LA Art News June 2017

LA ART NEWS A R T S A N D C U LT U R E F O R A L L O F L O S A N G E L E S VOLUME 5 NO. 3

LAARTNEWS.COM

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

JUNE 2017

BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH IN THE LANGUAGE OF ART Artist & Researcher at Hoyt Gallery

Unique pairings of 14 artists with 14 biomedical researchers lead to art that functions on a variety of levels with “Artist & Reseacher” at the Keck School of Medicine’s Hoyt Gallery.

Certainly, the beauty of the human body and of the human condition are represented. Beyond that the exhibit demonstrates the uses of art of various mediums in explaining complicated scientific situations to lay people, such as a doctor explaining to a patient just what is going on. Art creates situations that empower patients, both in terms of technical knowledge and in terms of emotionally dealings. And it demonstrates that every situation is different--be it different effects of the same medical issue on different patients, or different courses of treatment for different circumstances.

--Dr. Michael E. Selsted and colleagues’ discovery of very small proteins in rhesus monkeys, possibly useful in drugs to Susan Trachman, Fluid Treatment (Assemblage) fight infectious or inflammatory disease, becomes David Lovejoy’s playful mixed media assemblage, “Monkeys Share Secrets.”

--Qathryn Brehm’s “Living with Chronic Migraine,” interpreting the research of neurologist Dr. Soma Sahai-Srivastava, uses a house with rooms of mini-scenes to describe an experience that patients have trouble putting into words.

--The collaboration of Susan Trachman, an artist living with multiple scherosis, and Leslie J. Tarlow of the USC Multiple Sclerosis Comprehensive Care Center results in Ms. Trachman’s vibrant installation featuring saline solution bottles with varying amounts and color of fluid, representing the fluid nature of treatment as a disease changes and the fact that no two patients are alike.

“Artist & Researcher” is part of the Keck School of Medicine Humanities, Ethics, Art, and Law (HEAL) Program, the mission of which is to align the work of patients and artists with the core medical school curriculum. In this regard the exhibit succeeds admirably. At the opening reception, artist-researcher team after team spoke to discovering how similar their thought processes were.

“In art, like in research, you definitely have to think outside the box,” said cancer researcher Marilena Melas. “and Francesca V. Mariani, PhD and Andrea Bogdan sometimes read behind the lines.” with Andrea Bogdan, A Special Kind of Cartilage, “I was blown away by the randomness of how things came about just by diligent research,” said artist David Lovejoy.

The Matrix Series (Glass) “How you may be looking for one thing, but on the skirting of continued on page 2

ANOTHER, GREATER, FEDERAL ATTACK ON THE ARTS While much attention has been paid to the White House proposal to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, another, equally insidious threat to arts and culture has slipped largely under the public radar.

On May 12, Nina Ozlu Tunceli, Executive Director of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, visited Los Angeles and gave an update on the impact of the White House tax reform plan at a meet-and-greet sponsored by Arts for LA. The White House tax reform plan, along with its reductions in taxes for well-off businesses and individuals, contains a proposal to double the standard deduction for individual taxpayers. The effect of this would be to reduce, probably greatly, the number of people who itemize deductions. Further, many deductions currently available could cease to exist. Congress will be looking at the possibility of capping allowable deductions and/or narrowing the definition of charities, excluding many non-profits.

This is a potential disaster for arts and other non-profit organizations that are dependent on donations for their survival.

“If we think losing the NEA is catastrophic,” said Ms. Ozlu Tunceli, “it’s nothing compared to losing the charitable deduction.”

According to Americans for the Arts, “This year marks the 100th anniversary of the charitable contribution deduction, which empowers individuals to give of their personal income for the benefit of the public.”

“The legislation was enacted by Congress in 1917,” says Americans for the Arts, “and has been profoundly successful in promoting charitable giving by Americans. In 2015, individuals were responsible for $265 billion of the $373 billion total private giving (72 percent).”

In 2015, 27% of the population made deductible donations in support of arts, culture and public broadcasting. A doubling of the standard deduction would mean that only the super wealthy would be incentivized to contribute. The middle class would be left out of the picture.

Ms. Ozlu Tunceli shared the frustration that many arts organizations feel at having to fight the doubling of the standard deduction, when what they should be fighting for is greater incentivizing of the American public to support arts and culture.

“Giving 100,” a coalition effort promoting expansion of the availability of the charitable donation from the current 30% of the tax-paying population that itemizes to 100% of the population, says that the existence of the charitable deduction “expresses some bedrock American values: that people should be Nina Ozlu Tunceli, Executive Director of the Americans for the empowered to solve problems, that communities should care for their own, and that the best solutions Arts Action Fund, gives an update on the impact of the White are often found close to home.”

House tax reform plan at Self-Help Graphics.

Ms. Ozlu Tunceli said that a major tax-reform bill is expected later this year or early next year.

continued from page 1

2

that you may find something else that’s actually the value of all your research. I guess as an artist I kind of get that.”

The exhibit was conceived and curated by artist-in-residence Ted Meyer.

Scientist-Artist pairs: Lilyana Amezcua, MD, MS + Kerry Kugelman Tiffany Chow, MD + Cybele Rowe Vinay Duddalwar, MD, FRCR + Michael McCall Amy Firth, PhD + Zeina Baltagi Laurel M. Fisher, PhD + LuAnn Roberto Gino K. In, MD, MPH + Olesya Volk Elina Kari, MD + Jamie Perlman, MA Peter Kuhn, PhD + Leah Shane Dixon Francesca V. Mariani, PhD + Andrea Bogdan Andy McMahon, PhD, FRS + Barbara Kolo Marilena Melas, MSc + Shula Singer Arbel Michael E. Selsted, MD, PhD + David Lovejoy Soma Sahai-Srivastava, MD + Qathryn Brehm Leslie J. Tarlow, MSN, RN, GNP-BC, MSCN + Susan Trachman Artist & Researcher Hoyt Gallery Keith Administration Building (basement) 1975 Zonal Avenue Through August 15

Olesya Volk, Codex 1. Assigned by archeologists to the early Mesoamerican civilization. “The language of the codex has never been decoded; the drawings however show a striking similarity to the new discoveries in cancer therapy.” (Acrylic on canvas)

JUNE 2017

Michael E. Selsted, MD, PhD and David Lovejoy with David Lovejoy, Monkeys Share Secrets (Mixed media assemblage: jigsaw puzzle, sewing machine belt, wire, ceramic beads, newspaper ad, postage stamps, jewelry, rusty hinge)

Qathryn Brehm, Living with Chronic Migraine (Mixed media)

3

WE CHOOSE ART RANDI MATUSHEVITZ

attention. I begin to feel an energetic pull, a lifeline Written by Baha Danesh From WeChooseArt.com within the soul of the artwork itself

Randi Matushevitz grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and is a teller of and into me. I urban artistic tales. Her medium of choice is charcoal, pastel and spray paint breathe life into and has been exhibited in galleries, museums and art fairs in New York, the characters Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Caracas and Xalapa, Mexico. and blend my

Randi currently lives in Los Angeles with her family where she continues to memories into create fragmented the urban tales e n v i r o n m e n t s that I share. that co-exist BD: I’ve noticed alongside her daily you like using life. Her artwork charcoal grays spans nearly 2 and darker decades, and she hues throughout your drawings. Tell me a little about your color palette. has created over a RM: My gray color palette, with deep values, enables me to create fragmented dozen narratives timeless spaces that seem familiar and yet are unknown, in a baroque manner. that echo life in I present a glimpse into an ambiguous adjacent world that documents the 21st century. shared emotional moments of human experience from oppression fear, T h r o u g h o u t to freedom and love. The limited palette allows me to create drama and her works of emphasizes the unknown that is always a step ahead of human plans. art, viewers can BD: Explain your creative process and the observe layers story behind, “Spikey Haired Girl with Mirror” of gray-scaled RM: Spikey Haired Girl With Mirror is a lovely piece that is inspired by the body language inquiring and courageous mind of every young woman. Spikey has a gestural that gesture expressions of joy, sadness, love, and anger. She also quality, almost ethereal like she will turn to look at you next. She is free to questions how the individual attitude toward human emotions has an explore, be self-defining be a part of the world and not afraid of it. She is young impact on the worldwide community. She calls this process, “sonder.” and courageous. The message is “Women be confident and go for it……”.

While visiting Randi at the Start Up Art Fair located in Hollywood, BD: Tell us about your inspiration about the word “Sonder” she explained that human emotions fuel her art process, and throughout RM: I stumbled upon the word “Sonder” during my LAAA critique group her development as an artist she has become interested in the spatial this past January. “Sonder” is from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John gray that exists between, where consciousness and experience unite with Koenig, whose perception and observation. I was curious to know more about Randi project is to create and her artistic process. So, in an effort to tame my obsession, I asked her e t y m o l o g i c a l l y a series of questions and discussed what her reason is for choosing art. based words for

emotions that currently have Baha Danesh: Tell me a little about your artistic process. Do you have no definitions. It means any rituals or artistic habits you must hone in on before you start drawing? basically Randi Matushevitz: My process begins with entering my garage studio. I sit in my the realization that chair, I look around and begin to calm my breath, breathing deeply until I can see my the stranger next work as alive, till I can enter into the space, marks, and characters on the canvas. If to you is living just I’m feeling “it” I can usually just jump in, if not, I doodle, look through my stencils, a meaningful of read art magazines in hard copy or online, I flip through art books, listen to Potus a life as you. The relates and then after just being in the studio finally the work calls to me, demanding my concept to the essence of my urban allegories. Human experience in the 21st century that can be seen (from my car window), the body language and facial expressions of the strangers who coexist beside me, who share my environment, my city and the cities I have traveled. We share our humanity.

BD: And here is our famous question at We Choose Art – Why did you choose art?

