The Cream of the Crop, Float to the Top at the Venice Art Crawl

For the past 10 months, I´ve been attending the Venice Art Crawl, a new art event, inspired by the very popular Downtown Art Walk. The Venice Art Crawl is this Thursday, July 21st and will soon celebrate its one year anniversary. Many owners from local businesses were responsible for the early stages of planning the Art Crawl and helped to originally advertise it and further it along. People like: former president of the Venice Neighborhood Council, Mike Newhouse and local business owners and residents such as Erinn Deshinsky, Elly Nesis, Daniel Samakow, Edizen Stowell, Mark Rojos, David Zentz and many more. So many people contributed to the cause by giving their time in the early days to create this wonderful event. Despite a bit of a lull during the winter months, it is flourishing into a true artistic haven and community event.

In recent months, there have been some incredible pop up galleries/events which stand out from the crowd. Going above and beyond the rest of the venues, these new pop up venues offer music, artists featuring their art in make shift displays as well as live painting and video projections. About four months ago, I noticed a new pop up event at the Old Venice Gas Station. There must have been at least 15 artists, with their works propped up against and poles and on the ground. Large canvases leaned against garbage cans and on the outer walls of the old Gas Station building. I heard music emanating from a funky boom box with people dancing, having a great time. Now this was a happening.

Jacob Vaynshtok is the curator and organizer of this event and it´s always lots of fun. This is one you don´t want to miss. A DJ has now replaced the boom box and new artists are encouraged to show each month. You may have noticed the old Gas Pumps painted as you drove by on Pacific. Jules Muck, is the artist who painted these in her signature style.

Moving on to the boardwalk, Ocean Blue will be having fabulous art party to celebrate the crawl. Ocean Blue, a fun store that sells jewelry, gems, candles and all kinds of neat trinkets is located at 1313 Ocean Front Walk right on the beach, the cross street is Horizon Ave., one block south of Westminster Ave. Ocean Blue is happy to welcome artists in and give them a place to show their work. The shop already has an artistic feel to it, offering wondrous merchandise from all over the world. They feature woodwork, stone carvings, jewelry, ceramics and aromatherapy products from places like the Philippines, India, China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal and Thailand. Ocean Blue also hand makes their own line of oil dipped incense sticks and cones along with high quality body oils all (can worn or burned) in 44 fragrances. http://www.shopoceanblue.com/.

Ocean Blue will be offering refreshments and snacks, along with a hoppin´ party featuring 6 artists showing their works. There will also be live painters, live music, stilt walkers with Bradley Allbee who is also an object manipulator, and hoola dancers from Eclectic Hoops. Artists exhibiting their work will be Michael Baroff, Victoria Blak, Gigi Rosa Fields, Sona Mirzaei, Jules Muck and Larry Shapiro. Also special guest and poet Ava Bird will have her new poetry books on hand, "The New Now" and Rage against the War Machine". Snacks and refreshments will be served. Treeman will be visiting too.

Starting at 6:00 pm sharp, you can catch, live music with Kathy Leonardo and the Back Beat Rhythm Boys. Then, the Venice Street Legends come on at 7:30 pm with some classic Country.

Sona Mirzaei is one of the featured artists who will be doing some live painting and is pleased to be showing once again at the Venice Art Crawl. Sona recently returned from being the only American artist to participate in the Elephant Parade in Copenhagen and has been working nonstop, showing her work in San Francisco, Toronto, and all over Los Angeles. Mirzaei just found out that The Elephant Parade committee chose her elephant to lead the Elephant Parade that will take place in Singapore during the winter of 2011/12. http://www.sonamirzaei.com/

Now further down on the boardwalk, another favorite of mine, is an edgy pop up venue just north of Brooks at 811 Ocean Front Walk, a guerilla style art event that has truly made a name for itself. This venue is an abandoned house where Dogtown Artists, have taken over and are using the courtyard area to display art, video installations and offer live music and a DJ. Daniela Ardizzone curates and organizes this event. Be aware that the actual entrance to the venue is on Speedway.

This is Burning Man at its best….no dust storms here, just a preview of what´s to come. The unveiling of art installations such as Light Hazing Project which is set to show in this year´s Burning Man. Here, you´ll also find lots of artists doing their thing, with live painting, live music, video/projections, laser light shows, DJs and more. Artists featured are Michael Courtney, David Hinnebusch, Lisa Mansy, Danuta Rothschild, Rachel Rubenstein, just to name a few.

Back to the boardwalk, if you walk north towards Rose, Figtree´s Café is planning a fun party as well, with Art, live music, complimentary wine and appetizers. 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Though it is not a gallery, Figtree´s Café is more of a traditional type establishment but takes the Art Crawl seriously. This restaurant goes the extra mile and supports the artists while featuring their work as part of an exciting event and artist reception.

Figtree´s Cafe always puts together great events. This month, photography from Venice local, Jennifer Hart Biagiotti, will be on display. Annie Flatley will be showcasing her series of photos from Ireland. There will also be live music with Tess Yonk and friends.

Figtree´s Café is known for their healthy delicious food, located right on the Venice boardwalk at 429 Ocean Front Walk, at Paloma Ave, two blocks south of Rose. Figtree´s also has a wonderful happy hour, weekdays from 4:00 pm till closing and early in the morning from 8:00 am to 9:00 am they offer ½ off breakfast items. 310 392-4937; www.figtreescafe.com;

This Thursday, July 21st. Enjoy summer at Venice Beach and pop into the newest venues that are popping up at The Venice Art Crawl!

For a Free listing of arts and entertainment events in the LA area, see www.ktrpromo.com