Art in Unusual Places

Whoever did this must have been inspired by the official South Pasadena Utility Box Art project!  I think this is fantastic.  Let's turn all utilitarian objects into works of public art!

By the way, the South Pasadena Arts Council (SPARC) is hosting a box art artists and sponsors party tomorrow, November 18th.  Learn more and purchase tickets here.

Want to leave me a message or start a conversation?  Click on the Community tab at the top of the blog anytime you want to reach out.

The Rite Aid Mural: Another Great Example of South Pasadena Public Art

Walking into Rite Aid is great.  For the last few years, patrons of the drug store have been greeted with this gorgeous mural painted by Carolee Merrill.

I still remember when the dark walkway felt distinctly more noir:

Art in the City

Take a look at the public art on display in South Pasadena

I love being part of such a creative community here in South Pas.  I've already mentioned my love of the South Pasadena Arts Council.  Membership in SPARC is a great way to connect with the city's artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians and art afficianados.  But it's also fun to be reminded of South Pasadena's rich, artistic history ... and there are hints of it at every turn.  

During the Great Depression, Federal Relief agencies put many South Pasadena residents to work on projects ranging from building the control channel to constructing the high school fine arts and science buildings.  The powers-that-be realized that communities not only needed structures to have good function, they also needed them to have beautiful form.

When a Utility Box is More Than Just a Utility Box

Have you wondered why all the utility boxes in downtown South Pas suddenly transformed into colorful works of art?  We have the South Pasadena Arts Council (SPARC) to thank for repurposing the dull box surfaces into whimsical public art pieces.  Here's a quote from SPARC about the project:

Traffic signal boxes, usually painted drab grey or green, have been enhanced and transformed into creative artworks in many cities around the country. The City of South Pasadena, in its update to the Strategic Plan has identified Art and Culture as one of its goals going forward. One of the recommendations was to include more public art throughout the City. As a result the City awarded SPARC funding to support the creation of the first ten (10) boxes.  The first boxes have been completed and this is Phase II, which includes an additional 10 traffic signal boxes.

Keep a look out for new boxes to be created in Phase II.  And if you are an artist with a perfect idea for a box, you can submit your proposal.  The deadline is June 24, 2016. ( Learn more and download an application here.)

I can't pick a favorite box among those in the collection, but the one above makes me smile every time I walk past it to go to Wells Fargo or Starbucks.  (For those of you wondering about South Pasadena's fascination with ostriches, here's a little history.)

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan (and member!) of SPARC.  The group's mission statement sums it up well:

SPARC promotes the arts in order to recognize local artists as a rich resource within our city and build appreciation and understanding of the value of the arts within the community.

SPARC is not only about public art projects, but also visual art exhibitions, music and dance events, as well as much needed school and community arts advocacy. A bonus? SPARC has some of the most fun, wine-filled soirees you'll ever attend.  If you're an artist, writer, filmmaker, musician or just all-around lover of the arts, I encourage you to join us.

I'll showcase more of the boxes here soon.  In the meanwhile, here's a map of where to find them around town.

Want to leave a comment? Head on over to the new Glimpses of South Pasadena Forum and start a conversation!

Freeway Noir: 2

In a cityscape turned ghostly by dusk, painted faces stared from an almost-empty parking structure.  She was a long way from home...

Join me for Freeway Noir this week:  a series of shots taken while stuck in traffic on the 110.

(Do I have to mention this again?  I shot all pictures from the passenger seat, not the driver's seat.  And boy was it hard to drive from there!  I kid, I kid...)

Map of a Few Generations

Lucky for me, I live in a place where masterpieces are literally minutes away from home. Here, at the Norton Simon in Pasadena, Sam Francis' Basel Mural I offers a beautiful, expressive focal point.

Some people meditate for clarity, but I prefer to stare at something like this to sort out the big questions of life. And like meditation, staring at artwork often brings surprising revelations.

I've always been partial to Francis, and not just because of his expansive visual style. He belonged to the same era as my father. They were both born in California, both joined the Army Air Corps during World War 2. My father was fortunate enough to serve his time in the Pacific without any physical injuries, but Francis was badly hurt during training maneuvers and spent three years recuperating in bed.