RM: Why art, I took my first art class in college. I sucked at it but loved the smells and the variety of mediums, I wanted more. It was like learning a foreign language that I was unaware of but using daily. It made sense to me. The process is physical and meditative. I knew eventually after I developed my chops that I would ultimately be able to express my voice, mine and mine only. It’s a challenge that I still work on today.

For more information regarding Randi visit her website at www.RandiMatushevitz. com.

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

4

KAZUKI TAKIZAWA: CATHARSIS CONTAINED AT CRAFT IN AMERICA “The harmonization of the radically different, such as, violence and meditation, spontaneity and meticulousness, and destruction and repair is found in the process, as well as the result of my work.”

Los Angeles artist Kazuki Takizawa elucidates human emotions in the shimmering, fragile form of glass.

Passion, turmoil, self-expression and mental health are driving forces behind Takizawa’s articulate approach to sculpture. Takizawa uses blown and shaped glass to shed light on the darkness that can overwhelm those who face depression, disorder and mental illness in their lives. His powerful bulbous shapes and vessels encapsulate these taboo topics and provide a personal catharsis to the artist.

Takizawa uses the vessel as a conceptual launching point for capturing and protecting feelings. The immaterial yet overpowering feelings that individuals experience fill these glasses to the point at which they overflow. These misshapen and vibrant containers symbolically hold sensations within and defy conventions.

His deliberately flawed goblet-like forms derive from the finest Venetian formal tradition, which Takizawa interprets masterfully. Takizawa finds the beauty within endurance and gives it a new externalized shape.

This exhibition features a body of work that explores the nature and ancient history of the container, in this case, reinvented as a psychological metaphor. Predominantly consisting of bronze and amber glass forms, Takizawa will scatter bursts of color throughout this emotive and arresting group.

Kazuki Takizawa: Catharsis Contained Through July 8 Craft in America Center 8415 W. Third Street www.craftinamerica.org

JUNE 2017

5

STAFF Publisher/ Creative Director Cathi Milligan Managing Editor Margaret Arnold Intern Vince Caldera Contributors: Margaret Arnold, Cornelius Peter, Brian Mallman, Amy Inouye, Stuart Rapeport, Cathi Milligan, Jennifer Hitchcock, Tomas Benitez, Harvey Slater, Kristine Schomaker, Larisa Code, Dani Dodge, Baha Danesh LA Art News is published monthly at the beginning of each month.

LA Art News is available free of charge. No person may, without prior written permission from LA Art News, take more than one copy of each monthly issue.

Additional copies of the current issue are available for $1, payable in advance, at LA Art News office. Only authorized LA Art News distributors may distribute the LA Art News.

SUMMERTIME!!

In the great nation of California we take climate change and healthcare very seriously...and of course, the arts too. Have you seen what the not-so-great President, the one that shall not be named, has been up too? Of course you have. It’s disgraceful and embarrassing. The President we love, Obama, seems to be on a “it’s him, not us,” tour of Europe. Sippy Cup has gotten so bad even Hillary has come out to talk shit. So what are we all supposed to do? Make art. Art is resistance. Art changes the world. Let’s change the world! Afterall, California is always ahead of the times...on the cutting edge...leaders of the free world!!

Thanks, Cathi Milligan Publisher, LA Art News

Copyright No news stories, illustrations, editorial matter or advertisements herein can be reproduced without written consent of copyright owner.

How to reach us LA Art News 5668 York Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90042 323-387-9705 Contributions cathi@laartnews.com Calendar information margaretnelaart@gmail.com Sales - cathi@laartnews.com sign up for our newsletter at laartnews.com Where’s Monica?

All are welcome at Kindness and Mischief

NEW REPORT EXAMINES ISSUE OF HOUSING FOR ARTISTS “Every city, town, and business that relies on the output and impact of the creative economy and access to a healthy creative workplace should be concerned about the availability of affordable and appropriate space to incubate emerging talent and retain a competitive pool of creative workers.”

--”Affordable Artist Housing,” a white paper by Artspace Artspace, a national nonprofit that develops and manages affordable housing specifically for artists, was called upon to provide a white paper on the subject of retaining and supporting housing for California artists and creative workers in conjunction with this year’s Otis College of Art and Design report on the creative economy in the State.

Teri Deaver, Artspace Vice President, told a hearing conducted by the State Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Arts in May that, “Artists are the foundation of the creative economy.” And they will go where they can find cheap spaces and supportive community.

Yet, the areas of the State with the highest concentrations of artists, such as Los Angeles and the Bay Area, are also the areas with the highest housing costs.

While some of the highest paying jobs in the State are in creative sectors, artists are also a segment of the lowest income community. According to Ms. Deaver, artists are often highly educated, but without commensurate income.

Further, artists fear displacement.

According to the white paper, “The San Francisco Arts Commission conducted a survey in 2015 and found that 72% of a total 579 surveyed creatives had or were facing housing and/or workspace displacement; 39% reported their workspace lease had not been or would not be renewed; 32% reported their home lease had not been or would not be renewed; and, 21% confirmed a rent increase would accompany a home lease renewal that was being offered. Many stated that they had already or would be pursuing in the future the option of relocating from the Bay Area and the state of California.”

While the need for affordable housing for artists is great, issues of definition quickly come into play. There are a number of developments throughout the State that are calling themselves artist housing, when this is true in name only.

Ms. Deaver lays out in her report elements of successful affordable artist housing.

--The acquisition or lease must be low cost. Such housing must be permanently selfsustaining, having artists in positions of equity over the spaces.

--States and cities must understand the situation and must help with zoning, land acquisition and funding.

--Design and amenities must serve artist needs (i.e. high ceilings, natural light, easyclean floors, and useful communal space).

Funding may be sought through alignment with other priorities where money is available, i.e. transit occupancy taxes, tourism, small business development, or training programs for the film industry.

But development must align with community stakeholder objectives, such as small business development, historic preservation, and keeping a community authentic.

In addition to the matter of developing new housing, there is the issue of preserving housing that already exists. Ms. Deaver cites expansion of rent stabilization ordinances,

acknowledgement of housing rights for artists in nontraditional situations such as industrial neighborhoods, and the creation of artist overlay zones that support naturally occurring arts communities as means.

While discussion centers largely on affordable housing, there is a need to broaden the conversation.

“We’re able to build housing for extremely low, very low, and low income households using funding sources like low income housing tax credits, and we’re able to build housing at the higher end at the market rate levels,” Ali Youseffi, an affordable housing developer from Sacramento told the Joint Committee. “But what we’re having difficulty doing is building housing for the middle class. And so from a policy standpoint, obviously it’s important that resources go to help those who need it the most. But if we don’t allocate funding sources to the middle class, then we will not be able to provide housing in urban areas for those who represent the largest segment of our workforce.

And artists are obviously a part of that.”

Ms. Deaver added that there is a huge gap between qualifying for low income housing and being able to afford market rate.

Even more basic than the question of what constitutes housing specifically for artists is the question of who may be considered an artist. Artspace traditionally favors keeping the definition broad and looks to local artists to explain what their creative work is.

The broad definition of artist that Artspace employs, which has been adopted by a number of other agencies and entities, is: “A person who works in, or is skilled in any of the fine arts, including but not limited to painting, drawing, sculpture, book arts, printmaking, and mixed media A person who creates imaginative works of aesthetic value, including but not limited to literature, poetry, photography, music composition, choreography, architecture, film, and video A person who creates functional art including but not limited to metal, textiles, paper, wood, ceramic, glass, or plastic objects A performer or theatrical artist, including but not limited to singers, dancers, musicians, actors, performance artists, and costume, lighting, sound, and set designers In all arts disciplines a designer, technician, craftsperson, teacher, or administrator who is dedicated to using their expertise within the community [the community within the project and/or broader] to support, promote, present, and/or teach and propagate their art form through events, activities, performances, and classes.”

The December tragedy of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, in which 36 lives were lost at a makeshift live-work space and concert venue, inevitably is on everyone’s mind in any discussion of artist housing. At the Joint Committee hearing, State Senator Ben Allen asked Ms. Deaver what lessons were learned from Ghost Ship.

“Everybody thinks they know who an artist is,” said Ms. Deaver. “They think they see them on television. They read a book. But they don’t realize that the life blood of our arts community is all around us, and often in hiding places that we aren’t familiar with. And yet, they’re affecting our lives on a daily basis. But they need safe places, and they need places within communities, so they can support one another in order to make the world better for everybody else. And if we don’t recognize that in advance to protect them as an important part of our community, then these types of tragedies happen.”

Funding for the white paper was provided by the California Arts Council.

The full report is available at www.otis.edu. It is attached to the Otis Report on the Creative Economy 2017.

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

6

JUNE 2017

7

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

GOVERNMENT NOTES

8

FEDERAL FUNDING FOR THE ARTS UPDATE The White House released details of its proposed FY2018 budget in May, and, as expected, the news for the arts is bad. This chart, courtesy of Americans for the Arts, provides the details. The minuscule amounts listed for some programs are meant to be funds to carry out departmental closure.

The elimination of arts funding is not a done deal, however.

On May 12, Nina Ozlu Tunceli, Executive Director of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, visited Los Angeles and gave an update on the issue at a meet-and-greet sponsored

by Arts for LA. Ms. Ozlu Tunceli pointed out that the White House does not set the budget, Congress does.

“Years of working with Congress on a bipartisan basis really helped,” said Ms. Ozlu Tunceli.

With NEA grant money in every Congressional district in the U.S., there are a number of Republicans who are not going to cave to the White House on this issue.

The entry point into Congressional budget debates is via many Appropriations S u b c o m m i t t e e s .

The Appropriations Subcommittees on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies of the House and the Senate have jurisdiction over most arts fundings, and the debate is still early on in the process.

Eighty-eight national partners in arts advocacy have taken a position in support of $155 million in funding for Courtesy: Americans for the Arts the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

On May 24, Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, submitted testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, saying, “The A d m i n i s t r a t i o n’s

budget proposal shows a lack of understanding of the important role that the NEA plays in American today.”

