August 8, 2022 I VOL. 51 I #32
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Covered NEWS California will help
AUGUST 8, 2022
New program helps small businesses win public construction contracts By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor rom the financial toll of the pandemic to the drastic rise in inflation rates, the last two years have been devastating for many small businesses across the country. In Los Angeles, an estimated 150,000 businesses closed their doors since the start of the pandemic, giving the city one of the highest business closure numbers in the U.S., according to reports. To break down barriers that have long prevented many small businesses from accessing public contracts, which are crucial to infrastructure development, Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services have administered a three-pronged Los Angeles regional program consisting of the city, the county and LA Metro called the regional Contractor Development and Bonding Program (CDABP). The CDABP will provide bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, education, training and other services to underrepresented businesses. “This program, and I would say other efforts that are really designed to address the systemic barriers of access, are what’s needed,” MWIS CEO Ingrid Merriwether said. “They’ve been needed for some time, but they’re really needed when trying to recover from the impact of the pandemic. When we have those levels of crises or recessions, it always has a disproportionate impact on small business, on minority business and in diverse communities.
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“The overall purpose and mission of the program is to make sure that access to contract opportunities, mostly in the public construction arena, are available to small and diverse firms because there are a lot of systemic and institutional impediments that have historically impeded their participation in public construction.” MWIS has over two and a half decades of experience working on public construction contracting and diversity, equity and inclusion issues statewide. The company implemented a contractor development and bonding program in San Francisco 25 years ago, and Merriwether insisted its successes will be seen in LA’s program as well. “LA’s goal was to really replicate San Francisco’s program, so it’s designed with the same core components and addresses a myriad of technical areas for when you’re bidding and working on public works construction projects,” Merriwether explained. “When there are resources that are knocking down these historically embedded impediments like bonding, like access to financing, and those firms are now able to compete and secure contracts, then they’re starting to build their capacity. And that increase in capacity means that they’re hiring and retaining more workers. They’re spending those contracting dollars, oftentimes in the diverse communities that they operate. “You have this multiplicative, economic impact. Everybody understands when you spend more dollars locally, you create more local economic activity. So there’s been a multiplier of benefits, but we really focus on building capacity for these contractors so
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that they can take on more work, they can hire more folks and they can start to compete for larger and larger contracts, which is really what our experience has been.” The recent addition of a CDABP at the county of Los Angeles has led to the creation of a new regional CDABP website and to expanded outreach and supportive services to help contractors access billions of dollars in infrastructure work, a sector that will soon expand even more with the signing of the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure investment plan late last year. “It’s a big infusion of opportunity that we and the public agencies want to capture and optimize,” Merriwether said of the investment plan. “That’s legacy creating opportunity there, and with this particular administration we’re really pleased that they’ve talked about equity. … We’re pleased that we’re getting some attention around the work that we’ve been doing and the success of these programs, because that’s going to just enlarge the universe of opportunities that the kind of firms we work with will have access to.” Supporting small and minority-owned business growth and development has been core to the mission of MWIS, who started a contract financing program three years ago. Merriwether explained when small business owners are awarded a contract with a public agency, they have to work that contract for 30 days while funding the cost out of their own pockets before they submit an invoice to the agency. They would then generally wait a minimum of 30 days before getting paid. In some cases, Merriwether has seen contractors who have waited six months to get paid. “In essence, you’re funding the public agency’s work out of your own resources until you start to receive these progress payment reimbursements, which are always in arrears,” Merriwether said. “They’re always lagging 60 days, so that means you need working capital and that becomes the other kind of systemic barrier: access to capital. “That was another area we felt we could tackle because we’ve had such success in
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the loss ratio of our program. To get these contractors able to qualify for bonding, in many instances the agency actually puts up collateral support. They’re called bond guarantees with the bonding company. That’s an inducement for the bonding company to write a bond that they might not otherwise write because it doesn’t meet their requirements.” MWIS has put up approximately $52 million for this type of bond guarantee support, and in the 25 years they’ve done this, they’ve only had two contractors fail to complete their contracts. Merriwether reported they’re tracking a loss ratio of less than 1% while the industry loss ratio for construction contractors is 20%. “There’s always been a stigma that small and minority owned contractors lack capacity, are less qualified or don’t have the resources,” Merriwether began. “We’ve been able to prove that that’s not true when you create a conducive environment. When you help them overcome these systemic barriers and they can compete, they really outperform their peers based on the industry loss data information. … We’ve been able to demonstrate their success, wild success by comparison to the industry standard. “It’s time for those perceptions to shift. The benefit inures to all when we remove barriers that give more folks access to participate. Equity is good for everybody because it means more competition, lower cost and more economic parity throughout communities.”
