FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VENUE ADDRESS: 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404

CONTACT: crystal am nelson or Amber Jones

PHONE: 310-453-3711 103 or 108

CONTACT EMAIL: cnelson@18thstreet.org & ajones@18thstreet.org

WEBSITE: WWW.18THSTREET.ORG

CHARGE: Free

HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE: Yes

CALENDAR / ART

ArtNight: Pacific Standard Time: Saturday, September 24, 2011, 6–10 pm

ArtNight VIP Reception: Saturday, September 24, 5:30 pm

Cover art for Collaboration Labs catalogue, designed by Jessica Fleischmann/still room. Original art by featured exhibition artist, Barbara T. Smith. Original artwork courtesy of the artist.

Santa Monica, CA—

Ms. Jan Williamson, Executive Director of 18th Street Arts Center released this letter to the Friends of 18th Street.

Dear Friends,

18th Street is proud to present Collaboration Labs: Southern California Artists and the Artist Space Movement, a groundbreaking exhibition guest curated by Alex Donis and featuring the work of five seminal artists and artist networks: Electronic Café International, EZTV, Suzanne Lacy and Leslie Labowitz-Starus, Rachel Rosenthal and Barbara T. Smith. This offering to the Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA, 1945–1980 story is inspired by the historical threads that led to the founding of 18th Street Art Center—a beehive of artmaking that is and always has been a place for a disarray of provocative artists to call home.

Three years ago, 18th Street embarked on a strategic plan to realign our renowned exhibition and residency programs so that they both reflected our commitment to supporting the many emerging, underrepresented and established artists we admire who provoke public dialog. Having reached our initial goals for the exhibition and residency programs, as we began a new plan, our Artistic Director Clayton Campbell of 16 years resigned in January to pursue new opportunities, followed more recently by Program Coordinator Ronald Lopez accepting an exciting job leading an emerging arts organization. We are proud of their years of service to 18th Street and wish them the best in their new endeavors. With the guidance of 18th Street’s Board of Directors we considered these major changes in staff as an opportunity for 18th Street to identify new priorities for the next three years. Our new plan focuses on four crucial areas: appreciating artists through an enhanced arts laboratory environment, inspiring and provoking the public to engage with contemporary art as an agent of social transformation, enhancing 18th Street’s outreach efforts in order to better serve the arts and culture community in Los Angeles and beyond, and creating a thriving and sustainable organization with the capacity not only to meet its current goals but also to put 18th Street at the leading edge of arts presenting. As a first step, we created two new positions, an Outreach Director and a Director of Residency Programs. We have appointed as Outreach Director crystal am nelson, who comes to 18th Street from Yerba Buena Center for the Arts where she served as the graphic designer and as an innovation champion. Our search for a Director of Residency Programs is coming to a close, and we expect to have the position filled by the end of the year.

We are excited to mark the beginning of this new phase with our participation in Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA, 1945–1980, an unprecedented collaboration initiated by the Getty that brings together more than 60 cultural institutions from across Southern California. Our opening reception of Collaboration Labs is the perfect opportunity to honor all the past artists, staff and board members who have given so generously of themselves to make 18th Street the thriving arts center that it is today.

We open Collaboration Labs on Saturday, September 24, 6–10 pm with a special VIP preview event followed by an incredible party featuring live Indonesian-inspired music, complimentary beverages courtesy of PAMA Liqueur and IZZE Sparkling Juice, an unique artists market and, of course, the incomparable artists who were instrumental in not only making this landmark exhibition possible but also in making 18th Street a landmark in itself.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Jan Williamson

For more information on Collaboration Labs: Southern California Artists and the Artist Space Movement and the artists involved, visit: www.18thstreet.org

Gallery hours are M–F, 11 am-6 pm. 18th Street Arts Center is located at 1639 18th Street in Santa Monica.

18th Street Arts Center programs are generously funded by the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Arts Commission, California Community Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the James Irvine Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Getty Foundation.

Cost: $40 at the door gets you a BAM Fest logo tasting glass and unlimited sampling, 5 hours of live music, exploration of artist studios and galleries and the joy of drinking some of the best beers around.
  BREWERIES COMPLIMENTARY WINE SAMPLES BY E.&J. GALLO WINERY
ART

COLLABORATION LABS	YARN BOMBING	OPEN ARTIST STUDIOS

  MUSIC

JT ROSS & SPEEDWAY	UPSTART
THE ORLANDO NAPIER BAND	THE DUSTBOWL REVIVAL

FOOD

	BIKE VALET: Want to not worry about driving? Interested in preserving our beautiful planet? Then bike your way to the event. The City of Santa Monica will provide a FREE Bike Valet.
FREE PARKING AVAILABLE AT:	Crossroads School (Norton Campus): 1715 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica (Enter Parking on 17th Street, just North of Olympic Blvd.) Surrounding Street Parking

Beer Art & Music Festival hits Santa Monica for a Good Cause!

