* Update: The unofficial memorial site was created by a Highland Park man who had known Kelley for several years and wanted a place for Kelley’s close friends and others to express their sorrow and admiration. An hour after the title of the memorial piece was painted on the concrete wall, people began to bringing afghan blankets and other items for the shrine, said the Highland Park resident, who wanted to remain anonymous. He said:
I was aware that when a friend passes, especially someone as admired as Mike, it can really help to have a place to go to, something to do and a place to deposit the pain and to honor him. I also believe that ritual is very important, and that grieving can include a creative process.
Click on the link below for more details about the memorial.
Every year the Librarian of Congress selects 25 films to include in the National Film Registry, which recognizes and preserves American films that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. One of the films selected last year is “Fake Fruit Factory,” a 20-minute-long documentary made in 1986 by former Occidental College professor Chick Strand. Strand arrived at the Eagle Rock campus in 1970 as the school’s filmmaking program got underway. Working only in 16-milimeter film, Strand distinguished herself as an avant-garde filmmaker focuses on ethnographic documentaries.
The “Fake Fruit Factory” features her artistry as she tells the story of the Mexican women who made papier-mâché fruits and vegetables. The Library of Congress, in a summary of last year’s National Film Registry selections, said of Strand’s work:
In “Fake Fruit Factory,” Strand employs a moving camera at close range to create colorfully vivid images often verging on abstraction, while her soundtrack picks up snatches of conversation to evoke, in her words, “the spirit of the people.” “I want to know,” Strand wrote, “really what it is like to be a breathing, talking, moving, emotional, relating individual in the society.”
Several of the artists who were involved in a pioneering Chicano art movement in Highland Park during the 1970s attended Saturday night’s opening reception of Resurrected Histories: Voices from the Chicano Arts Collectives of Highland Park. With their hair now streaked with gray, the artists, friends and family members were part of an over-flow crowd that jammed Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park to view the vintage photos, posters and artwork generated during that era. In the photo above, artist Richard Duardo, who founded Centro de Arte Publico, and his sister, Lisa Duardo, stand in front of a photo (bottom image) taken of them during the 1970s when Centro de Arte was one of three Highland Park artist collectives that turned the neighborhood into a center for young Chicano artists. Click on the link below for other photos from last night’s art opening.
Taggers and street artists could not ask for a better canvas than the blank wall of the Alfredo Market in Echo Park. The wall overlooks the busy intersection of Glendale Boulevard and Berkeley Avenue, where constant traffic jams turn motorists into a captive audience. A year ago, the approximately 30-foot-long Alfredo Market wall became the home of a mural – Roost Above The Rest – that seemed to keep gang-related taggers away.
Now, another mural has appeared on the same wall and its creation was documented in the above video (beware of the very loud Dead Kennedys sound track) posted on The Site Unscene (h/t LAist). The new mural, which was spray painted into place late last month, is the work of an Echo Park street artist known as Kophns One or Koffinz, who collaborated on the previous mural. A post on The Site Unscene said that Koffinz had expressed himself with a marker all over the neighborhood but is now involved in more artistic pursuits:
Kophns grew up exposed to all types of street art and started his street art career by drawing characters on walls with permanent markers throughout his neighborhood. It wasn’t until 2008 that Kophns decided to transfer his skills, officially, into street art. He showcases his artistic talent with lively, edgy and intriguing street characters, which quickly became highly recognizable figures in the street art community. Now you can find his iconic images on almost every street corner in Los Angeles.
Carlos Almaraz at the Centro de Arte Publico. Circa 1977. Courtesy Avenue 50 Studio
The artistic legacy of Highland Park included a period in the 1970s when it served as a center for young Chicano artists. An exhibit focused on that period opens on Saturday, Jan. 14 at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park. Resurrected Histories: Voices from the Chicano Arts Collectives of Highland Park includes a variety of paintings, photos and other materials to tell the story of two neighborhood art collectives Mechicano, located at Avenue 54 and Figueroa, and the Centro de Arte Publico, located near Avenue 57 on Figueroa. Avenue 50 teamed up with KCET’s Departures to produce two online programs about Centro de Arte Publico and Mechicano.