“With only a $150 million annual appropriation,” wrote Mr. Lynch, “the NEA’s investment in every congressional district in the country contributes to a $730 billion arts and culture industry in America, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce, representing 4.2 percent of the annual U.S. GDP. This arts and culture industry supports 4.8 million jobs and yields a $26 billion trade surplus for our country.

“Beyond those numbers, the NEA work is critical to America’s future, generating substantial economic, educational, and direct community impact. In fiscal year 2016, NEA grants resulted in $500 million in matching support. These are additional dollars investing in projects, services, and programming, like access to arts education, teacher training, and preservation of historic artifacts.”

Mr. Lynch pointed out that philanthropic giving in the United States is geographically disproportional. But more than half of NEA-funded activities take place in locations where the median household income is less than $50,000.

“Public funding for the arts plays an essential role in making sure all American communities may benefit,” wrote Mr. Lynch.

Republican members of Subcommittees on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies are going to be feeling the pressure, including calls from their constituents and full page ads their local newspapers.

“The war is still ahead of us,” said Ms. Ozlu Tunceli.

FUNDING ARTS AND CULTURE CITY PROPERTIES City-owned buildings that serve arts and culture purposes are the subjects of several City Council motions stemming from this year’s budget process.

Councilmember José Huizar has asked for the identification of $750,000 that may be used to assist Self-Help Graphics and Art with the purchase of the property they are using in Boyle Heights.

Councilmember Huizar has asked for a report on the status of roof repairs at the city-owned Los Angeles Theater Center downtown, as well as any additional funding needs to ensure health and safety.

Councilmember Huizar has asked for a report of potential sources of funding for repairs to the Los Angeles Police Museum, located in the historic Old Northeast Police Station.

Councilmember Gilbert Cedillo has asked that the Mayor’s proposed budget be amended to The Los Angeles Theater Center add $1.5 million for planning and preliminary studies to renovate the city-owned historic Bank Building in Highland Park for constituent services.

Self-Help Graphics and Art

The historic bank building in Highland Park

JUNE 2017

The Old Northeast Police Station

9

#COVFEFE

OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE EXPANSION ON YORK Occidental College expects to begin renovations on its new building at York Boulevard and Annandale Avenue later this summer. The building will be a neighborhood-based home to Oxy Arts which seeks to engage the community with a variety of artistic expressions centered around concepts of social change. In addition, the building is expected to feature an affordable food space

MOVING DAY The Civilian Exclusion Orders that were publicly posted during World War II to inform people of Japanese ancestry of their impending forced removal and incarceration are being projected nightly as “Moving Day,� an outdoor public art installation at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans. But the projected installation feels timely today, given current political realities.

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

10

IWITNESS

A Powerful Artistic Witness to the Armenian Genocide A major public art installation, honoring the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian genocide, is currently on view at Glendale’s Central Park. “iwitness” consists of close-up photographs of genocide survivors, blown-up to from eight to 12 feet in height. The lack of right angles in the installation speaks to an unbalanced world, continually at risk of war, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. The photographs are positioned in such a way as to invite the viewer in, to walk around and contemplate what one is seeing.

The powerful installation is the creation of artists Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian and architect Vahagn Thomasian. “iwitness is a temporary monument to the men and women who rebuilt their disrupted lives and communities in the aftermath of genocide,” said Mr. Parian. “The proximity and clustering of the sculptures alludes to, and reflects the new communities they created after being dispersed across the globe.”

A related, indoor exhibit is taking place adjacent to iwitness, in the newly renovated Glendale Central Library. The library’s “ReflectSpace” is a gallery and reflection area designed for the exploration of and reflection on major human atrocities, genocides, and civil rights violations. Its inaugural installation, “Landscape of Memory,” explores the Armenian genocide through historic photographs and contemporary art. The exhibit is curated by Ara Oshagan and Anahid Oshagan. iwitness public art installation through June 14 Glendale Central Park Adjacent to 222 East Harvard Street, Glendale

JUNE 2017

11

MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM

AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF LEANNA LIN’S WONDERLAND! One magical Friday night, four of us headed to the Museum of Ice Cream, located in a pink industrial building in downtown Los Angeles. I had no idea what to expect, and it certainly wasn’t like any museum I’ve ever imagined! Everyone who enters the museum is supposed to put your worries aside and just have fun, and eat ice cream of course!

A chipper ice cream museum greeter (I want to work here!) brings a small group of us into the first room, which had a candy-wall that exploded of sweetness. It’s only the first of 10 rooms, and everyone is so giddy, while snapping up photos to immediately post on social media. After that we walk through a pink door, into a pink room filled with pink telephones and listen to a message from the Ice Cream Fairy. Our adventure awaits!

Entering into a pastel Los Angeles beach vibe room, we are served a full scoop of McConnell’s ice cream, YUM! Devouring and snapping more photos, we then move onward to the rest of the installations which include a banana room, mint room, giant melting popsicles room, giant Gummy Bear light up room, black ice cream room, and then to the finale – the sprinkle pool, where you area allowed 2 min. to play in a pool full of non-edible sprinkles! Wheeee! Throughout the different rooms we got to sample a variety of ice cream themed sweets like mint mochi, gummy bears, charcoal cookie dough on a cone, and then for the best one yet … mini warm pink pancake ice cream sandwich filled with soft serve custard. Made to order by the Museum of Ice Cream.

If you got tickets you’re super lucky, because the show is all sold out. Don’t forget to get a little something sweet at the gift shop too! www. museumoficecream.com Written by Leanna Lin’s Wonderland Photos taken by Orbital Ox

CRAFT IN AMERICA CENTER

8415 West Third Street Los Angeles, CA 90048

Tues – Sat 11am-6pm

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

WE CHOOSE ART TONY PINTO |

12

ARTIST SEEN Los Angeles, CA Written by Baha Danesh From WeChooseArt.com Featuring Tony Pinto Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Tony Pinto, an artist in residence at Shoebox Projects located within the Brewery Art Colony, and although his residencey ended on April 30th Tony has decided to continue his “ArtistSeen” portraiture project.

This news excites me, because Tony Pinto finds the people around him inspiring-actually… he finds them so inspiring that he has decided to paint and capture photos of his people, his tribe, his community.

According to Tony, creating this body of work reinforces his sense of connection and belonging to the art community. This is his way of documenting the relationships he has with artists, gallerists, curators, critics, and writers. Along with the photographs, Tony has created seven bigger than life paintings. The paintings are oil on wood, treated with gesso.

Each painting is dynamically drawn onto the plywood which creates a sense of liveliness and zest.

The We Choose Art team was curious to know more about Tony Pinto, and in order to tame our curiosity we asked the following questions: Baha Danesh: How do you feel most connected to the Los Angeles Art Community?

Tony Pinto: I feel most connected when I go to openings and shows and see artists I know. Many of them I first knew from Facebook, and then met in real life. Occasionally I will just go up to someone I don’t know, but I recognize from online or seeing them at other openings and introduce myself (I recall doing this with Mike Street at CB1). Shy, bashful, teenage me would never believe it!

I think going to see people’s shows is very important. I want to feel like I am supporting the artists that I know, and the arts in L.A. in general. Unfortunately, there are always far more shows than I am able to get to.

One thing I love about the L.A. art scene is that it’s not homogeneous; the diversity in the work is astonishing – as is the diversity of the artists themselves. Our community is all ages, ethnicities, genders, education level, you name it. And they create all kinds of artwork.

I’m saying this because in the past there tended to be movements or trends where everyone was an abstract expressionist, or a pop artist, or a minimalist, etc.

Right now, it seems like anything goes – which I think is very healthy.

Baha Danesh: Tell me a little about your artistic process. Do you have any rituals or artistic habits

you must hone in on before you start drawing?

Tony Pinto: I probably have too many! Which is a form of procrastination.

I come up with elaborate processes that I try to follow when I make my paintings; but for the last three that I just completed for this show (Kristine, Alex, and Jennifer), I wound up throwing part of my process out the window and it was fine, and really shortened the time it took to do the work.

My general process to create the heads is like this: – I take pictures of art world people that I am interested in possibly painting.

– If I like an image, I have an enlargement made that I use as my reference. In the past I would usually have a grayscale (black and white) photo print made, and also one where I selected the colors and created color charts in Photoshop; in retrospect I realized those steps were unnecessary.

– Once I have my source image, I prepare the ground – usually high-quality 5/8 birch plywood. This involves gessoing and sanding several layers – 3 or 4 on average. I try to get the surface as smooth as possible.

– Then I draw the image on the wood panel, making sure that it’s as accurate as possible in terms of placement and size – i.e., the eyes are where they are supposed to be, the nose is the right width and height, etc.

– Finally, I cut the shape of the head out of the plywood panel using a jigsaw. I do this myself. I break a lot of blades.

– After the head shape is cut out, I put the backing on it – continued on page 13

Namaste Highland Park Yoga Studio | Art Gallery | Tea Shop www.namastehighlandpark.com

Vinyasa Flow| Power Lunch | Candlelight Flow | Prenatal Kids Yoga | Yoga Sculpt | Mixed Level Flow

5118 York Blvd | Los Angeles | CA | 90042 JUNE 2017

13

continued from page 12 the substructure that holds the head off the wall and has a wire to hang it.

– I lightly sand the edges and then tape them up with painter’s tape. I want the edges to be pristine, with no paint on them. You can see the layers of the plywood.

– Then, and finally then, I paint! Painting is really the last step. I usually do a monochromatic underpainting in acrylics and then go to oils. Once the painting is done, I just let it dry and pull off the tape on the edges.

Baha Danesh: How does photography impact your paintings?

Tony Pinto: All of my paintings are based on photos that I have taken. I couldn’t imagine asking someone to pose for me while I painted, like they did in the old days. I don’t have the time (or patience) for that.