Santa Monica, CA- On Sunday, October 9, 2011 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., 18th Street Arts Center, is bringing its renowned BAM Fest (Beer, Art and Music Festival) to the Westside of L.A. Held in the heart of Santa Monica, BAM Fest is a celebration of locally produced art, music and the finest craft beers around. With 20-plus breweries, 4 bands, 3 galleries, open artist studios, an artist marketplace, gourmet organic food provided by the Green Truck, bold and flavorful authentic Mexican dishes by the Border Grill Truck and sublime banh mi and Vietnamese tacos from the Nom Nom Truck, BAM Fest 2011 is poised to draw a fun crowd in its second year as Santa Monica’s ‘hoppiest’ annual event.

As the only Craft Beer Festival in Santa Monica, this year’s attendance is anticipated at close to 1,300. And the event is a steal, with tickets priced at just $35. A ticket provides you 5 hours of live music, exploration of artist studios and galleries, a live artist market with art for purchase, and unlimited tastings of some of the greatest beers around. And since all proceeds from the event directly support 18th Street Arts Center’s programs and artists, attendees can feel good about contributing to a great cause. Following 2010’s BAM Fest, Santa Monica Daily Press’ Editor in Chief, Kevin Herrera declared, “18th Street Arts Center’s first annual BAM Festival was a blast. The beer selection was excellent, with many quality SoCal microbrewers represented, and the art was appealing and the music entertaining. There’s nothing like getting tipsy for charity!”

This year 18th Street is teaming up with LA craft beer industry veterans Thomas Kelly (Library Alehouse) and Martin Svab (Naja’s Place) to help facilitate the beer side of the festival. Participating craft breweries range from big to small, including the popular and larger New Belgium and Stone Brewing to the smaller but equally great Ladyface, Bootlegger’s and Strand Brewing. From cool-fermented lagers to warm-fermented ales, the craft beer offerings at 18th Street’s Beer, Art and Music Festival offer a range of styles for tasting enjoyment. For the beer connoisseur, this year BAM Fest is showcasing unique Belgian-style beers on tap, including Duvel-Moortgat, Brasserie d’Achouffe and Ommegang. Duvel Marketing Manager, Stuart Knight says, “Last year’s event was one of the very best beer festivals I attended, with an impressive list of great breweries and beers. I am really looking forward to this year’s event.” Just as any artist painstakingly toils over each detail of a masterpiece, today’s craft brewer goes to great lengths to produce unique, award-winning works of art. With the marriage of beer, art and music, BAM Fest has brewed a one-of-a-kind fundraising event.

The music lined up for BAM Fest is just as diverse as the beer samples. From the blazing Blues infused sound of JT Ross and his rock-and-roll band Speedway, to the hard-driving funk and soulful ballads of The Orlando Napier Band, the featured music at 18th Street’s festival is sure to make attendees groove. The Santa Monica-based group Upstart is rooted in soul and R&B traditions, but maintains a restless sense of discovery playing catchy, well-crafted songs while The Dustbowl Revival mix a spicy roots cocktail with their dance-inducing live sets that merge old school bluegrass, swamp-gospel, jug-band, jump blues and the hot swing of the 1930’s.

BAM Fest attendees also get the special opportunity to explore 18th Street’s contribution to the Getty’s initiative, Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945 – 1980, which brings more than 60 cultural institutions together for the first time to celebrate the birth of L.A.’s art scene. 18th Street’s exhibition entitled Collaboration Labs: Southern California Artists and the Artist Space Movement investigates five artists and artists groups that have been central to the alternative artist’s space movement in Southern California since the early 1970s. These makers and collectives – Rachel Rosenthal, Barbara T. Smith, Suzanne Lacy/Leslie Labowitz-Starus, Kit Galloway/Sherrie Rabinowitz, and EZTV – have all been involved in collaboration within their own work, as well as with the founding of key artist-run spaces in the Los Angeles region. Video, photography, documentation, performance and installations demonstrate how diverse art practices were in dialogue with and influential to many of the social and political movements of the last few decades. In addition, artworks are available for purchase at an artist marketplace organized by past 18th Street Artist Fellow, Anna Guajardo and the resident artists who live, work and create daily at 18th Street open their studios for attendees to experience works in progress.

