Jun 30, 2015 Hello from Pow! Wow! Long Beach
Of course this is a blog for Imprint, a group of people that had everything to do with bringing Pow! Wow! to Long Beach and really made the wheels roll once it came along. But I can’t claim any responsibility or take any credit for the event. Kudos go to Julia (above, left), Tanya, Jeff, John, Calvin, and so many others for making it happen. I attended as a tourist and fan, starting with last week’s media kickoff event outside the Varden Hotel with remarks by Julia, Mayor Robert Garcia (above, lower center), and Ron Nelson (above, lower right) from the Long Beach Museum of Art. The Honolulu-based founders of Pow! Wow! and contributors James Jean and Jeff McMillan also talked about the idea of having artists converge on the city for a week of mural painting.
James Jean (above, center) admitted that one thing he enjoys about making art is that it’s antisocial. He appreciates the solitude. But making murals in public has been an artistic and personal challenge that he has embraced, and the front portion graciously provided by the Varden provided ample inspiration. Meanwhile, Jeff McMillan (above, left, and below) was the event’s sole Long Beach-based artist. I got to hang out with him and some of his affable crew when they just began work on the back of the Long Beach Convention Center last Tuesday, and returned yesterday to check out the completed piece. It’s stunning and I love that you can see one of Wyland’s Whaling Walls over at the Long Beach Arena in the same glance.
The Low Bros and Jeff Soto embellished walls on the opposite side of the convention center. I managed to miss them but was stoked to discover that they were assigned to a key spot for local skateboarders and flatland BMXers. Awesome to know that the works will be appreciated! One of the underlying ideas behind Pow! Wow! is sharing art that does not require admission, ownership, or membership. Anyone and everyone can see and appreciate the pieces that go up, and it’s perfect that skaters and bikers will dig these trippy pieces first because the appreciation of art (especially street art) has always trickled up.
Last Wednesday night, I attended the sold-out Fafi appearance at the Art Theatre. There, I briefly met Jasper Wong, Kamea Hadar, and other representatives of the Pow! Wow! crew, who were all very sociable. Their mission of bringing art to public places is a sincere labor of love and an awesome force for pushing culture in a positive direction. I also love how it brings different creative people together from different continents to improve a community and inspire future creativity in it. But back to the event. The talk with Fafi was conducted by Imprint’s own Jeffrey Ng/jeffstaple, and was lively and fun. The French artist described her expansion from graffiti artist to fashion collaborator to comic book creator to festival launcher. It went by so breezily and quickly that there was no time for a Q&A with the audience.
Yesterday morning, I checked out Fafi’s installation at Lyon’s Art Supplies (ex-home of SST Records!), as well was Aaron De La Cruz’s treatment at the Park[d] Plaza right next door. At the intersection outside Fingerprints and Berlin, I noticed pedestrians and motorists stopping to see the new, colorful works. Success!
Numerous pieces weren’t done yet, so it’s quite possible you can see still see works in progress even today. When my daughter and I stopped at the Varden, we saw Tristan Eaton hard at work and so did a family that was strapping an infant into a stroller and getting ready to tour the Pow! Wow! murals on a hot summer day. It was the first time off the driver could get since Imprint started, and he was stoked to see the art and artists, too.
I told him that Cryptik (below) was still on the loose, as well, and that the group show at LBMA was just getting going. Vitality and Verve features Pow! Wow! artists Cryptik, Jeff Soto, Low Bros, Meggs, and Tristan Eaton as well as many others such as Andrew Schoultz, Audrey Kawasaki, Brandon Shigeta, and Brendan Monroe. I missed the opening but dropped in on the installation and it already looked amazing.
For a complete map of murals, go to powwowlongbeach.com. A full description of Vitality and Verve is available at lbma.org. Visit the Long Beach Museum of Art at 2300 East Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach from Thursday through Sunday. Props to Ron and the museum staff as well as everyone at Pow! Wow!, Thinkspace Gallery, Imprint, and Pow Wow! for making all the events happen. All the sponsors, too, because no one is getting rich off of all the hard work going on–especially the artists. But in addition to making Long Beach more interesting, they create civic pride and change the way people see the city. As a parent, I love being able to take my 7-year-old old daughter to see many of the events because it builds on her perception of what art is and what everyone’s relationship with it can be. It’s for everyone, everywhere. And sometimes it can be cool.
To stay in the loop regarding future events such as Pow! Wow! Long Beach or talks at the Art Theatre, follow Imprint on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, too.