So I have to work from photos, that gives me greater control.

First I shoot the reference photo the way I want, then I can pick the right shot, adjust the contrast and colors in Photoshop, and wind up with a quality image to work from.

I’m not a photorealist, but I try to get the paintings to look as much like the person as possible. I don’t have any issue with photorealism, that’s just not what I’m going for.

The photo portion of the “Artist Seen” exhibition sprang from doing reference photos for paintings. The paintings of Kristine Schomaker and Jennifer Gunlock are based on photos I took of them in December. The conditions were very controlled; I actually shot them in the Shoebox Projects space, using an overhead flash, and a certain lens on my Nikon DSLR. I wanted the images to look dramatic and interesting. I was very pleased with how the photos turned out.

Once I did that first photo shoot, I decided that for my residency at Shoebox, I should shoot photos of anyone from the art world who comes in and wants their picture taken.

The lighting conditions are exactly the same for every shot; the only thing that varies is the person I am photographing. This gives the series a cohesiveness and ties them in with the paintings as well.

Baha Danesh: When did you realize you had chosen to be in today’s modern art world and what makes you want to continue? in other words, why do you choose art?

Tony Pinto: I came back to art after about a 15-year hiatus. I was working in advertising and design, and raising a family, and there was no time or mental bandwidth to make art. In

fact, I hadn’t painted since I got my MFA. In 2008, I realized that I really missed making art and seeing art, so I made a conscious decision to re-engage. And I started doing paintings, portraits; first of my family, then friends.

Regarding choosing to be in today’s modern art world, I have Mat Gleason partially to thank.

He had written something once that I liked and taped on my studio wall – “All art career advice summed up” – one of his guidelines was “Socialize in art circles.” At some point, I had also read the book, “Inside the Painter’s Studio,” by Joe Fig, and in that book, Eric Fischl said much the same thing; several other artists did as well. I now think that being part of an art community is an important aspect of being an artist.

So, I tried to get out and see as many shows and meet as many artists as possible. Most of my Facebook friends and many of the people that I follow on Instagram are in the art community. And as I met people and developed friendships, I realized very quickly that “these are my people”. I feel very at home with artists and the art world. Even if we have nothing else in common, the fact that we have “chosen art” brings us together and keeps us intertwined. Kind of like sharing the same religion – or being in the same cult.

Tony Pinto’s “Artists Seen” project can be viewed at Tonypinto.net/artist-seen/ or for information visit ShoeboxProjects.com.

John McIntyre is proud to be affiliated with Dilbeck Estates/Christie’s International Real Estate and Luxury Portfolio. He specializes in the marketing of distinctive and historic properties. These homes require specific expertise and individual attention. A home represented by John receives special handling through a company that has marketed local properties for over fifty years. Through strategic networking and exclusive affiliations with estates brokers worldwide, Dilbeck listings are targeted to the hard-to-reach home buyers. Selling your home should be a professional and rewarding experience.

John McIntyre and Dilbeck Estates are dedicated to making that a reality.

Inspired by Work Done Well

John McIntyre P R O P E R T I E S Estates Agent

CalBRE#01377075

323.481.6229 | john.mcintyre@dilbeck.com If your home is currently listed with another Broker, this is not intended as a solicitation.

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

NELAart

14

On the Secon Elysian Valley, art and eateri the updated l

Northeast Los Angeles Arts Organization, Inc.

June 10, 2017 - 7pm - 10pm

(Individual Gallery Hours May Vary. CHECK Gallery web sites for individual information. Just because a gallery is listed does not mean it’s open this month)

1. Avenue 50 Studio 131 No. Avenue 50 323. 258.1435 avenue50studio.org

21. The Market 1203 Avenue 50 www.themarkethp.com

41. Possession Vintage 5119 York Blvd. www.possessionvintage.com

2. Bike Oven 3706 No Figueroa

22. Bob Taylor Properties 5526 N. Figueroa St. 323-257-1080

42. The Situation Room 2313 Norwalk Ave.

3. Namaste Highland Park 5118 York Blvd. www.namastehighlandpark.com 4. Offbeat 6316 York Blvd www.offbeatbar.com 5. Council District Office #1 Gil Cedillo 5577 N. Figueroa St.

23. Cactus Gallery @ Treeline Woodworks 3001 N. Coolidge Ave 24. The York Check out their dog friendly patio.

5018 York Blvd.

25. Ball Clay Studio 4851 York Blvd. ballclaystudio.com

6. Future Studio 5558 N Figueroa St. 323 254-4565 futurestudiogallery.com

26. MAN Insurance Ave 50 Satellite 1270 N. Ave 50 323.256.3151

7. Collective Arts Incubator 1200 N. Ave 54 collectiveartsincubator.com

27. TAJ • ART 1492 Colorado Blvd. www.tajartinc.com

8. Meridian 5007 1/2 York Blvd. meridianstorela.com

28. The Greyhound 570 N. Figueroa St.

9. Vapegoat 5054 York Blvd.

323.963.VAPE 10. ETA 5630 N. Figueroa St. 11. Adjunct Positions 5041 Coringa Dr. 12. Matters of Space 5005 York Blvd www.mattersifspace.com 323.743.3267 13. Mi Vida 5159 York Blvd.

14. Vintage Tattoo Art Parlor 5115 York Blvd.

15. Antigua Coffee House 3400 N. Figueroa St. www.antiguacoffeehouse.com 16. Align Gallery 5045 York Blvd. www.aligngallery.com 17. Leanna Lin’s Wonderland 5204 Eagle Rock Blvd. www.leannalinswonderland.com 18. Panorama Press House 4700 York Blvd. www.thepanoramapress.com 19. Mindfulnest 5050 York Blvd.

323.999-7969 20. Toros Pottery 4962 Eagle Rock Blvd 323.344.8330 torospottery.com JUNE 2017

29. Urchin 5006 1/2 York Blvd.

30. Arroyo Arts Collective @ Ave 50 Studio 131 North Avenue 50 arroyoartscollective.org 31. O & M Leather 5048 Eagle Rock Blvd www.ommleather.com 32. Vapeology 3714 N. Figueroa St. 323.222.0744 33. Pop-Hop 5002 York Blvd. www.thepophop.com 34. Social Studies 5028.5 York Blvd.

35. Occidental College 6100 Campus oxy.edu 36. The Glass Studio 5668 York Blvd. www.theglassstudio.net 37. Good Eye Gallery 4538 N. Eagle Rock Blvd. www.goodeyegallery.com 38. Highland Cafe 5010 York Blvd.

323.259.1000 39. Kindness and Mischief 5537 N. Figueroa St. www.kandmcoffee.com 40. Civil Coffee 5639 N. Figueroa St.

43. Bookshow 5503 Figueroa St. www.bookshow.com 44. Vroom Vroom Bitsy Boo 5031 B York Blvd.

45. The Slow Down Gallery @ Random Gallery 200 N. Ave 64 46. co-Lab Gallery 5319 York Blvd. www.co-Lab.com 47. Apiary Gallery at The Hive Highland Park 5670 York Blvd. www.thehive.la 48. Rock Rose Gallery 4108 N. Figueroa St. 323.635.9125 49. Imperial Art Studios 2316 N. San Fernando Rd. 50. Pop Secret 5119 Eagle Rock Blvd.

51. Showboat 6152 York Blvd. showboatgallery.com 52. Leader of the Pack 5110 York Blvd. www.leaderofthepackvintage.com 53. Short Hand 5028 York Blvd. shopshorthand.com 54. Living Room 5807 York Blvd. livingroomhome.com 55. The Quiet Life 5627 N. Figueroa St. thequietlife.com 56. El Diablo Moto Cartel 5657 York Blvd. www.eldiablomotocartel.com 57. The Erin Hanson Gallery 2732 Gilroy St. erinhanson.com

57

15

nd Saturday of every month galleries, businesses, and artists in Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Cypress Park, , and Lincoln Heights open their doors a little later in the evening and welcome visitors. Use this map for locations of ies, grab someone you love, get some dinner, and enjoy some art. Friend NELA Art Gallery Night on Facebook for last minute list.

7

50 31 17 20

27

17

42 39 37 35 18

25

11 44 12 8 16 21

41 46 48 14 31 13

56 54 36 47

4 29 34 9 23 5 26 3 24 5319 3 38

7

1

30

45 51

40 5 55 10 9 433 28 6 22

48 49 23

32 2 15

Visit us at NELAart.org LA ART NEWS

NELAART SECOND SATURDAY MAY 2017

16

Huntz Liu at Kindness and Mischief

Ruby Nishio Quilts at Future Studio Ruben Zavala, Herencia (Inheritance) at Avenue 50 Studio

Jack Morris, Art Release, Original Art and Reproductions by Men Locked-up in the California State Prison System, at Avenue 50 Studio

Art As Resistance at Avenue 50 Studio

JUNE 2017

Peter Woods, Required Reading, Art As Resistance, at Avenue 50 Studio

17

Art As Resistance at Avenue 50 Studio Now Men, window installation by @ palaceworksinc, @scrap_labs, and @ph_ illustrate, at Social Study

Robert Condol at Vapegoat

Waruguru Waithira at Highland Cafe

Josue Rivas, Standing Strong, documenting living in the camps of Standing Rock, at Align Gallery

Jeanie Frias and Wesley Frias, Arroyo Arts Collective at Avenue 50 Studio

Neon Lights Only: solo photography by @ ChristopherDetails, at ETA

Powder Printing with Stacy Lynn Smith June 23–25 Create graphic imagery on glass with rich textures and colors that can’t be achieved with traditional printing methods. Taught by the master of this technique!