During his recovery, Francis learned to paint. He used his new hobby as an escape as well as an expression. I remember once showing my father a print of a Francis painting. I don't recall if it was the one in today's post, but it was similar in its wild explosions of noisy color. I saw infinite optimism and potential when I looked at it.

"Interesting that he was in the Air Corps," Dad said. "This painting kind of reminds me of what the ground looks like after a bombing mission."

Ever since that conversation I can't look at anything by Sam Francis without thinking of my dad.

In Francis' last years, as he was suffering from cancer and clinging to life, a bad fall took away the use of his right hand. Like so many of his generation, he didn't let the setback stop him from achieving his goals. He simply used his left hand to create a series of brilliant small works.

That also reminded me of Dad. No matter how badly my father's body fell apart during the last years of his life, he was undaunted and without complaint. He might not have painted canvases, but he filled our family's world with great beauty all the same.

When my family and I visited the Norton Simon recently, I stopped for a while to look at this familiar painting. I'm about 15 years older than the last time I saw it. I still find the optimism there that spoke to me in my youth, but I can now better imagine the world it brought back to my father.

"What do you think of this one?" I asked my daughter.

"It looks like a map of a sad place," she said. "But it's hopeful too. I'm not sure why."

And right then, I realized how weirdly connected families are ... how my little girl not only saw what I saw in that painting, but also the impressions of her grandfather who died before she was born.

"Or," she said walking away, "Maybe he just liked paint splatters."

Art. It transforms, connects and heals. (And sometimes even makes us laugh.)

Cool Art

Want a great spot to escape the August heat? Head on over to San Marino to The Huntington Library and Art Collections. Last week I ducked out of the 100 degree blast and into the cool, comforting European Art gallery. (Gainsborough portraits! French marquetry pieces! Really icy air conditioning!!!)

Figurative art lovers, be sure to check out the latest exhibit of 16th and 17th century drawings: Royals, Courtiers, and Confidants: Early English Portrait Drawings on display until October 29th.

Exploring the Medium

Sometimes you really have to experience the artwork from a different perspective. This kid has the right idea ... literally joining the exhibit of botanical mobiles created by other children at this summer's SPACE Art Camp.

Protest Picture

Ours is an age of high resolution, Photoshop and 16 megapixel cameras with automatic settings and high ISO noise reduction. We can preview, delete, edit, sharpen edges and correct noise. We can airbrush every single picture of ourselves we post in social media. We can even shoot a major motion picture on an iPhone, and edit it on an iPad.

Don't get me wrong, I love all this stuff. I'm a big techie geek and a voracious early adopter of most things digital. But, I'm beginning to wonder where the fun is in something that has become so easy. Even the free-spirited, shoot-from-the-hip lomography movement of a few years ago has transformed into a club with rules, and an excuse to overcharge for analog photography equipment. Anyway, with Instagram's ubiquitous hipster retro filters, everybody is a lomographer.

I recently saw a T-shirt that said "Digital Cameras are Democratic."

Far be it from me to be anti-democratic.

I guess I'm just suffering from high def overload. I don't always want my camera to correct my mistakes. I don't want to edit out all the blemishes of life. It's bad enough that magazine covers have begun turning women into digital robot people. My actual world isn't blemish-free and tack sharp. I'm also weary of artificial nostalgia approximated with Polaroid overlays and 10% added grain.

I guess I'm tired of pictures that are too controlled. Sometimes the best memories are the ones where we couldn't control anything and made mistakes.

So here's a big mistake. I don't even know what the subject in this picture was, much less how it ended up in my camera. It showed up in my photo file like a lovely little artistic poltergeist reminding me that an image is never reality, and it certainly isn't hyperreality. Sometimes it's just the representation of a feeling.

My feeling about this? Kinda like I just got away with something. A little rebellious. And what's a democracy without a few rebellions?

Caption This Photo (#94)

I really need help with this one...

Arty Wench

Ever wish you could literally immerse yourself in art? Well, that's what I did at last month's South Pasadena Art Crawl. (See how I turned a goofy photo after a few glasses of wine into a truly highbrow endeavor? I'm good that way.)