Los Angeles Regional Contractor Development and Bonding Program LAConDev.com, MWISInfo@imwis.com.
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Covered California will help FEATURE
With their forthcoming Angels Landing development, Don Peebles and Victor MacFarlane are looking to change LA’s economic landscape. Angels Landing/Submitted
New Angels Landing development hopes to bring financial boost Downtown By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor uring a time when inflation has threatened an increase in poverty throughout California, with LA county maintaining one of the highest poverty rates in the state in recent years, developers Don Peebles and Victor MacFarlane are using Downtown’s forthcoming urban development, Angels Landing, as a way to give the city an economic boost. “Victor McFarlane is a good friend and a business associate of mine,” Peebles said. “He was finishing up a project down the street, Park Fifth, and so I called him to see if he would be interested and see if we shared a similar vision, which we did. We decided instead of competing against each other to join forces. … We wanted to do something different. We wanted to build an impact building.” As the anchor development for Bunker Hill and California Plaza, the sprawling Angels Landing site will not only include a mixed-use development with two towers totaling over 1.2 million square feet of floor area on a 97,631-square-foot site, but will also create over 8,300 new jobs during the development period alone.
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Peebles, who is the founder, chairman and CEO of The Peebles Corporation, and MacFarlane, chairman and CEO of MacFarlane Partners, began brainstorming the concept of Angels Landing at a time when DTLA was flourishing economically. It was 2017, the InterContinental Hotel had just opened and numerous other developments were on the horizon. Peebles and MacFarlane wanted to open a transformative project in time for the Olympics, but after going through an entitlement process that took several years, they faced a difficult decision as COVID-19 shut down the world and decimated the hotel industry. “This project is programmed to have two hotels,” Peebles said. “We had to make the decision, is Los Angeles resilient enough to overcome this? Is the country going to overcome it? What should the project look like? We went through that analysis and felt obviously that Los Angeles will recover. The country would recover from this, and then this type of project would be even more important.” On a mission to end systematic exclusion and change LA’s economic landscape in a post-pandemic city, Peebles and MacFarlane made a commitment
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to 30% minority and women-owned businesses across the board for Angels Landing. “We feel that we have a project that’s meeting two of the critical moments in the country, which is how we recover from COVID economically and socially, and then how we address the protest and the quest for economic inclusion of African Americans and people of color,” Peebles explained. “We’re excited that our project is really going to meet some of the key moments in the country and give us the opportunity to do something very different and make it so that the economic opportunities generated by our development are reflective of the broad diversity of Los Angeles.” In the face of a nationwide workforce shortage, Peebles insisted that by widening Angels Landing’s lens and allocating significant space for minority and women-owned businesses, the development will set a tone that inclusion is good for business. “It’s a good business approach,” Peebles said. “This perception that somehow if you include women and minority firms it costs more money and results in an inferior product, none of that’s true. And we want to demonstrate that in action with our building and show that it’s a value added in every aspect. “The supply chain disruptions and the shortage in the workforce are making it so certain businesses don’t get going and certain projects don’t go forward, and that’s a negative to everybody because then there are no jobs from those projects or businesses. We feel that expanding the workforce will set a different tone and also get women and minority businesses to feel that they can be a part of the success of Downtown LA, that they can reap some economic benefits from the growth. And hopefully then that creates an environment where we’re all working together.” The development itself will include over 72,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and general commercial space, a total of 432 residences with 180 condominium units and 252 apartment units, and over 58,600 square feet of landscaped public plaza and open space. Angels Landing will also have an integrated Metro Transit Station and three-level subterranean parking garage. “This is going to essentially be a center of activity, a center of life,” Peebles described. “We’re on top of the Pershing Square Station and we’re incorporating the Angels Flight (funicular) into our development. We’ve got Cal Plaza around us and we’re building open promenades and plazas that are fully accessible to the public. “We are going to focus heavily on local, small businesses, so that’ll be another aspect that gives our project character and provides other resources and amenities for Downtown LA that can give life, excitement and jobs.” Set to open before 2028, Angels Landing’s two dominant features are their towers. The 63-story Tower A will hold 180 condominiums, 60 rental apartments, a five-star hotel with 260 rooms and a Sky Lounge. The 42-story Tower B will hold 192 apartments, a four-star hotel with 255 rooms as well as a 42nd floor terrace for residents and Level 2 terrace for hotel guests. The $1.6 billion project will strive to connect the various neighborhoods that converge at its location, including the Financial District, the Historic Core, the Cultural District and Civic Center. Peebles hopes Angels Landing will usher in a new era of development and stand as a model in the Downtown skyline. “It’s not enough as a developer to just build a profitable building that looks nice,” Peebles said. “It’s what kind of impact we’re leaving on our environment, what kind of leadership our buildings have. It’s a follower-leader business. I think if we set a standard, then others have to follow it or exceed it. … And I hope over its legacy, when people go and look at the building or they’re in it, they’ll talk about the architecture and some of the other things because all of that’s very nice too, but they’ll also talk about how this was the beginning of the change of how the development business is done in LA and around the country.”