Bullseye Glass Resource Center Los Angeles 143 Pasadena Ave, Suite B, South Pasadena 323.679.4263 bullseyeglass.com/losangeles

PLAYFUL GIFT SHOP + ART GALLERY

5024 Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041 LeannaLinsWonderland.com 323.550.1332

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

STEVE FARROW AT TAJ • ART

18

The art of Steve Farrow evokes nostalgia through his renderings of vintage toys and lunch boxes. Mr. Farrow’s work is on view at T A J • A R T in Eagle Rock through June 10. www.tajartinc.com

SOMETHING WILD IN MY GARDEN AT CACTUS GALLERY “Something Wild in My Garden” will explore the plight of urban wildlife. Many of our furry and feathered friends have been evicted from their habitat by an exploding human population - who in their search for progress - are systematically destroying their natural environment. In turn wildlife are forced into ‘residential areas’, placing their own and their neighbors’ pets in jeopardy, in order to find food for survival.

Cactus Gallery Opening NELAart Second Saturday Gallery Night June 10, 6-9 p.m.

3001 North Coolidge Avenue, Frogtown

Olga Ponomarenko, Something Wild in My Garden

JUNE 2017

19

CLASSES IN NELA

Besides being a haven for artists and creative types, Northeast Los Angeles is the home of a fine array of arts classes, especially the industrial arts, but not limited to them. Below is a list of some of the businesses in the area that have classes. Do check with the facility to verify times and prices of their classes. As we find more places we will bring that information to all of you.

Adam’s Forge 2640 N. San Fernando Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90065 Adamsforge.org You may email Nancy with questions at blacksmithclasses@gmail.com Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events. Check out a Discovery class.

The Glass Studio 5668 York Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90042 323.387.9705 info@theglassstudio.net Check www.theglassstudio.com for a list of glasses ranging from glass blowing and torchwork to fusing and slumping and jewelry making.

O&M Leather 5048 Eagle Rock Blvd.

323-274-4640 www.ommleather.com

Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events.

They’re in a new location next to Community Woodshop. Cool new space!

Rock Rose Gallery 4108 N. Figueroa Street Highland Park, CA 90065 (323) 635-9125 www.rockrosegallery.com Visit: Rock Rose Gallery News, Instagram & Twitter KIDS CREATIVE ARTS 2-4 yrs Art, Music, Movement Sat. 9:30am-11am, $5 LATIN PERCUSSION Sat. 12pm-2pm, Bring your conga, etc.

Instructor Robertito Melendez, $15

Basic Leather Working Classes Leather 1 - Leather Basics $200 Leather 2 - Cutting and Skiving $200 Leather 3 - Hand Stiching $200 Leather 4 - Color, Finishes, and Leather $200 For information about scheduling call their store at (323)274-4640 or email them at ommeather@gmail. com Toros Pottery 4962 Eagle Rock Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90041 323.344.8330 Mon. 11:30am-2:30pm Class Mon. 6:30pm-9:30pm Class Tues.

6:30pm-9:30pm Tues.

4:30pm-6:00pm Thurs. 6:30pm-9:30pm time Fri. 11:30am-9:30pm dio time Sat. 11:30am-1:30pm ent

Molten Metal Works NEW LOCATION 3617 San Fernando Rd Glendale, CA 91204 moltenmetalworks.net

Adult Adult Adult Class Kids Class open studio open stuKids & Par-

Blue Rooster Art Supply Company blueroosterartsupplies.com blue@blueroosterartsupplies.com 4661 Hollywood Blvd LA, CA 90027 (323) 302-5613 They offer a variety of art classes.

Check their web site for more information about their classes and events.

Sugar Mynt Gallery 810 Meridian Ave. South Pasadena, CA 626.222.7257 sugarmynt.com

RINCON RUMBERO EAST w Troy Parker 3rd Sat. 3-6pm. Bring your drum $5 New! FREE FOR ALL Artist Only Creative Night Every Wed. 6-9pm, Artist bring your own supplies.

Table & Hospitality provided. $10 GUITAR - Please call regarding interest.

Six students required.

Free Weekend Workshops for Youth: “A Sense of Place: Art, Literacy, Music workshops, Community Garden

3rd Saturday: Rumbero Workshop with Troy Parker Ball Clay 4851 York Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90042 310.954.1454 ballclaystudio.com Intermediate Ceramics Pottery Class 6 class sessions Check web site for start date $240 A Place to Bead 2566 Mission St San Marino, CA 91108 626.219.6633 aplace2bead.com Find a variety of jewelry making classes, including stringing and wirework.

Bullseye Glass 143 Pasadena Ave. South Pasadena, CA bullseyeglass.com They offer a full range of kiln forming glass classes as well as regular free artist talks.

Paint and Pinot Twice a month. Check their web site for more detail.

Leanna Lin’s Wonderland 5024 Eagle Rock Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90041 323.550.1332

Los Angeles County Store 4333 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039 / 323-928-2781

Check Leanna’s web site for a current list of workshops and events.

Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events.

Community Woodshop NEW LOCATION 3617 San Fernando Rd Glendale, CA 91204 626.808.3725 www.community woodshopla.com These guys offer a wonderful selection of classes from beginner to advanced, membership, and private lessons.

Please check their web site for more information and a list of classes.

New Stone Age Mosaic Studio 1754 Colorado Blvd Eagle Rock They offer mosaic classes on Mondays and Tuesday. All classes are on going and open to all skill levels.We also do mosaic birthday parties. Call Mary at (323) 547-2021 for more information.

Little Knittery 3195 Glendale Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90039 thelittleknittery@gmail.com Beginning Crochet Saturdays 3:30-5:30 Tuesdays 1:00-3:00 Beginning Knitting Sundays 3:30-5:30 Wednesdays 1:00-3:00 Check schedule for new macramé classes Deb3321 3321 Pasadena Ave. Los Angeles, CA email: deb3321@gmail.com Uninstructed Figure Drawing Saturdays 11:00am - 3:00pm $5.00/hr Strictly Charcoal 11am - 1pm First two Saturdays of every month.

Christine Haenen Artists Crit Saturdays Starting at 3:30 $5/session Crit with Karen For more information go to: http://www. deb3321.com/linda-vallejo-fall-2016 Stained Glass Supplies 19 Backus Street Pasadena, CA 91107 626-219-6055 Stained Glass Class Tues. 9-12 or 6:30-9:30 Wed. 9-12 or 6:30-9:30 Thurs. 9-12 or 6:30-9:30 Sat. 9-12 $95 - 8 weeks Tools - $45 - $125 Materials $45 - $100 Classes are ongoing Barndall Art Park 4800 Hollywood Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90027 323.644.6295 http://www.barnsdall.org Check they’re web site for upcoming classes.

co-LAB Gallery 5319 York Blvd. http://co-lab-gallery.myshopify.com Check their schedule for fresh classes.

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

WINE OF THE MONTH

20

Larisa Code

Note: Create joy, one sip at a time.

Featured Wine: 2016 The Meadows Rosé Lodi Type: Rosé (dry) Color: Gorgeous Burnt Orange Price: $22.00 at Silver Lake Wine 2395 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039 When people follow their passions and are true to their hearts and minds, I truly believe great things will happen. To me, even the smallest things have meaning.

But sometimes, what occurs is big, bold and beautiful. Which is where The Meadows Rosé comes into play. Angeleno Jasper Dickson is truly passionate about wine, and we are all the better for it. He’s creative too, which is definitely a bonus in the wine world. Jasper took the low-yielding, nearly extinct, Spanish Graciano grape, (normally used for Rioja) and used it to make rosé. This is an extremely unusual choice that ended in success.

The grapes were organically grown in the Lodi region of Northern California by Markus Bokesch. They were picked early and placed directly in the press, never letting the juice rest on the skins.

That has to have had an influence on the interesting color, which is the first thing to grab your attention, as it is a beautiful burnt orange, deeper than most rosé.

I can envision a long wooden table placed in a field, surrounded by gardens and grapevines, the table filled with plates of bread and cheese and iced buckets filled with this beauty as the centerpiece.

To me, this is a full bodied dry rosé. Upon opening the bottle, the fruit of this dry wine entices your senses with apricot and mango. Once it opens up, the fruitiness settles, but remains, and the acid finish completes each sip.

There is just enough mineral to pair this rosé with simply prepared clams or shrimp, but to me, a plate with cheese, paté, prosciutto, pancetta, bread, olives…you get the picture is the perfect match.

Daisies and lavender would be the flowers to accompany this beauty.

Assuming you are at that table, in that field, early in the day, the music should be soft and acoustic, but as the sun begins to set and everyone is tipsy and sun-kissed, Roy Ayers would be ideal.

I know I say never choose a wine based on the label alone, but, with this beautiful label, it could happen, and it would work in your favor.

Salud!

NASTURTIUM PESTO & ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES I recently taught a workshop on edible common garden flowers at Fig Earth Supply. And, it got me thinking of all the delightful, delicious ways we can get the most nutritional bang from our outdoor spaces. Enter nasturtium pesto!

This pesto’s uses are pretty much endless! My favorite, and the most nutrient dense way to enjoy it, is as a simple, stand alone dip for colorful, raw vegetables, like peppers, asparagus, cucumber, and celery.

What’s the best part about this pesto? It is, in fact, made of a leaf that would otherwise become byproduct in your garden- the edible leaves of the nasturtium flower. Just run out to your back yard and grab some nasturtiums, and go to town!

There are a few recipes for this pesto out there, but this one is 100% vegan and raw. vegan cashew nasturtium pesto 2 cups of nasturtium leaves (about 30 leaves of varying sizes) About 20 nasturtium flowers NOTE: Try to pick the stems with the leaves, and reserve them as an optional ingredient 1/2 cup raw cashews 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly sliced 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup nutritional yeast 1/2 tsp. sea salt 1/4 tsp. fresh cracked pepper 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice Wash and pat dry the nasturtium leaves. Check the flowers for bugs and dust and wipe impurities from the blossoms. Place the leaves, cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until it breaks down and starts to blend together. Add the olive oil gradually and pulse the food processor to incorporate. Process the pesto until it reaches the consistency of pesto. This pesto will be a little more pasty than you might be used to. Add the tablespoon of water to break it down a bit, and pulse until it is smooth.

