Arts & Culture

Feria Del Libro Brings Books for All to City Hall

By Ed Fuentes — June 10, 2008
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the book fair

In many ways, the 6th Annual Family Book Fair is like Hope for Firefighters; an active street experience that is engaging, well attended, yet not upstaged by sponsorships who work at blending in very well with the mission statement of the event.


Save Our Store: An S.O.S Heard in Joel Bloom Square

By Ed Fuentes — June 06, 2008
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Blooms

For the last two weeks Bloom’s General Store has been under management by employee Jonathon Carter Schall. The shelves have slowly been restocked and the small Traction and Hewitt store is beginning to return to its place as an anchor of the Arts District. It almost has to. You can’t have Joel Bloom Square without its original outpost.


Playwrights and Artists Meet; 'And Then We Had A Play.'

By Ed Fuentes — June 02, 2008
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Guy Zimmerman

Guy Zimmerman and LADAD Space’s Tim Keating approached each other to discuss mounting a night of theater that would reflect the Downtown L.A.’s arts community tradition––disciplines influencing each other. The outcome is A Thousand Words, a 90-minute set of nine short plays that came from pairings of nine playwrights, nine visual artists and nine directors...


Grand Performances Opens 2008 Season with Smaller Names, But Big Music

By Ed Fuentes — June 01, 2008
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Traveling Horns

The 2008 Grand Performances lineup kicks off tonight, with little of the bang that accompanied last year's start. While the names may be more obscure, the series is still something Downtowners should be paying close attention to. 2007 saw a packed first show take over Grand Avenue, with local favorites Ozomatli as the star attraction. This year's opener, Miles...


Remembering Greek Orthodox History in the Fashion District

By Eric Richardson — May 30, 2008

Greek Orthodox Square

Historic Site signage recently went up in front of the former site of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, at 1216 San Julian street. The church was built in 1912, and stood until 1952. Today the site is a parking lot, tucked between buildings in the Fashion District. The week the Times ran a story talking about the Greek community's...


Much Debate on How to Define and Save L.A.'s Murals

By Ed Fuentes — May 29, 2008
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_IGP4456

What defines a mural? Yesterday four motions passed through the city council's Planning and Land Use committee. They attempt to put a pause to current enforcement efforts seen as detrimental to muralism while defining new rules for what is and isn't allowed. The four proposed motions call for murals to be clearly defined as fine art. They also place a temporary...


01 Gallery Opens on Olive

By Ed Fuentes — May 26, 2008
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Staff of Zero One

01 (Zero One) Gallery officially opened its new location at 609 South Olive Street on Saturday evening with an opening reception for “Marco Polo,” a series of works by Steve Olson and guest curated by Lilli Muller. The reception introduced the long space that leads into a clever balcony suitable for DJs. A mixed crowd of locals and out of downtowners filled...


Meeting "Moy Moy"

By Ed Fuentes — May 22, 2008
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Meeting

At the Sunday afternoon unveiling of Leo Politi Square at Echo Park and Sunset Blvd, a crowd of Politi fans and family crowded together on a hot sidewalk to watch 100 doves fly, children recite from Politi, and a sign marking the intersection Leo Politi Square be presented by the artists son, Paul Politi, and Councilmember Ed Reyes. The children's book artist...


"Vex" Influence Maps Downtown

By Ed Fuentes — May 20, 2008
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Rock Map

The Claremont Museum of Art includes this map as part of the exhibition for 'Vexing: Female Voices From East L.A. Punk,' co-curated by Pilar Thompkins. As you can see, Downtown’s Arts District and Chinatown are well represented in the history and the legacy of East L.A. female punk rock musicians from the 70s and early 80s. The show is named after “The Vex...


A Visual Spin Around the May Art Walk

By Dave Bullock — May 13, 2008
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Thoms

Downtown residents and non-residents alike come out in droves every month for the Downtown Art Walk. This month was no exception, and continued a two-month trend of record attendance. As the weather warmed up, art enthusiasts continued to be drawn to the Historic Core. After three months of my own shows, it was nice to be able to get out and take some photos...