Tickets are on sale at: http://18thstreet.org/even​ts/bam-fest-2011 and in person at the Library Alehouse, 2911 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA. 90405. For more information about BAM Fest 2011 and 18th Street Arts Center visit http://www.18thstreet.org.                                               #END#

18th Street Arts Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making. 18th Street is a community which values art making as an essential component of a vibrant, just and healthy society.

June 18 – August 28

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Artist Reception, Saturday, June 18, 2011, 6-10pm

From June 3 through August, 28 in the main gallery, Artists Jerri Allyn and Inez S. Bush, with collaborating artists Juna Amano, Micol Hebron, Michele Jaquis, Carol McDowell, Marissa Mercado, Rosalyn Myles,Shana Nys Dambrot, Juliana Ostrovsky, Beth Peterson, Karl Jean Petion, Erika Reynoso, Trinidad Ruiz, Marjan Vayghan, and Erich Wise will present Debating Through the Arts: Exhibition & Performance 3, during the summer based on a model United Nations. The accompanying Exhibition features some of the creative proposals that have emerged from Debates 1 and 2. Discreet installations include sculpture, photography, video projections, interactive stations and conceptual artwork, some of which will change during the residency.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jerri Allyn (MA, Feminist / Art and Community) creates site-oriented, interactive installations and performance art events that become a part of public life, and builds connections between various communities. Internationally exhibited, Jerri is a co-founding member of The Waitresses and Sisters of Survival, 1970s/80s performance art groups that were part of the burgeoning Feminist Art and New Genre movements. Grant funded for over 20 years, Allyn is part of the arts “legacy” in the City of Angels, the 2011 theme at 18th Street. Recently, she has focused on resolving conflicts creatively with A Chair Is… (2001-2005), and Debating Through the Arts(2009-2011), projects.

Because of Allyn’s inclination toward service, she brings the “process of creativity” to bear equally on her work as an artist, educator and administrator in cultural organizations. She produces interdisciplinary initiatives that reflect an understanding of the complex territories of collaboration, diversity and issues of social concern.

Inez S. Bush holds an M.A. in Education, Leadership, Change with a focus on sustaining arts integration into educational practices from Antioch University LA and a BFA in Graphic Design from SUNY Purchase. Bush is co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of Gramercy Partners, an award-winning communications design firm. She is a consultant to districts and schools in implementing arts education and a trained strategic planning facilitator and coach to non-profit, business, education and arts education.

Trained as a fine artist and graphic designer, Bush’s recent scholarship focuses on identifying what is preventing the sustainability of arts integrative methods into educational practices. Bush’s research is based on the premise that the arts are a conduit to a healthy society. Research indicates that individuals who study the arts develop heightened critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration skills – currently labeled “21st century skills.” And because artists are trained to look at things from various perspectives, they are often more tolerant and empathetic. Due to these enhanced skills and perspectives, both Bush and Allyn believe that artists should play a significant role in resolving issues societies are facing locally and globally.

Collaborating Artist Bios: Juan Amano/Micol Hebron/Michele Jaquis/Carol McDowell/ Marissa Mercado/ Rosalyn Myles/ Shana Nys Dambrot/ Juliana Ostrovsky/ Beth Peterson/Karl Jean Petition/ Erika Reynoso/ Trinidad Ruis/ Marjan Vayghan/ Erich Wise

Juna Amano

Trained at Hunter College, New York and Otis College of Art and Design, Juna works in painting, drawing, print, sculpture and community art. With a background in theatrical film, her art travels freely between high and low, between media, while tracing the mystery of everyday life. This is her first collaboration with sculptor and performance artist, Erich Wise.

Micol Hebron

Micol Hebron is also an interdisciplinary artist, represented by Jancar Gallery in Los Angeles. Hebron is a reviews writer for Art Forum.com, and an editor with X-Tra magazine. She is a member of the LA Art Girls.

Michele Jaquis

Michele Jaquis, an interdisciplinary artist and educator, has had exhibits in alternative spaces, galleries, museums, conferences and film festivals in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. With an MFA in sculpture from RISD and BFA in sculpture/experimental studio with a minor in psychology from Hartford Art School/University of Hartford, she is currently Assistant Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Studies at Otis College of Art and Design.