At this point, if you want it a little more peppery, you can add some of the stems. Add a handful at a time and see how you like the taste and texture. Finally, add the nasturtium flowers, and just pulse gently until the blossoms are broken up and appear as colorful speckles in the pesto, without becoming completely pulverized into the pesto. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate for later.

Harvey Slater is a Chef & Holistic Nutritionist residing in Highland Park. You can find more healthy recipes like this one on his blog: thewholdishblog.com

JUNE 2017

SUMMER READING LIST 2017

21

By Jen Hitchcock

Yes Ladies, it is that time of the year again! Summer Reading List! They are everywhere, in all your favorite magazines, blogs and newspapers. And yes, I am purposely addressing this exclusively to the gals in the house because it never seems these reading lists are directed at men. Men of course are too busy making our good world go around as they do. They don’t have time for frivolous pastimes like cracking open a book. They don’t get summers to lounge by the pool or on the beach like their wives do when the kids don’t need to be picked up from school for a few months. Men are off in the mines, or forests or boardrooms bringing home the bacon so us girls can do what we do in the summer... lounge around, one hand holding a frosty beverage, and one on a light, fun book to read in-between napping and dips in the pool.

With every little old tricky thing that has been going on lately, we are especially in need of some simple, airy, easy, quick, inspirational, fluffy, puffy reads this summer, are we not? Right ladies? Can I get an AMEN? So here it is, the alt-Book Show Summer Reading List. Freshen up your strawberry daq and dive in: HEDDA GABLER by Henrik Ibsen It is a play! So not a lot of extra words, because who wants to waste their precious summer moments reading extra words? Not me! Oh, and an added bonus that always makes for the perfect summer read… a surprise ending you can talk about over deviled eggs on the patio!

HANDMAIDS TALE by Margaret Atwood Maybe you have missed it, but women everywhere seem to be reading it, clutching it so tightly their knuckles are whiter than a Trump-Macron handshake. We can only assume it must be a hot dystopian romance novel full of dominance and submission! What else would so many women be interested in? I say then, dive in to what I suspect may be the read of the season!

WILL THERE REALLY BE A MORNING by Frances Farmer Glamour! Glitz! Shocking celebrity gossip! A woman’s story of her life in Hollywood. You can only imagine the people she met and the places she stayed. This could only be the perfect mindless escape to pack in your beach bag for a toasty work-on-your-tan day by the shore! Right?

Jen Hitchcock is the owner of Book Show, an independent book shop in Highland Park. Follow on the Instagram and the Twitter @bookshowla. Book Show is located at 5503 N. Figueroa St in Highland Park.

BOOK SHOW EVENTS Sunday June 4th 3pm Francesca Lia Block Presents: Student work Featuring readings by her students and Francesca Free Tuesday June 6th 7pm Collage & Cry Community Collage Night $5 Sunday June 11th 3pm-5pm Love Activism Collaborative Zine Workshop Led by Stacy Russo Contribute a page to a zine! $18 Wednesday June 14th 8pm Angry Nasty Women Feminist Writing Group $5 Thursday June 15th 7:30pm Laughterhouse 5 • Comedy night Hosted by Sumukh Torgalkar Donation Saturday June 17th 8pm Conjuring Caberet with Cabernet Magic Workshop With Daniel Perez $45 Thursday June 22nd 8pm Dinner poems • Poetry Workshop Led by Sam Bellamy $5 Saturday June 24th 4pm – 6pm Hitched Reading Series 8pm – Les Bohem Reading and Performance And more!! Please check our calendar on the website!

ONGOING EVENTS and WORKSHOPS

by Highland Park artist Stuart Rapeport

Collage & Cry Monthly, every 1st Tuesday 7pm-9:30pm Collage night All materials provided Five dollar donation EAT ART OPEN MIC Monthly, every 1st Friday Poetry and Prose Open Mic 8pm sign ups

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

22

ART HAPPENINGS AROUND LOS ANGELES PRESENTED BY SHOEBOX PR UPCOMING OPENINGS CA 101 2017 219 Avenue I, Redondo Beach, CA 90277-5618 Friday June 2nd 5-10pm

Trip The Light Fantastic: Marion Lane and Rochelle Botello Groundspace Project 1427 E 4th St, Los Angeles, California 90033 Opening June 3rd 6-9pm

Sanctuary : Opening Night Little Tokyo Art Complex 262 s. los angeles st, Los Angeles, California 90013 Opening June 2nd 8-11pm

Twenty-One Subliminal Projects 1331 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, California 90026 Opening June 3rd 7-10pm

ARK • Open Studios ARK 2599 Fair Oaks Ave, Altadena, California 91001 June 3rd and 4th 11-5pm

Virginia Broersma - A painter a performance artist walk into Grab Bag Studio 2626 E. 10th St., Long Beach, California 90804 Opening June 3rd 630-9pm

Art as Protest Orange County Center for Contemporary Art 117 N Sycamore St, Santa Ana, California 92701 Opening June 3rd 6-10pm

Wanderlust, A Solo Show by Valerie Pobjoy Flower Pepper Gallery 121 E Union St, Pasadena, California 91103 Opening June 3rd 430-730pm

Buzz, Pop, Color, Los Angeles at Brainworks Gallery Brainworks Gallery 5364 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019 Opening June 3rd 5-8pm

Don McKinney Solo Exhibition LA Artcore 120 Judge John Aiso St, Los Angeles, California 90012 Opening June 4th 3-5pm

Chris Finley ‘Drool, Snatch, Clean and Jerk’ Opening Reception Chimento Contemporary 622 S Anderson St, Spc 105, Los Angeles, California 90023 Opening June 3rd 5-8pm

Post Trauma: Siobhan Hebron Keck Medicine of USC (USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center) 1441 Eastlake Ave, Los Angeles, California 90033 Opening June 8th 12-8pm

Dion Johnson: Color Chords: Solo Exhibition - Opening Reception Werkartz 927 S Santa Fe Ave,, Los Angeles, California 90021 Opening June 3rd 2-6pm

OUT THERE Los Angeles Art Association/Gallery 825 825 N La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, California 90069 Opening June 9th 6-9pm

Don Porcella: “Everything Must Go” Noysky Projects 6727 7/8 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90028 Opening June 3rd 6-9pm

Constance Mallinson UNMADE Jason Vass Gallery 1452 E. Sixth Street Los Angeles, CA 90021 Opening June 10th

Double-Double AALA Gallery 7313 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, California 90046 Opening June 3rd 6-9pm

Exquisite Pittoresco Keystone Art Space 338 S. Ave 16, Los Angeles, California 90031 Opening June 10th 5-7pm

Embedded, New Paintings by Laura Karetzky Lora Schlesinger Gallery 2525 Michigan Ave Suite B5b, Santa Monica, California 90404 Opening June 3rd 5-7pm

The Nature of Things: Karrie, Lillian, Tracey Mike Kelley Gallery 681 Venice Blvd, Venice, California 90291 Opening June 10th 4-7pm

Exit Strategy | Brody Albert w/ Sara Ellen Fowler + Jason Gowans CES Gallery 711 Mateo St, Los Angeles, California 90021 Opening June 3rd 7-9pm

Never Say Never These Days 118 Winston St, Los Angeles, California 90013 Opening June 10th 7-10pm

Irrational Exhibits 10th Anniversary: Mapping the Divide Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions 6522 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90028 Opening June 3rd 7-9pm Lake Enchanto Peter Strauss Ranch 30000 Mulholland Hwy, Agoura Hills, CA 91301 June 3rd 730-9pm M. Christy / Keith Dugas / Cantstopgoodboy / Rene Gagnon Gabba Gallery 3126 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90057 Opening June 3rd 7-11pm Material Identity at Shoebox Projects Shoebox Projects 660 South Avenue 21 #3, Los Angeles, California 90031 Reception June 3rd 3-5pm Sabrina Gschwandtner - Hands at Work Shoshana Wayne Gallery 2525 Michigan Ave, Ste B1, Santa Monica, California 90404 Opening June 3rd 5-7pm Sing the Body Eric Beltz “Night Skies” CB1 Gallery 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles, California 90021 Opening June 3rd 4-7pm Speaking of Trees Studio C Gallery at Santa Fe Art Colony 2349 So. Santa Fe Ave. Studio C, Los Angeles, California Opening June 3rd 6-9pm Superchief 5-Year Anniversary Group Show L.A. Superchief Gallery L.A. 739 Kohler St, Los Angeles, California 90021 Opening June 3rd 6-9pm The Artists’ Prison Opening OCHI Projects 3301 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90018 Opening June 3rd 6-9pm Thinkspace Art Opening with Casey Weldon & Kisung Koh Thinkspace Gallery 6009 Washington Blvd, Culver City, California 90232 Opening June 3rd 6-9pm Transitions - CSUSB MFA Exhibition Eastside International / ESXLA 602 Moulton Ave, Los Angeles, California 90031 Opening June 3rd 7-10pm

JUNE 2017

Something Wild in My Garden Cactus Gallery 3001 N Coolidge Ave, Los Angeles, California 90039 Opening June 10th 6-9pm Petre 06: A Street Artist in Residence Showcase Street Artist in Residence 2717 S. El Camino Real, San Clemente, California 92672 Opening June 16th 6-10pm A Vein is a River TAM Torrance Art Museum 3320 Civic Center Dr N, Torrance, California 90503 Opening June 17th 6-9pm Calyx | Opening Reception TAJ • ART 1492 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90041 Opening June 17th 6-9pm Cedarfest: 32nd Annual Juried Arts Festival MOAH: CEDAR 44857 Cedar Ave, Lancaster, California 93534 Opening June 17th 6-8pm Dani Dodge solo show Personal Territories at MOAH:Cedar MOAH: CEDAR 44857 Cedar Ave, Lancaster, California 93534 Opening June 17th 6-8pm “Desire Trails” Open Mind Art Space 11631 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90025 Opening June 17th 7-9pm Spectrum Gestalt 4 ( June 2017) BG Gallery 2525 Michigan Ave Suite G8A, Santa Monica, California 90404 Opening June 17th 5-8pm Steve Seleska Solo Exhibition at ARK Gallery ARK 2599 Fair Oaks Ave, Altadena, California 91001 Opening June 17th 3-6pm Why Art Matters!