Angels Landing WHERE: DTLA’s Bunker Hill neighborhood WHEN: Set to open between 2027 and 2028 INFO: angelslandingdtla.com
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The long-awaited re-opening of MiKaza Sushi and Lounge is finally Here!!!! MiKaza Sushi’s Grand Opening is on Monday, August 1, 2022. Doors Open at 12:00p.m. Join us for lunch or dinner Restaurant hours: Monday through Sunday from 11:00a.m.-8:00p.m.
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By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski LA Downtown News Executive Editor isei Week Japanese Festival has plenty of reasons to celebrate this year. After two years of virtual programming, the festival in LA’s Little Tokyo is back to in-person activities — all in time for its 80th anniversary — from Saturday, Aug. 13, to Sunday, Aug. 21. Cory Hayashi, this year’s co-president, said visitors can expect free Japanese cultural events, activities, exhibits and cuisine over the two weekends. “We definitely missed the energy and the people coming out to Little Tokyo,” Hayashi said. “It’s really been missed. It’s taken a lot of work to get this to happen. We’re happy that we’re able to bring this back to the public. There are a lot of challenges in getting the festival back up and running within the changing regulations and sponsorships. Returning after two years is a big celebration in itself,” said Cory Hayashi. Among the highlights is the grand parade, which starts at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14,
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led by 2022 grand marshal, George Sugimoto, entrepreneur and community leader; parade marshal Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, Olympic bronze medalists; and honorary parade marshal Kellyn Acosta, a defensive midfielder for the Los Angeles Football Club. The parade procession will start at Central Avenue and head west on Second Street, turning north on San Pedro Street, turning east on First Street, then turning south and ending on Central Avenue. Local entertainers and martial artists will fill the Japanese American Community and Cultural Center for the Plaza Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, and Sunday, Aug. 21. Saturday will also feature a mini food festival, sponsored by Day-Lee Foods, and will include local chefs and a beer and sake garden. The Taiko Gathering is Sunday, Aug. 21, showcasing Japanese drum (taiko) groups from across Southern California. The Ondo Public Street Dancing & Closing Ceremony is 4 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20. The public is invited to join Nisei Week’s
Nisei Week began in 1934 to showcase and celebrate DTLA’s Little Tokyo. finale — the Japanese tradition of dancing in the street with live entertainment to close out the annual festival. Hayashi said Nisei Week is a “great time” to see Little Tokyo come alive. “It was founded in 1934 as a way of bringing people back into Little Tokyo to help support the community’s businesses,” he said. “We still believe in that. With gentrifica-
Toyo Miyatake Studio/Submitted
tion and the struggles with the pandemic, we lost a lot of our legacy businesses. We have to celebrate what we have and the community pillars who are still around.”
George K. Sugimoto Sugimoto was born in Parlier in June 1926 to his day laborer parents who worked hard to support nine children.
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ture of avionic components. KGS Electronics has been in operation for over 62 years and now occupies a 50,000-square-foot space in Arcadia and a facility in Upland. KGS provides products to civil aviation, general and military aviation to original equipment manufacturer customers worldwide. Cessna Aircraft, EADS Airbus, Boeing Aerospace, Learjet Inc. and Robinson Helicopter are some of the many aircraft and aerospace companies KGS serves. Although he is semi-retired, he is in the office almost every day. The couple have two children, Lisa and Nathan. Lisa retired after serving 35 years with California community colleges. She is married to Don Nose and they are parents to Garrett. Nathan is the president and chief financial officer for KGS Electronics. He and wife, Christine, have three children, Lindsay, Alyssa and Aaron.