Carol McDowell

Carol McDowell is an interdisciplinary dance artist and scholar. Her work has been presented at the Skirball Cultural Center, Sweeney Art Gallery, Highways, The Kitchen, DTW, PS122, and abroad. Selected for a 2010 Hothouse Artist Residency at UCLA and a choreographer for Asher Hartman’s “Annie Okay” presented at the Hammer Museum by Machine Projects, McDowell is currently collaborating with Victoria Marks in her newest project, “Smallest Gesture/Grandest Frame.”

Marissa Mercado

Marissa Magdalena is a Los Angeles based artist whose practice includes a range of articulation from object making to performance.   Marissa attained her fine arts degree from Otis College of Art and Design. She also works as an arts enabler and educator. To this end Marissa has worked many area schools, The Getty Center, and Otis College’s Graduate Public Practice Program.

Rosalyn Myles

Rosalyn is a native of Los Angeles. She attended Mills College in Oakland, graduated then returned to home to work as a set decorator in videos and commercials. She was drawn back to art and attended CCAC where she received a Fine Arts Masters degree. Rosalyn is currently working on art projects in Los Angeles.

Shana Nys Dambrot

LA Canvas Arts (and Books) Editor Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator, and author based in Los Angeles. Formerly Managing Editor at Flavorpill, she is currently a regular contributor at Whitehot Magazine and the LA Weekly. Her monthly blog, Urban Scrawl, lives at Createfixate.com, and her c.v. is periodically updated at http://sndx.net.

Juliana Ostrovsky

Julianna Ostrovsky was once a refugee from Leningrad a.k.a. Saint Petersburg, Soviet Union and was adopted by the American metropolis, The New York City. She now paints and resides in Los Angeles and teaches every thing she learned in Leningrad a.k.a. Saint Petersburg, Chicago and New York to school children and their teachers and to art students of all ages.

Beth Peterson

Beth Peterson is a puppetry artist, arts educator and community arts organizer. She is the Director of Community Arts Programs for LA Commons -working with local artists and young adults to create temporary public arts projects that share the unique stories of the people of Los Angeles. She creates masks and puppets for theatrical original works performed nationally and internationally.

Karl Jean Petion

Karl Jean-Guerly Pétion, Haitian born multi media artist lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. After immigrating to America in1983, Mr.Pétion took his first life drawing class in the Saturday Art program at Cooper Union New York City. In 1987, Mr. Pétion received a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Kansas City Art Institute Kansas City Missouri.

Erika Reynoso

Born in Los Angeles, CA. A graduate of Otis College of Art and Design, she is also an alumni associated with the first group of graduates to begin teaching within the Artist, Community, and Teaching Program. Her practice is currently based in Los Angeles, with an emphasis on works founded in sound and video installation.

Trinidad Ruiz

As an artist Ruiz has worked in California arts institutions and museums for over 13 years including the education departments of the Fowler Museum and The Hammer and as Assistant Curator at the Torrance Art Museum. He was Public Programs Coordinator at Otis College and is Administrator and Programs Manager at the Watts House Project. Ruiz holds an AA in Studio Art and a BA in Art History at UCLA.

Marjan Vayghan

Born to Azerbaijani parents in Tehran, Iran in 1984, Marjan Vayghan emigrated to the United States in the Spring of 1995, settling with her family in LosAngeles, California. Vayghan continues to live alternately between Teheran and LosAngeles. her practice is informed by this context of movement and flexible citizenship across both geographical and cultural spaces, and the multiple realities these spaces engender.

Erich Wise

Erich Wise, born in San Dimas, California, currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Wise received his B.F.A. from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California. Before going on to his M.F.A. Studies at CSULB, he traveled to Europe studying at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure Des BeauxArts in Paris, France. He also spent time at the Hochschule Für Bildende Künste in Dresden, Germany.

June 18 – August 28

Artist Reception, Saturday, June 18, 2011, 6-10pm

Artist Statement

This project explores Los Angeles’ legacy as a site of artistic transformation and second chances,  through the poetic investigation and fictional re-construction of the Artist Actualization Services, a short-lived and obscure performance art group active in Los Angeles from 1979-1980. The underground group loosely combined the tenets of self-help movements with a strident rejection of fixed artistic identity and normative histories. In a short period of time, the Artist Actualization Services developed a small, near-fanatical following by exhorting its members to take part in a controversial cultural production strategy called “Posing,” where member artists actively thwarted the process of canonization by  wholly appropriating the identities of more well-known contemporaries in order to create attention for new work. With the help of silent collaborators on the editorial board of Southern California’s seminal performance art magazine High Performance, the Artist Actualization Services created multiple reports of their fictional actions, successfully attributed to other artists. These reports, undetected by art historians until recently, quietly subvert vested notions of authorship, and ultimately call into question the entire project of art history.