TAM Torrance Art Museum 3320 Civic Center Dr N, Torrance, California 90503 Opening June 17th 6-9pm You Have No Sound Exhibition - Opening Reception Irvine Fine Arts Center 14321 Yale Ave, Irvine, California 92604 Opening June 17th 4-6pm Diverted Destruction 10

The Loft at Liz’s 453 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, California 90036 Opening June 24th 7-10pm ONGOING EXHIBITIONS Haunted Memories Exhibition Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock 2225 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90041 To June 2nd FROST Photographs by Susan Bolles Los Angeles Art Association/Gallery 825 825 N La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, LA 90069 To June 2nd Susan Amorde | In My Case Los Angeles Art Association/Gallery 825 825 N La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, California 90069 To June 2nd 1992: Examination of the Iconography from the 92 L.A. Rebellion RESIDENCY 310 E Queen Street, Inglewood, California 90301 To June 3rd The Blue Wall Art as Resistance: Paintings in Protest to a Trump Presidency Avenue 50 Studio 131 N Avenue 50, Los Angeles, California 90042 To June 3rd Mark Dutcher Another World Jason Vass 1452 E 6th St, Los Angeles, California 90021 To June 3rd Signifying Form The Landing 5118 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90016 To June 3rd The Poetry of Color – Linda Stelling Artists Corner Gallery 1546 N. Highland Avenue Los Angeles, Ca 90028 To June 3rd Yaron Dotan: Sight Unseen- Opening Reception BG Gallery 2525 Michigan Ave Suite G8A, Santa Monica, California 90404 To June 3rd Annenberg Beach House | Personal Narrative Annenberg Community Beach House 415 Pacific Coast Hwy, Santa Monica, California 90402 Through June 4th Kent Yoshimura | Oral Floral | Solo Exhibition Jai & Jai 648 & 650 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, California 90012 To June 4th Modern Angelenos The Montalban 1615 Vine St, Los Angeles, California 90028 To June 4th Sayonara Jupiter Opening Reception 356 S. Mission Rd 356 S Mission Rd, Los Angeles, California 90033 To June 4th Solo Exhibit - Urbanscape at Gallery 417 Metro 417 417 S Hill St, Los Angeles, California 90013 To June 6th Critical Mess_Senior Exhibition 2017 Reception Barbara And Art Culver Center Of Arts 3834 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501, Riverside, California 92501 To June 10th Heather Rasmussen: Body Variations ACME. 2939 Denby Ave, Los Angeles, California 90039 To June 10th Johannes Wohnseifer: Class & Class Conflict Meliksetian Briggs 313 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, California 90036 To June 10th Let’s Combobulate: Elizabeth Medina, Ian Pines and Devon Tsuno JAUS 11851 La Grange Ave, Los Angeles, California 90025 To June 10th Linda Sue Price - Enlightened Systems TAG Gallery

continued on page 23

23

YOUTH TAKE BUDGET MATTERS TO THE STREET As the City wrapped up its budget process for the year, city youth took to the street in front of City Hall May 23 to bring attention to the need to include young people in the city budget process and decisions. In addition to a conventional protest demonstration, the youth set a long table for food and conversation, and invited elected officials to dialogue with them. At the appointed hour, representatives of Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilmembers Joe Buscaino, Bob Blumenfield, and David Ryu emerged from City Hall and joined the youth in conversation at the table.

continued from page 22 5458 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, 90036 To June 10th Sherié Franssen | Undertow Christiane Feser | Consider the Sphere Von Lintel Gallery 2685 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, 90034 To June 10th SoCalMFA 2017 Juried Exhibition Millard Sheets Art Center 1101 W. McKinley Ave, Pomona, 91768 To June 10th CAM Studio Gallery: Artist Terry Arena Reception Carnegie Art Museum 424 S C St Oxnard, 93030 To June 10th “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could dream together?”

Diane Rosenstein Fine Art 831 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, 90038 To June 10th Petting Zoo SugarMynt Gallery 810 Meridian Ave, South Pasadena, 91030 To June 17th Point of View - Assmann, Molenkamp, Rodriguez, Wilcox LAUNCH LA - Chinatown 936 Mei Ling Way, Los Angeles, 90012-1721 To June 17th

Qualia Christine Weir Solo Exhibition Opening Reception LAUNCH LA 170 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, 90036 To June 17th Rebecca Warren Matthew Marks Gallery 1062 North Orange Grove Los Angeles 90046 To June 17th Kelly Loudenberg - Foam Sweet Foam Monte Vista 1206 Maple Avenue, 5th floor, #523, Los Angeles, California 90015 To June 18th Stars & Stripes Imagined exhibit reception Santa Clarita City Hall 23920 Valencia Blvd, Valencia, Santa Clarita, California 91355 To July 20th Bryan Ida: Echo & Line George Billis Gallery 2716 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90034 To June 24th Frederick Hammersley and Matt Wedel L.A. Louver 45 N Venice Blvd, Venice, California 90291 To June 24th Exhibition Reception: Sherin Guirguis, Antoni Hervas and More 18th Street Arts Center

1639 18th St, Santa Monica, California 90404 To June 30th

Moholy-Nagy: Future Present To June 18th, 2017

“Broken Language” Shulamit Nazarian 616 N La Brea, Los Angeles, California 90036 To July 1st

MOAH- Lancaster Museum of Art and History Made on Mojave To July 30th

Lezley Saar “Gender Renaissance” Brendan Lott, “Play in Progress” Walter Maciel Gallery 2642 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90034 To July 1st

CAAM- California African American Museum Derrick Adams No Justice, No Peace Keyatta A.C. Hinkle To June 11th

Loss/Less Robin Eley Solo Exhibition Opening Reception 101/EXHIBIT 668 North La Peer Drive, West Hollywood, California 90069 To July 1st

Pasadena Museum of California Art Interstitial To August 6th

Natural Selections Opening Reception Brand Library & Art Center 1601 W Mountain St, Glendale, California 91201 To July 1st Museums LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART (LACMA) Abdulnasser Gharem: Pause To July 2nd, 2017 Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery, 1959–1971 To September 10th, 2017

MOCA Kerry James Marshall: Mastry To July 3rd Artist Talks Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community Craft and Folk Art Museum 5814 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90036 June 3rd 3-5pm L.A. Intersections Artist Led Panel/Discussion Fabien Castanier Gallery 2919 La Cienega Blvd, Culver City, California 90232 June 3rd 4-6pm

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

DANI DODGE, PERSONAL TESTIMONIES

24

by Shoebox PR

When we are young, we want nothing more than to get away from home. As we age, some of us want nothing more than to be home. Dani Dodge’s installation maps her own history of home and encourages visitors to consider their own tales of personal territory.

Opening June 17 at MOAH:CEDAR, “Personal Territories” is a room-sized interactive installation that incorporates video and sculpture while allowing members of the public to contemplate their own memories of home.

Dodge is known for crafting evocative interactive works that reflect ideas of home, formation of identity, and the secrets we hide in public and private spaces. She explores how many layers of transparency are required before opacity occurs.

To create the work, the artist, who grew up in California, relearned the art of sewing, something she abandoned after doing poorly in home economics at age 14. She re-creates her childhood bed in clear vinyl and shades of translucent fabric, hanging it from the museum ceiling. Each piece is a striation in her journey. Threads dangle from the seams.

A time-lapse video, reminiscent of Dodge’s childhood territory, projects onto and through the objects. It is at once visible and obscured as it plays upon the surfaces.

The installation allows the public to wander through this ephemeral representation of Dodge’s personal history, rendered in dreamlike colors and textures that at once conceal and reveal the details of her youth.

Sculptures made from the skins of mattresses dot the room. Visitors are invited to share their own childhood memories and ideas of home on wood blocks—one of the most solid items within the room—and hide them in shoeboxes under the bed.

Inspired by her personal history as a war correspondent, political journalist, and a young single mother who at one point lived in a car with two infants, the artist’s sculptures and installations reveal a range of powerful themes, including identity, memory, the fragility of home, and the nature of truth. At the same time, Dodge’s installation seduces viewers with its delicate monumentality and subtle but perilous beauty.

While no less contemplative, her “Personal Territories” public performances will be a celebration of community and home. At locations throughout Lancaster, she invites the public to share their own truths with her and others. The paper airplanes, drawings, and stories that result from the encounters will be on view at MOAH:CEDAR. Dani Dodge lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work is included in three museum collections and has been shown across the U.S. and internationally. In 2016, Americans for the Arts named Dodge’s interactive installation/performance “CONFESS” one of the outstanding public art projects of the previous year.

She is a former newspaper reporter who was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for exposing congressional corruption in 2006. She was embedded with the Marines during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She left journalism in 2008 to focus on art.

Residency from: June 17 - August 5, 2017 Opening reception: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 17, 2017 Location: MOAH:CEDAR, 44857 Cedar Ave., Lancaster, California Hours: 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday Cost: Free Additional events: The exhibition will include four events—July 1, 8, 15, and 22—outside of the museum walls to engage the community in a dialogue about the personal territory we all tread.

Personal Territories: Events Interactive art with Dani Dodge Saturday, July 1, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Joe Davies Heritage Airpark Horizons Beyond the Homefront Participants fold paper planes, write where they want to go on them and toss them into the “horizon.”

Saturday, July 8, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Prime Desert Woodlands

JUNE 2017

The Earth Is My Home Participants fill in a 4-foot-tall image of the Earth with their thoughts and drawings of what the planet means to them.