Sugimoto discovered an interest in aviation, which motivated him to go into avionic electronics. He completed one year at Fowler High School before Executive Order 9066 incarcerated the family in the Gila Relocation Center. An older brother was drafted and served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Sugimoto was drafted after answering “yes, yes” to two loyalty questions and entered military service in March 1945. After completing basic training at Camp Fannin, Texas, in August 1945, he was sent to Korea to serve with the 6th Army Occupational Forces. After his honorable discharge, he returned to California. In 1947, he attended the American Institute of Television Technology in Chicago. In 1950, earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Later, Sugimoto completed his flight instruction and became an instrument-rated pilot. His passion for flying was fulfilled with his command of a Piper Turbo Aero aircraft for 30 years. He married Ruri Hirano in September 1951 in Fresno and soon after their marriage moved to Pasadena. He received his professional electrical engineer license for the state of California and began his career as an electrical engineer and at one point elevated to chief engineer. Realizing working for others limited his creative and financial opportunities, he started his own business. His home and garage in Pasadena were the beginnings for the design and manufac-
The Shibutanis Parade marshals Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani are known as the Shib Sibs. The two-time Olympic bronze medalists and three-time world medalists, four continent champions, two-time U.S. national champions, six-time Grand Prix gold medalists, and two-time members (2014 and 2018) of the U.S. Olympic team. They are the first figure skaters of Asian descent to win medals at the Olympic Games in ice dance. In PyeongChang, they
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also became the first sibling ice dance team to win two Olympic medals. The siblings made their debut as authors in 2020 with the release of “Kudo Kids: The Mystery of the Masked Medalist.” The second book in their middle-grade series, “Kudo Kids: The Mystery in Manhattan,” was released in 2021. Their next literary project will be a picture book, “Amazing: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All,” is spring 2023. The siblings were named sports envoys for the U.S. State Department in 2017. Since then, they have traveled throughout Asia to connect with young people at goodwill events. They are also athlete ambassadors for the global organization, Right To Play. In 2021, Alex was named to the LA28 Athletes’ Commission. They are AAU Sullivan Award finalists, five-time Team USA Team of the Month winners, recipients of the Asia Society Game Changer award, and Gold House A100 list honorees.
Kellyn Acosta Besides playing for LAFC, Acosta is on the U.S. Men’s National Team and featured on
the roster that recently helped the United States clinch a spot in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. If he is rostered for the global tournament in November, Acosta would be the first player of Japanese heritage to represent the United States in a World Cup. Originally from Plano, Texas, Acosta is a homegrown product of the Dallas Football Club (FC) academy where he signed with the Dallas FC first team at the age of 16 (2012), making his debut as a professional in Major League Soccer the following year. He is a two-time MLS All-Star (2016, 2017), two-time Concacaf Gold Cup Champion (2017, 2021) and Concacaf Nations League Champion (2021), Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Champion (2016) and MLS Supporters Shield Winner (2016). Known for his fashion sense, Acosta is part Japanese, and recently toured the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles with his dad and grandmother, the latter of whom was born in Japan. When he’s not on the pitch, he is busy being a father to a curious and energetic toddler, getting involved in the local community, shopping for new kicks, discovering a new wine or exploring Los Angeles.