Viewers are invited to critically explore the recently-uncovered history of this enigmatic organization through a range of works and media, including photography, video, performance, and archival documents, which pose questions about the close relationship between artistic identity and art history. A new issue of High Performance magazine will be published in conjunction with the exhibition, to correct the apparent errors generated in the magazine by the Artist Actualization Services between 1979-1980.

Artist Bio

York Chang (b. 1973, St. Louis, MO), is a conceptual artist and painter who manipulates the cultural projection of identity, ideology, fanaticism, and political power. He creates immersive “total” installations, exploring the exhibition construct’s potential for literary fiction writing, and turning forensic and archival information systems into supports for poetic gestures. He earned both his BFA (1996) and Juris Doctorate (2001) from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Selected exhibitions include Open Daybook Project, LACE, Los Angeles, CA (2011), ARCO, Madrid, Spain (2010); ZOOM, Torrance Art Museum, Torrrance, CA (2009); The Search for the Visceral Realists, Federal Art Project, Los Angeles, CA (2009); Hard Left, Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2008); Urban Isolation, Cal State Dominguez Hills (2006); Santa Monica Originals at the Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (2005); Open Show 2004, curated by James Elaine, Hammer Museum Curator, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA (2004). York Chang lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

BAM Fest Was A Success!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support 18th Street Arts Center.

LISTEN to our on-air interview on 100.3fm The Sound

Beer Art & Music Festival hits Santa Monica for a Good Cause!

On Saturday, October 2, 2010 18th Street Arts Center, in association with Library Alehouse, brought the first Craft Beer Festival to the Westside of L.A. and with great success! B.A.M. Fest, which stands for Beer, Art and Music Festival, is a celebration of locally produced art, music and the finest craft beers around. With 20-plus breweries, 4 bands, 3 galleries, open artist studios, gourmet organic food trucks and more, B.A.M. Fest 2010 drew a fun crowd and is certain to become Santa Monica’s ‘hoppiest’ annual event. All proceeds benefited 18th Street Arts Center, a Santa Monica 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 

BREWERIES:

FREE CHEESE Samples Provided by CABOT CHEESE COOPERATIVE!

FREE TEA and LEMONADE Samples provided by NEW LEAF!

ART: Group exhibition curated and produced by Create:Fixate, a virtual and actual art marketplace curated by Elena Siff, the gritty and raw photography of Downtown LA artist, Rick Mendoza, and Downtown L.A. Author Jim Marquez signing his latest book “Citizen ME: L.A. Stories”

CREATE:FIXATE

RICK MENDOZA: Exhibition Panels

ELENA SIFF

JIM MARQUEZ

Create:Fixate Artists Include: Anne Carmack, Ashleigh Sumner, Astrid Chevallier, Betsy Ullery, Brett Woods, Craig Cartwright, Dave Bondi, David Phillips, George Jacob, Hagop Belian, Jason Macaya, Leyla Akdogan, Monica Roache, Olivia Kjellander Hook, Patrick Haemmerlein, and Stephanie Han Windham MUSIC: Christopher Hawley Rollers, JT Ross and his band, Speedway, The 3 Heads, and The Makepeace Brothers

JT ROSS & SPEEDWAY

3 HEADS

CHRISTOPHER HAWLEY ROLLERS

THE MAKEPEACE BROTHERS

	BIKE VALET: Want to not worry about driving? Interested in preserving our beautiful planet? Then bike your way to the event. The City of Santa Monica will provide a FREE Bike Valet.
FREE PARKING AVAILABLE AT:	Crossroads School (Norton Campus): 1715 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica (Enter Parking on 17th Street, just North of Olympic Blvd.) UCLA Les Kelly Family Medical Center: 1920 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica (Colorado and 19th Street)

Beer Art & Music Festival Hits Santa Monica for a Good Cause!

Santa Monica, CA- October 2, 2010 – From all levels of fundraising, a revolution is brewing: pairing art and music with craft beer to raise money for a good cause. With the United States now boasting as many as 1,500 breweries – more than 90% of these fitting the small, independent and traditional craft brewery definition – the choice and diversity of craft beers has stimulated an increased interest in those passionate about culinary practices, innovation and creativity.

