowell developed her skills & knowledge by constantly capturing & editing, always asking herself how she could improve her craft. She used her B.A. in marketing to build a business as a professional event photographer & has shot all over the US & internationally, covering over 1600 events.
Indicative of her commitment to the Venice community, in 2010 Stowell co-founded the Venice Art Crawl along with Danny Samakow & Mike Newhouse. Her involvement is well known & in 2016, she was honored with the Venice Spirit Award. Her creation, the Venice Paparazzi website, is a historical archive that serves as an interactive photo album for the fine folks of Venice & the Westside.
ABOUT THE LEGENDARY WOMEN ARTISTS OF VENICE AWARD
The semi-annual LEGENDARY WOMEN ARTISTS OF VENICE AWARD was established in honor of Women’s History Month by the VENICE ART CRAWL, Sunny Bak & Lauren Doyle. The Award recognizes the contribution of Women to the Arts & their profound impact on society. Previous winners of the Award include Emily Winters, Judy Baca, Joelle Dumas, Jules Muck, Meryl Lebowitz, Jean Edelstein, Christina Angelina, Robin Murez, MB Boissonnault & last year’s awardees, Megan Raney Aarons & Isabelle Lago.
ABOUT THE VENICE ART CRAWL
THE VENICE ART CRAWL is a Venice Chamber of Commerce Hosted Event. Spearheaded by Chamber of Commerce President & President of the Art Crawl, photographer Sunny Bak, its mission is to preserve the arts in Venice, a place that has historically been known as a vibrant & dynamic Arts community.
Admission ranges from $161.90 – $375.32; CLICK HERE to purchase tickets
What: THE LEGENDARY WOMEN ARTISTS OF VENICE AWARDS
Where: Gall3ry, 1324 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice 90291
When: March 16, 2023, 7:30pm – 10:30pm
Website: http://www.veniceartcrawl.com