Nisei Week niseiweek.org On Instagram: @niseiweek
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The first few years of a child’s life are critical for their development. Children at risk of a developmental delay, or showing any signs of delay, may qualify for intervention and services through the Early Start program of California. Across the state of California, the Early Start program is coordinated by all 21 regional centers. With the guidance of service coordinators, an individualized plan for services and supports can make a difference in a child’s development. For individuals over the age of 3, the regional centers also provide lifelong services and supports from the school age years through adulthood, including service coordination, individual service planning, education related advocacy and training In partnership with the Family Resource Centers, parents and family members may receive parent-to-parent support, guidance, information and referrals to community resources. Due to the decline in referrals during the COVID-19 State of Emergency, it is important to know that your local regional center remains open and is accepting referrals. Although some regional center staff may be working remotely, they continue to work hard to ensure your child is receiving the services they need. To find out exactly which regional center would serve your family, please visit dds.ca.gov/services or dds.ca.gov/listings Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center 3303 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90010 (213) 383-1300 or (213) 252-5600 kyrc@lanterman.org | www.lanterman.org
Musical based on a real prom controversy arrives By Jeff Favre LA Downtown News Contributing Writer t’s likely a teenage girl in rural Mississippi didn’t think she would become a worldwide touchstone for LGBTQ rights when she invited another girl to the prom. Likewise, veteran stage actress Courtney Balan didn’t imagine yet another workshop for yet another new musical would turn into anything but a few hours of time spent sitting around with other performers. They were both wrong. Constance McMillen’s simple ac t sparked controversy that turned into a lawsuit, followed by national personal recognition from major celebrities, including an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” And McMillen’s story inspired a new show. Written by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin with composer Matthew Sklar, “The Prom” held its world premiere in 2016 and moved to Broadway two years later, where it earned six Tony nominations. On its first national tour, “The Prom” opens Tuesday, Aug. 9, at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre in Downtown LA. Balan is the narcissistic diva Dee Dee, who with three other actors plans to help a girl whose prom is being canceled because she is lesbian. Dee Dee also hopes to improve her egotistical image by appearing selfless. The show has changed some since that first workshop Balan attended, but she could sense even years ago the creators were onto something. “ The script is so funny that I was laughing so, so hard,” Balan said. “At intermission, I was like, oh no, is that it, is that the end? There has to be more. And I saw in the second act how things change and how the actors learn. This is a true musical comedy at its best, because it is so smart and so funny and there’s an amazing message, but no one’s being hit over the head with the message.” Balan’s first work on “The Prom” was as the understudy for Dee Dee, a position she was getting a bit tired to take. “I think it was my fifth Broadway un-
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derstudying job,” she said. “I kept saying, ‘No, I don’t want to understudy anymore.’ It’s a beautiful job, but it’s hard, and I was getting to the point where I didn’t know if I had it in me anymore.” But the material and the creative team convinced her to back-up Beth Leavel, who Balan called an inspiration, without feeling the pressure to mirror the performance she saw on a nightly basis. “I understand how to sort of take what is a great influence and then put my spin on it,” she explained. “With this one on Broadway, I did a version that fit with the production that the original cast had created, and now I have the lucky gift of being able to find my version of it.” Dee Dee is not easily likeable, and she spends most of the time thinking about herself. Still, Balan has been able to tap into personal connections with the character. “She is just such a Broadway star and diva, and I make my living as an artist,” she said. “ There’s nothing about me that’s a star. But where I am most like her in my version is in her ability to grow. I think she’s going to change and then be changed. I’m constantly trying to grow as a person. I’m in my early 40s and I’m still learning and growing all the time.” Dee Dee’s emotional growth is part of what Balan hopes audiences take from “The Prom,” because its message has to do with being true to one’s self and having others recognize it. This is the second show of the CTG season that has dealt with the issue of LGBTQ teens struggling with being accepted, following “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.” It’s also one of several shows the company has presented that focuses on often marginalized groups, which pleases Eric Sims, Ahmanson Theatre presentations manager. “It’s funny to me that whenever people complain about diversity, I think they forget what we consider the default white voice is also a choice you make,” Sims said. “And I think when people say, ‘Oh they’re pushing diversity,’ what they’re saying is, ‘I only want one voice to be heard. I want to make sure
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From left, Courtney Balan, Patrick Wetzel, Bud Weber and Emily Borromeo star in the national tour of “The Prom,” running Aug. 9 through Sept. 11 at Downtown’s Ahmanson Theatre. This is the first tour of the Broadway show, which earned six Tony nominations. A movie version of “The Prom,” starring Meryl Streep in the same role as Balan, is streaming on Netflix. Ahmanson Theatre/Submitted
that only one perspective is represented.’ And what we find is the more broadly you tell people’s stories, and the more you bring people into the conversation, and the more you welcome people to the party the more successful theater is as a whole.” Diversity is what Balan finds most satisfying about the show. The teen girls at the heart of “The Prom” have struck a chord with younger audiences, and one of the few “heartbreaking” things is the actors portraying them haven’t been
able to do face-to-face stage door visits because of COVID-19 restrictions. “So many young people want to meet them and tell them their story after the show,” she said. “What I’m hearing from those two actors is that they’re getting a bunch of DMs on social media about how this show is changing people’s lives. It’s beautiful to see that these young people are feeling seen and heard. I think the representation in our show is pretty awesome.”