Carnival Cut-Outs were scattered along the South Pas business district, giving South Pas art lovers a chance to "get into the picture." And, you know, we all kinda wish we could be in pictures. The Cut-Outs were conceived by Marie Miller and created by local artists as part of a collaborative project sponsored by our friends at SPACE and the South Pasadena Arts Council.

For a small city, South Pasadena has a ginormous collective of creative people.

SPACE is not only an incredible gallery, but it offers creative workshops for developing artists of all ages. (Little Bit just finished up a week of Art Camp there.) Find out more about the terrific programs at SPACE here.

South Pasadena Arts Council provides a great networking resource for local artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, set designers, singers, performance artists, photographers, directors and art patrons who want to make sure the arts thrive in South Pasadena. Find out how you can join us at SPARC here.

And you thought this post was going to be about drinking beer. (Well, the Orange Grove Park building was once a beer garden ... but that's another post.)

The things I do in the name of art.

Ballerina in the Window

"Dancing is poetry with arms and legs."

--Charles Baudelaire

tap tap tap tappety tap tap tap tap...

...tap tap tap tappety tap!

The Goddess Lounge

"Ok. So I’m on my way to The Goddess Lounge, the coffee house/knitting salon/menstrual palace that Fox News calls, 'A man-hating elevator to hell, another example of debauched LA, a sinful hideaway for modern-day polytheists and the Hollywood types who forever confuse spiritual wholeness with liberal narcissism.'

Yeah. It’s not a good morning." Thus begins the first chapter of The Goddess Lounge, the debut novel by South Pasadena's own Margaret Finnegan. Margaret charmed everyone who attended her book signing and reading yesterday at SPACE Arts Center. Many of you already know Margaret's writing from her hilarious and inspiring blog Finnegan Begin Again. Well, everyone should put her new book at the top of their summer reading list. The Goddess Lounge is funny, smart, magical and undoubtedly the coolest riff on The Odyssey ever devised. (Yeah, Margaret manages to be super brainy and hysterical all at the same time. A goddess in her own right, that Margaret.)

San Gabriel Valley locals, you can find The Goddess Lounge at Vromans -- that way you will support not one but two of our local treasures. For everyone else, it's here at Amazon and here at Barnes Noble.

(Go ahead and read the entire first chapter right here!)

All the World's a Stage...

Ever feel daunted by the sheer heft of a book of Shakespeare? Never fear, fine people, the wacky comic masters at Metamorphosis Theatre Company have streamlined the canon. Opening tomorrow night, July 21, at Fremont Centre Theatre, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) offers a madcap, family-friendly rendition of the bard's tragedies, histories, comedies, sonnets and as well as numerous cool wigs, kooky accents and costume changes all in under 90 minutes!

I had a chance to sneak a peek at rehearsal earlier in the week and the bard was right: brevity is the soul of wit. Shakespeare's masterpieces are taken to hilarious extremes by these cross-dressing, vaudeville hooligans. I don't say this very often but don't miss this one, folks.

The show runs weekends through August 12. (SPARC members, check your email for a special discount code for tickets!) Click here for more details.

Now That's a Big Balloon

Is this the coolest balloon you've ever seen in your entire life? Just when I thought I'd seen everything I could see at a kids' balloon show, the South Pasadena Public Library brought Buster Balloon to perform his awesome act as part of the summer Wonderful Wednesdays series, a segment of Dream Big, Read! Summer Reading Program.

And it blew my mind!

Buster was eventually engulfed by this large, pink monster making the Blue Man Group look like a bunch of amateurs. The kids loved it, the parents loved it and I was reminded all over again of how much I love our thriving library and all of its programs.

Today's Wonderful Wednesday presents storyteller Padraic Keohane weaving folk and fairy tales with his own observations in Once Upon A Time, and Happily Ever After. (2:00PM in the Community Room. It's free! With great air conditioning!)

Find out more about our library's inspirational summer series for kids of all ages right here.