Saturday, July 15, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Los Angeles County Library – Lancaster The Setting for my Story Is Home We all have a story to tell. Participants tell the artist a short story about their home, wherever or whatever it is. The artist creates a title for the story and types it on a vintage library reference card that the participant then files into a library card file.

Saturday, July 22, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Western Hotel Museum Home as Heritage Visitors to the museum think about their own heritage. They share the name of a relative who was a foundation of their family and a short story about that person. The artist types the story in no more than three sentences on parchment paper that becomes a “book.”

25

CREATIVITY EQUALS 1.6 MILLION CALIFORNIA JOBS For the fourth consecutive year, Otis College of Art and Design has commissioned the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) to produce a report on the Creative Economy of California.

The statewide effort was born out of a more localized Annual Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region, produced since 2007.

The Otis Reports assess the impact of the creative sector on state and regional economies.

The LAEDC examines numbers of jobs, payroll, state and local tax revenues generated by for profits, non profits, education and independent contracts through three creative lenses: • Businesses and individuals involved in producing cultural, artistic, and design goods and services; • Organizations that provide venues for artists to work and to share their work with the public (i.e. museums, galleries, theaters); • Support systems that teach, nurture, and sustain creative activity (i.e. arts programming in schools, post-secondary education, philanthropy, and non-profits).

From 2010 to 2015, direct wage and salary employment in California’s creative industries increased by 88,600 jobs to 747,600, an increase of 13.5%.

Otis College of Art and Design President Bruce W. Ferguson told a May California State Joint Committee on the Arts hearing at the state capitol that California leads the nation with that total of 747,600 direct creative jobs. And when indirect and induced jobs are added to direct jobs, the total of jobs in the creative economy rises to 1.6 million, or 11.8% of all private wage and salary workers in California.

That 1.6 million earned $136 billion in total labor income and generated $16.7 billion in tax revenue for California.

Entertainment, publishing and printing (including online), and fashion collectively accounted for 60% of this total.

Other creative economy sectors studied include architecture and interior design, art galleries, communication arts, digital media, furniture and decorative arts, industrial design services, toys, visual and performing arts, and fine and performing arts schools.

Beyond this, the creative economy influences a variety of technical services, transportation, food services, security, accounting, law, insurance, and office and industrial real estate. It attracts significant tourism revenue to the State.

Los Angeles is, of course, a center for this activity. In 2015 the creative economy directly employed 429,000 people in the Los Angeles region. When indirect and induced jobs are taken into account, that figure jumps to 759,000 people. About 175,000 people are selfemployed in creative economy endeavors. (In the visual and performing arts sector, it is actually more common to be self-employed than to be on someone else’s payroll.)

Of 77 creative occupations analyzed in the statewide data, 57 pay a median wage higher than the median across all industries.

“Creativity and the innovations that flow from creativity are two of L.A. County’s foremost economic assets,” said economist Kimberly Ritter-Martinez at the Otis program marking the release of the reports. “The talent that drives the creative economy provides a competitive advantage that reaches across almost every industry in the Los Angeles region.”

“The creative economy is a vibrant and vital force in our society,” said Ms. Ritter-Martinez. “…In many ways, the Los Angeles region is unique because of its combination of place, its resources, and its open attitude towards new ideas.”

Employment, wages and output are the obvious indicators for economists to study for a

SAVE THE NEA, NEH AND CPB

by Tomas Benitez

When we study ancient civilizations we usually start with their art and architecture left behind. Indeed, there are no great civilizations that did not have art and culture, supported by public resources. Perhaps the Renaissance set a precedent for private funding, and great art came from that period, but it was at the preference of only those who paid for it to be created, including royalty, the church, and the elite merchant class. It took over a century later before art created by the working classes and the lower classes were recognized as having value. To this day we have a separate category and class for identifying folk art and informal practices. Private support is important and appreciated, but it is only a part of the support profile needed to insure a vibrant system of arts and culture in our communities.

In this country, founded on egalitarian ideals of Democracy, it took nearly two hundred years before the state, (small s), created the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and later the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with Franklin Roosevelt’s WPA as a critical precursor.

Sectors of the California Creative Economy. Graphic from the Otis College of Art and Design report. Photo courtesy of Arts for LA. report such as this. The value of intellectual property, where measurable, may be taken into account. But the report also states that there are intangibles, such as ideas, design, brands, and style that are beyond the scope of the report, but which play into the creative realm.

“The creative economy is a vibrant and vital force in society,” says the report. “Intellectual and aesthetic sensibilities lead individuals to express themselves through the arts, solve problems through design, and seek out what is beautiful and original.”

There is some optimistic news regarding job growth contained in the report: “The LAEDC projects that creative industry employment in California will grow by 3.3 percent from 2015 to 2020. Creative industry wage and salary job counts will climb from 736,100 in 2015 to 760,400 in 2020, an increase of 24,300 jobs over the period. Growth is anticipated across the entire set of creative industries, but the pace will vary by industry.

The largest percentage gains will occur in industries with a strong technology component like digital media and communication arts. The revolution in how media content is created and delivered will continue to fuel demand for digital media workers across a number of industries including entertainment, publishing, and advertising.”

Still, artists and their advocates must grapple with moving into the future in uncertain times.

“We need policies that reward and subsidize stimulation of the creative economy at hyperlocal levels, and not just for developers,” Betty Avila of Self Help Graphics and Art told the Joint Committee.

“We do have to find a way to help the arts community become more politically organized,” said Joint Committee Chair, Senator Ben Allen.

Full reports on the Creative Economy in California and in the Los Angeles region are available at www.otis.edu.

Almost from the onset both the NEA and NEH, and the CPB have been subject to charges of elitism. Indeed, there have been internal struggles to make these agencies more reflective of the broader American landscape. But they have survived, changed for the better and emerged as the tip of the arrow in promoting a national identity through creativity and enlightenment. Hundreds of studies have confirmed the value of art and culture. The arts and culture fortify a healthy environment, a well-rounded education, and a vibrant economy. Public support of the arts and culture fosters public participation, access, and inclusion.

Thus it is no surprise that once again the arts are subject to attacks from the far right, facing elimination by the Trump administration. Not because of a firm belief in privatization, nor the desire to balance the budget; the arts and culture are prime examples of great value for very little cost. No, it is because of growing antiintellectualism and a reactionary response to free speech and cultural expression. It’s another attempt to control the masses and the message. Call your elected officials and tell them to support arts and cultural funding. Keep your society free. Keep your culture alive.

quality printing and design with a personal touch business cards

banners - flags

open mon.- fri.

9am - 7pm sat.

11am - 4pm highland park merchandise

flyers - brochures

headwear

5144 york blvd., los angeles, ca 90042 ph. 323.478.0699 - fx. 323.478.2755

e.yvpdirect@gmail.com LA ART NEWS SECTION A

THE WOMAN’S BUILDING

26

1973~~1991~~the present

The 1970s were a time of flowering of feminist art and thought. Women’s creative work was seldom if ever represented in museum and gallery shows. But the founding of the Woman’s Building in 1973 gave women a safe and nurturing space in which to create and share all manner of art.

The Woman’s Building was located in an industrial area, alongside the Spring Street Bridge connecting Lincoln Heights and Chinatown. An imposing sculpture of a strong female image by artist Kate Millet, surveyed her surroundings from the roof.

The guiding principle behind building programming was that art and activism went hand-in-hand.

The Woman’s Building closed in 1991, but the place it gave to women in the arts, and the sheer volume of creative work that emerged from its walls, remain legendary.

In May, 15 artists commissioned through Metabolic Studio bridged the years between the building’s closure and the present by presenting “Animating the Archives: the Woman’s Building” at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park. The selected artists examined holdings in the Woman’s Building archives, and then created new art pieces in a variety of mediums, both gallery and performance-oriented, in reaction.

The Avenue 50 Studio exhibit, in conjunction with Metabolic Studio, and related programming became both a public reunion of women who were involved in the Woman’s Building and a chance to expose a new generation to a vital piece of art history. Visual and performance pieces connected generations of women artists. Further, they served as a map of where women have been, where they are now, and where they are potentially headed.

More information on the Woman’s Building is available at www.thewomansbuilding.org.

CamLab, The Reguarding Room (miniature artworks about rape and sexual assault)

JUNE 2017

La Palabra Poetry at Avenue 50 Studio hosts legendary writer Deena Metzger

Hackers of Resistance (multimedia installation and interactive performance)

Hana Ward, a room of one’s own (oil on canvas)

27

LA ART NEWS SECTION A

4320 Eagle Rock Blvd. / www.theerb.com A collection of new homes currently under construction in Eagle Rock. Offering mixed-use + single family residences with floor plans up to 2,500 square feet. We invite you to join our interest list at www.theerb.com.

FOR SALE

A Silver Lake Jewel with Panoramic Views

Corner Penthouse at Barker Block

Four Bedroom Traditional in Prime Eagle Rock

3421 Landa St, Silver Lake

527 Molino St # 401, Arts District

3 BED | 3.5 BATH | $2,500,000

2 BED | 2 BATH | $1,598,000

4 BED | 2 BATH | $1,150,000

Architectural Home in Los Feliz Village

10 Modern Homes with Rooftop Decks

Altadena, 1964

1759 N New Hampshire, Los Feliz

1433 Waterloo St, Silver Lake

107 E Palm St, Altadena

3 BED | 3.5 BATH | $1,079,000

3 BED | 3.5 BATH | $1,059,000

3 BED | 2 BATH | $719,000

2253 Hill Dr, Eagle Rock

Tracy Do Leading the way in Eastside home sales. Setting the standard.

I provide exceptional service to every client, with a commitment to your goals and the resources to achieve them. tracydo.com 323.842.4001 calbre #01350025

Compass is a licensed real estate broker (01991628) in the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only.

Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. To reach the Compass main office call 626.205.4040.

tracydorealestate compass