“The Prom” WHEN: Various times Tuesday, Aug. 9, to Sunday, Sept. 11 WHERE: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles COST: Tickets start at $35 INFO: 213-628-2772, centertheatregroup.org
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AUGUST 8, 2022
Covered ARTS & California CULTUREwill help
Street artist Deity was one of eight artists invited to the U.S. Bank Tower by Man One. Chris Mortenson/Staff photographer
Brittney S. Price’s mural pays tribute to renowned artist Noni Olabisi. Chris Mortenson/Staff photographer
8 LA-based street artists paint murals at U.S. Bank Tower By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor oaring over 1,000 feet above the streets of Los Angeles, the U.S. Bank Tower is a centerpiece of the Downtown skyline. To celebrate the city’s art and culture, U.S. Bank Tower owner Silverstein Properties has invited eight local artists to paint murals outside of the building’s main entrance on Fifth Street. Artists were given an approximately 20-foot-wide by 8-foot-high space and worked with the theme: “What does Los Angeles mean to you?” For street artists Deity and Brittney S. Price, the space became a blank canvas to share their stories with the communities of DTLA. “It’s a huge honor,” said Deity, whose mural depicts her friend, artist and activist Tochlita. “The reason I chose her is because when I think of LA, I think about the culture that’s been cultivated here. She’s one of those people that not only cultivates culture, but she also helps preserve it through her art and through her activism, and I wanted to shine light on her for this project. “I also picked some of the flowers that
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we see a lot here in LA because we also have our Flower District down the street. … We see a lot of calla lilies and we see a lot of red roses, so I really wanted to incorporate that into this piece and bring everything together.” Deity began painting over 14 years ago as a graffitist and is currently a member of Few and Far Women, an all-female collective committed to the empowerment of women and girls and to bringing street art and murals to communities around the world. “We’re all from different pockets of LA, so we’re all showing different sections in its diversity,” Price described. “For me in particular, I feel like I really connect with south LA, particularly the Leimert, Inglewood area. That’s where I actually got reacquainted with my culture. And so within my mural, you’ll see lots of the African symbols, you’ll see Adinkra and most importantly you’ll see Sankofa, which means you have to know your past to know your future.” For Price, art has always been a hobby of hers as well as a form of visual journaling. She describes herself as “community taught” and she still regards her professional art today as a diary of sorts.
Her painting on Fifth Street depicts renowned artist Noni Olabisi, who was known for her large-scale murals like “To Protect and Serve,” who died in March. Price’s piece stands as a tribute to Olabisi’s life and to her impact on the city of Los Angeles. “Last year I had the opportunity to work with her, which was awesome,” Price said. “That was the first time I had ever met someone within this field that looked like me, and she gave me permission to actually pursue my career. … Seeing her and seeing how powerful she was, I was like, ‘Oh, okay. I can do it. I’m not alone.’ “I had it on my heart ever since she passed away to give a tribute to her. … So I am paying tribute to her most famous mural, ‘Freedom Won’t Wait,’ and I also took her ‘Death to the Ego’ eagles and I put them on the side. One of the main things about Noni is that she has a yellow sun, and so the yellow sun represents the light within us as well as out, as well as it being the great connector that combines us all. I just feel like that is the real LA.” The eight-artist installation at the U.S. Bank Tower was curated by legendary local artist Man One and, alongside Deity
and Price, includes work by Serio Robleto, Erin Yoshi, Showzart, Asylm and Hedy Torres. For the past six years, developer Silverstein Properties has worked with dozens of artists to paint murals in and around the new World Trade Center in New York City and recently on the top floor of the U.S. Bank Tower, where 15 LA-based artists created the highest murals in the state of California. The murals by the Fifth Street entrance will remain in place and accessible to the public until Thanksgiving, when the company plans to unveil a newly renovated lobby. “Having the opportunity to paint on the outside of one of the most iconic buildings in downtown LA is truly amazing!” Man One said. “The amount of foot traffic on this block due to the library across the street and all the neighboring businesses, hotels and restaurants makes it a great public canvas to demonstrate the beauty that Los Angeles has to offer. That’s why I felt it was important to curate the walls with artists from diverse backgrounds and from different parts of LA, but who all know and share an absolute love of this city and its people.”