Like emerging artists, craft breweries are fairly new to the scene, only becoming a trend in the United States in the early 1990s. The website of the Brewers Association Craftbeer.com, states “as craft brewers have come of age, little did the world know that their full flavored craft beers would generate such passion and excitement.”  And since “today’s craft brewers are often viewed as local personalities who practice their art with authentic intentions, and their beers are the expression of their individual passion and drive,” why not introduce them to arts and culture audiences at a fundraising event for local artists? For 18th Street Arts Center this pairing couldn’t be more perfect.

On Saturday, October 2, 2010 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., 18th Street Arts Center, in association with popular Santa Monica restaurant, Library Alehouse, is bringing the first Craft Beer Festival to the Westside of L.A.  B.A.M. Fest, which stands for Beer, Art and Music Festival, is a celebration of locally produced art, music and the finest craft beers around. With 20-plus breweries, 4 bands, 3 galleries, open artist studios and gourmet organic food provided by the Green Truck, B.A.M. Fest 2010 is poised to draw a crowd and become Santa Monica’s next hip annual event.

The event is a steal, with pre-sale tickets going for $30 before the end of August and regular priced tickets at $35. A ticket provides you 5 hours of live music, exploration of artist studios and galleries with art for purchase, and the joy of tasting great beers in the Santa Monica sunshine. And since all proceeds from the event directly support 18th Street Arts Center’s programs and artists, attendees can feel good about contributing to a great cause.

Other non-profits have already capitalized on this new trend of pairing art, music and beer to raise funds for their charitable efforts. Just last year, the Los Angeles Craft and Artisanal Beer Appreciation League raised thousand of dollars for the non-profit 826LA through its sold-out LA Craft Beer Festival in Echo Park. Even Donald Trump has gotten on the band wagon with his Trump National Golf Club Wine & Beer Festival which this year benefited Providence Little Company of Mary Foundation and the Rotary Club of Rancho Palos Verdes. B.A.M. Fest 2010 is bringing this trend to Santa Monica with a unique blend of fun and entertainment.

Participating craft breweries range from big to small, including the popular and larger New Belgium and Stone Brewing Companies to the smaller but equally great Eel River and Green Flash Breweries. From cool-fermented lagers to warm-fermented ales, the craft beer offerings at the 18th Street’s Beer, Art and Music Festival offer a range of styles for tasting enjoyment.

And the music lined up for B.A. M. Fest is just as diverse as the beer samples. From the blazing Blues infused sound of JT Ross and his rock-and-roll band Speedway, to the acoustic rock/pop music of The 3 Heads, the featured music at 18th Street’s festival is sure to make attendees groove. The Venice-based Makepeace Brothers evoke an American folk, blue-grass feel with what they call roots-based power-pop and the Christopher Hawley Rollers keep the party going with their very danceable mix of soulful lyrics, slide guitar, thumping bass and soaring percussion. All 4 local beach bands bring their own feel-good flavor to this cultural event.

To widen the sphere of attendees, 18th Street Arts Center has partnered with Los Angeles-based art organization, Create:Fixate and artist-duo Rick Mendoza and Jim Marquez. Founder of Create:Fixate Michelle Berc is curating an exhibition by emerging and mid-career artists in 18th Street’s Main Gallery. In the Pasillos I Gallery, Mendoza will present his gritty and raw photography of the Downtown LA ‘scene’ while Marquez performs his written works on life and partying East of the 405 Freeway. 18th Street Artist Fellow, Elena Siff will oversee the collaboration of multiple artists as they build a virtual and actual art marketplace in 18th Street’s Project Room. In addition to the gallery shows, the resident artists who live, work and create daily at 18th Street will open their studios for attendees to experience works in progress and to purchase selected art.

When approached about the event, Nick Anderson of the Boston Beer Company, brewer of Samuel Adams beers declared, “Right on! I love art and music, so this should prove to be a marvelous pairing.” And 18th Street Arts Center can’t agree more. Just as any artist painstakingly toils over each detail of a masterpiece, today’s craft brewer goes to great lengths to produce unique, award-winning works of art. With the marriage of beer, art and music, B.A.M. Fest has brewed a breakthrough in fundraising.

Tickets will be on sale starting August 2, 2010 at: http://www.18thstreet.org/events/bam-fest and in person at the Library Alehouse, 2911 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA. 90405. For more information about B.A.M. Fest 2010 and 18th Street Arts Center visit http://www.18thstreet.org.

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18th Street Arts Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making. 18th Street is a community which values art making as an essential component of a vibrant, just and healthy society.