Remembrance

South Pasadena photographer, AYSO soccer ref and all-around great guy Michael Newman passed away suddenly on March 30 from a brain aneurysm. He was 61.

I only recently met Michael at a South Pasadena Arts Council membership drive. We talked about photography, about the importance of art in everyday life, about how technology was shaking things up and how fun it was to be a part of it.

I wish I'd been fortunate to have more than one conversation with him.

My heart goes out to his wife Margo and their family, and also to the many, many others who loved him. He will be missed.

You can read the obituary at LA Times here.

You can see Michael's beautiful work here. UPDATE April 4: Michael's website appears to have been taken offline. If I learn of an online collection, I will link to it. His portraits are spectacular.

UPDATE April 4:

Patch has a lovely tribute to Michael here.

It's a Jungle Out There...

When you think about it, jungles are colorful, exciting and strange. I'll take that over boring, ordinary and bleak any day.

Rebel Artist (#2)

"Mommy, how come we almost never go to the Huntington anymore?"

I wasn't sure how to answer that question.

Little Bit and I used to treat nearby San Marino's Huntington Art Gallery like our own personal hideaway. That membership fee was the best money I could have ever spent on early childhood education. Instead of preschool, my daughter spent hours with me learning about art and architecture. (Plus, she spent a lot of after-gallery time looking for fairies in the clover and splashing her hands in the fountains of the Children's Garden.) Her dad and I didn't go in for the Teach Your Baby to Read movement. We didn't know then that with the new educational model, preparation for rigorous academic standards starts around age 2. We were more into a philosophy along the lines of Let Our Baby Think, Feel and Explore.

Although we regularly made our rounds through all of the Huntington buildings, studying the soft blur of Mary Cassatt as well as the sharp form of Arts and Crafts furniture, Little Bit always liked the 18th Century figurative works best of all. Pinkie, by Thomas Laurence, is still one of her favorite portraits.

"So," Little Bit repeated. "Why can't we ever go anymore?"

"We don't have time during the week since you started first grade," I said. "We have to do your homework, and with the sight words, the spelling words, the spelling word sentence drill practice, the timed math test practice, the math worksheets, the spelling worksheets and then the work you couldn't finish during school hours, that means we can't..."

"I know, I know," Little Bit interrupted. "But some of my homework was about art the other day and I think the school needs to come back to the Huntington to learn something about it."

"Learn what?" I said.

"They need to learn that silver is a cool color. We were doing a worksheet on warm and cool colors and they were talking about Monet's haystack paintings. I got mine marked wrong because the sheet said that blue, green and purple were cool colors and I colored silver too. I just thought they knew that Monet actually used silver in those haystacks, too. Of course it's a cool color. Cool like moonlight and shadows. But I think they didn't even know that."

"Why didn't you say something?" I said.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings," she said.

(Try registering that on a standardized test.)

Look Up: (#4)

We've all looked up to this South Pas landmark. But what many people don't know is that beneath this water tower, in a funky little house, lived one of the most influential contemporary artists of the 20th Century.

Many of us looked up to Mike Kelley, whose quiet, domestic years as a South Pasadena resident offered a sharp contrast to the messy complexity and downright punk aesthetic of his work. Most of us had no idea such a radical art legend lived in that little house under the water tower. I shot many pictures of the house, never knowing who the owner might be. (Not even with clues like this one.) Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight once described Kelley as “an avatar of the power and humanity inherent in recognizing the radical impurity of human experience. His art searches out dark and soiled places where defects, fault lines and inadequacies are obvious and routine, and where failure takes on the poignant, fragile, even heartbreaking beauty that accompanies any loss of self.”

Mike Kelley passed away last week at the age of 57. 57 years old is too damn young for anyone to leave this world -- especially someone as rambunctious, groundbreaking, complex and passionate as Mike Kelley.

As I look upward now, I wish him luck, love and wild inspiration on his next adventure. If the spirit world is in need of a good shaking up, Mike Kelley is just the right rebel angel for the job.

UPDATE: Please check out Pasadena Adjacent's moving post about Mike Kelley. Be sure to click on the videos -- including the one in the comments section.

This week is Look Up Week -- a chance to look at things above us.