AUGUST 8, 2022
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DOWNTOWN NEWS 13
DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM
Covered ARTS & California CULTUREwill help
Peter Hook recalls his career in new show By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski LA Downtown News Executive Editor hen Peter Hook introduced his band, Peter Hook & the Light, to 300 fans at Factory Manchester in England 11 years ago, he was unsure of the future. The 66-year-old musician hoped his method of celebrating the legacies of Joy Division and New Order — two bands he cofounded — would catch on. “I was wondering if it was the first and last time I would ever get to play ‘Unknown Pleasures,’” he said about Joy Division’s 1979 debut album. “Now, here I am taking it all around the world.” The North American leg of Peter Hook & The Light’s “Joy Division: A Celebration” relaunches Aug. 11 in Toronto. The jaunt comes to The Theatre at Ace Hotel on Thursday, Sept. 8, and Friday, Sept. 9. The five-week tour features performances of Joy Division’s seminal two albums “Unknown Pleasures” and “Closer” in full, with additional Joy Division rarities and an opening set of New Order material. The tour follows the debut U.K. dates for “Joy Division: A Celebration,” which commemorate the 40th anniversary of Joy Division and Ian Curtis’ continuing influence. “I’m getting to play in many wonderful
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places — places I’ve played before and had a fantastic time,” Hook said via telephone from Mallorca. “I’m the happiest pensioner on God’s earth. It’s still a delight. My wife summed it up very well: ‘Whenever you come home, you have the biggest smile on your face. That never happened in New Order. I didn’t see it for a long, long time.’” He says he’s not blaming former bandmates vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, drummer Stephen Morris or keyboardist Gillian Gilbert — with whom he now has acrimonious relationships. Curtis died by suicide and Sumner, Morris and Hook founded New Order with the later addition of Gilbert. “They always said it was me,” he recalled. “I suppose, in a funny way, you don’t get a lot of changes in life to make the wrong right again. “There is massive appreciation for Ian’s work and Joy Division’s work,” he said. “I’m with the people I want to be with the most — the people who love Joy Division’s music. For me, I am in exactly the right place. I absolutely adore what we’ve created and I’m very, very proud of it.” His band, he said, play the songs “so well” and fans can indulge themselves in exactly how the music was supposed to work.
English musician Peter Hook is the co-founder of Joy Division and New Order. William Ellis/Submitted
Peter Hook will perform at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on Thursday, Sept. 8, and Friday, Sept. 9. Submitted
“Bernard and Steve and Gillian are now playing the music that we wrote together how they want it to sound. That would not have made me happy,” Hook said. This year has been bittersweet for Hook, whose longtime friend, Happy Mondays bassist Paul Ryder, recently died unexpectedly at age 58. “It’s immensely sad, considering we worked so closely together,” Hook said. “They’re the archetypical rock ‘n’ roll band that hit everything hard — the bottle, the drugs, the road and music. It’s almost a cliché. But so many of them are disappearing.” He and his wife are planning a 25th anniversary party and inviting “every person who’s still with us who came to our wedding 25 years ago.” “It won’t be like it was 25 years ago,” he says. “Hardly anybody ate. We were in my mate’s restaurant and, of the 75 people at the wedding, my mate told me only three of them have eaten. ‘What the hell do I do with 72 ribeyes?’ he says. It was
a great ‘do,’ and my wife is a wonderful woman whom I’m very lucky to have.” His goal with Peter Hook & the Light is to have the ability to play every New Order and Joy Division song live before he goes to the “guitar shop in the sky.” Next up is 2001’s “Get Ready,” for which New Order primarily departed from its more electronic style and focused on more guitar-oriented music. “I’m achieving my ‘boast’ or my dream bit by bit,” he said. “It’s just a treat to dig out these wonderful songs and watch the looks on people’s faces. I play seven New Order songs and change the set to Joy Division, play six or eight songs. I’m indulging myself and it’s wonderful to have that freedom to not have to look at those long faces and get on with it. “It was such a rock ‘n’ roll dream. I’m so glad I got to live that rock ‘n’ roll dream that we decided on when we watched the Sex Pistols, and we’re still getting away with it.”
Peter Hook & the Light WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, and Friday, Sept. 9 WHERE: The Theatre at Ace Hotel, 929 S. Broadway, Los Angeles COST: Tickets start at $25 INFO: axs.com
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AUGUST 8, 2022
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