The Eastsider reported last month about the 110-year-old Highland Park bungalow that fell into foreclosure a few months after a team of artists painted brightly colored scenes across the Marmion Way home as part of an international art project. Today, those scenes of birds and volcanoes – images insipired by the Nicaraguan homeland of the former occupants - have been marred by taggers and trash. But neither the trash, tagging and broken windows have scared off buyers, with the $189,000 home already having received several offers – none of which have so far been accepted by the bank, said real estate agent Misael Vasquez Jr. What is going to happen to the mural? Vasquez said he knows of no reason why any new owner would be obligated to repair or keep them. They will probably be painted over in neutral colors by the bank or the new owners.
“It’s a call the bank will have to make,” Vasquez said. “It’s not a nice looking place at the present time.”
Paolo Davanzo, front left, and Lisa Marr, front right, and center staff. Photo courtesy EPFC.
Paolo Davanzo was looking for a place to teach affordable film and media arts classes to youth when he came across an Echo Park storefront on Alvarado near Sunset Boulevard. Here, a decade ago, Davanzo co-founded the Echo Park Film Center, where students are taught how to tell stories using film and video, and a microcinema hosts the work of professionals and amateurs alike. The same storefront also served as the place where Davanzo met Lisa Marr, who eventually partnered with Davanzo at the center and in life. This weekend, the pair and the staff celebrate the Echo Park Film Center’s 10th anniversary with a series of events. Now that Davanzo and Marr have helped others tell their tales using film and video, the couple share their stories:
Paolo Davanzo:
I moved to Echo Park in 1998 when I was looking for a place to plant new roots. My Father had passed away the year before and I spent that time looking to create a media arts center that would provide free film and videos resources for youth. Then my Mother passed away in 2000. It was the time to act. I knew I needed to honor their legacy and create a place of hope, creativity and activism; thus the Echo Park Film Center was born in December of 2001. Now 10 years later, the dream of creating equal and affordable access to media arts education has truly become a reality. Lisa Marr and I fell in love along that journey. She is my partner and my true love.
Lisa Marr:
I‘m originally from Vancouver, Canada. Through a rather circuitous series of circumstances, I moved into a little pink house in Echo Park in the summer of 2000. Los Angeles was the last place on earth I would have chosen to live, but Echo Park won me over with its sweet spirit of possibility. In December 2001, I was walking down Alvarado Street, noticed some boisterous activity going on in a little storefront and went inside to check it out. I was greeted by an ebullient, bearded man named Paolo: “Welcome to the Echo Park Film Center! It’s our opening day party!” Ten years later, the party continues at Echo Park Film Center and I’m delighted to be part of it.
Click here for details on the film center’s 10th anniversary celebration.
Earlier this year artists and residents gathered to celebrate the transformation of a worn out Highland Park bungalow into a giant canvas covered with colorful images of birds and volcanoes. The colorful images painted as part of an international art project reflected the Nicaraguan homeland of the Zuniga family, who lived in the 110-year-old Marmion Way house. Earlier this year, however, the Zuniga home - a familiar sight to passengers on the Metro Gold Line that passes only a few feet away – fell into foreclosure and has now been put up for sale by the bank for $189,000, according to Redfin. What is going to happen to the bird and volcano?
The Friends of Hermon Dog Park have been trying for several years now to build a dog-centric sculpture for the freeway-adjacent dog park. But, after watching two previously approved projects fall through, the group has high hopes for its third selection, an approximately five-foot-high sculpture called “Hermon the Ball” (pictured).
Renderings of the proposed sculpture by Jolino Beserra have been sent to the Recreation and Parks Department for review, and other community groups will also have a chance to weigh in, said Hermon community activist Wendi Riser. Riser and the Friends of Hermon Dog Park have been through this before.
Despite a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon, an estimated 650 people attended this year’s Arroyo Arts Collective Discovery Tour, according to the L.A. Times. Arts and crafts were displayed at about 60 locations, ranging from the Audubon Center at Debs Park to private homes and artist’s studios. Martha Benedict was there to captures images of the art and art lovers across Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Montecito Heights and Mount Washington.
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The Eastsider reported last month about the 110-year-old Highland Park bungalow that fell into foreclosure a few months after
Earlier this year artists and residents
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The Eastsider publishes stories and news from the northeast corner of the City of Los Angeles and neighboring East Los Angeles. Who is the Eastsider? Where does the Eastsider roam? 