Benefit Dinner April 21 at 18th Street Arts Center
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
March 21, 2012
18th Street Arts Center
1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
www.18thstreet.org
Media Contact:
Sara Schnadt 310-453-3711 104 sschnadt@18thstreet.org
18th Street Arts Center Celebrates
Susanna Bixby Dakin and the Alliance of Artists Communities
at the 2012 Annual Benefit Dinner
April 21, 2012, 6:00PM
Los Angeles, CA – 18th Street Arts Center, a vibrant artist residency and community resource for public engagement in the heart of Santa Monica celebrates its 24th year with its Annual Benefit Dinner on Saturday, April 21, 2012. Hosted on 18th Street’s campus, the intimate dinner joins friends together in celebration of 18th Street’s many successes as an internationally recognized creative community supporting contemporary artists and culture. A special lifetime achievement award will be given to 18th Street’s co-founder, Susanna Bixby Dakin for her work as an influential artist, arts advocate, and philanthropist. In addition, this year 18th Street honors the Alliance of Artists Communities for its 21 years of advocacy and support to artists’ communities, advancing the endeavors of artists nationally and internationally.
The Alliance of Artists Communities is the national and international service organization for the field of artists’ communities, colonies, and residency programs, representing over 500 organizations in the U.S. and 1,000 worldwide. The Alliance gives a collective voice on behalf of its members, small and large, that leverages support for the field as a whole; promotes successful practices in the field; and advocates for creative environments that support the work of today’s artists. “The Alliance of Artists Communities has been a tireless supporter of California artists for years. In addition, the work the Alliance does in advocating for creative spaces in general, bringing new financial sources to the field and creating invaluable networking opportunities is exceptional,” says 18th Street Arts Center’s Executive Director, Jan Williamson.
For her lifetime of exceptional achievements, Susanna Bixby Dakin, is being honored. Long before they were popular causes, Sue, a fourth generation Californian, was a champion for peace, artists and the environment. An artist herself, she supported dozens of now famous Southern California performance, new media and public practice artists. She is recognized for her work as the publisher of the alternative art review, High Performance Magazine, which ran as a quarterly from 1977 to 1998, and as co-founder of 18th Street Arts Center, along with Linda Frye Burnham, founder and editor of High Performance Magazine. Following in the footsteps of her grandmother Susanna Bixby Bryant – a rancher and founder of the first botanical garden dedicated exclusively to California native plants, Sue has been an ardent defender of indigenous and organic family farmers, and their heirloom seed crops, for much of her life. As a mother, she sought to bring the Quaker principles of social justice and peace into public education and defend the value of the arts as among the most basic of “basics”. As an artist, Dakin’s most famous artwork was the 1983-84 political campaign, “An Artist for President”, in which she ran a serious campaign for President of the United States as an artist. Her recent book about this daring and insightful journey entitled, An Artist for President; The Nation is the Artwork, We are the Artists, was published by Hyphen Media in 2011.
Benefit Dinner attendees will kick off the evening with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and tours of artists’ studios. Guests will be lead on private tours of the campus where they will have the opportunity to learn more about the work of local and international artists in residence in an intimate setting where their ideas are generated and their work takes shape. During the reception portion of the evening, attendee’s will enjoy the culinary skills of celebrated chef Abigail Chilton ofAlligator Pear Catering while dining amongst a dynamic survey of works by California Artists represented in the Alliance of Artists Communities’ Visions from the New California exhibition. Curated by Mark Steven Greenfield (for 18th Street Arts Center) and Lauren Davies (for Kala Art Institute in San Francisco), this two-city exhibition features recipients of the ‘Visions from the New California’ Award provided to under-represented California artists each year by the Alliance of Artists Communities and The James Irvine Foundation. Artists featured at 18th Street are Ala Ebtekar, Joanne Hashitani, Prajakti Jayavant, Bessma Khalaf, Matthew Mullins, John Ruszel, Ethan Turpin, Suné Woods, and Andre Woodward.
A highlight of the evening will be the interview and lively discussion lead by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, art critic and author of Rebels in Paradise; The Los Angeles Art Scene and the 1960s, with one of the iconic, renegade artists featured in her book, Larry Bell. Drohojowska-Philp and Bell will hold an informal discussion about Southern California artists and art that is sure to entertain and enlighten.
Specializing in the topics of art, design and architecture, Ms. Drohojowska-Philpis an accomplished journalist and art critic who has contributed to multiple art periodicals, newspapers and radio stations. She has held positions as the chair of the Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Otis College of Art and Design and as an art critic for the L.A. Weekly, architecture and design editor of L.A. Stylemagazine, and is a regular contributor to the L.A. Herald Examiner.
Larry Bell is a contemporary artist and sculptor whose work has been shown in numerous museums and public spaces in the United States and abroad over the course of his 40-year career. Bell is often associated with the ‘Light and Space’ movement prominent on the West Coast in the 1960s.
To further enhance the experience, a raffle open to both attendees and non-attendees, will be held during the Benefit Dinner. Funds raised will directly support the residency of South African photo-based visual and performance artist, Nadine Hutton, scheduled to arrive at 18th Street in May 2012. Nadine Hutton is both an experienced photojournalist, and contemporary artist whose practice encompasses visual and performance art as well as video installation to explore social issues such as gender and sexual orientation. The Africa Centre has generously provided the funds for Ms. Hutton’s travel expenses. Lodging and board expenses, operational and administrative costs as well as Ms. Hutton’s artist stipend have not yet been secured. 18th Street hopes to complete the funding for this residency through money raised from raffle ticket sales. By purchasing a $25 raffle ticket (or 5 tickets for $100) supporters are entered into a raffle to win an original artwork from one of the following renowned artists: Lita Albuquerque, Charles Christopher Hill, Ala Ebtekar and Vincent Ramos.
18th Street Arts Center’s April ArtNight
March 13, 2012 4:02 pm
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| VENUE ADDRESS: 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 |
| CONTACT: Sara Schnadt |
| PHONE: 310-453-3711 104 |
| CONTACT EMAIL: ajones@18thstreet.org |
| WEBSITE: WWW.18THSTREET.ORG |
| CHARGE: Free |
| HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE: Yes |
| CALENDAR / ART |
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ARTNIGHT 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm, Saturday April 14, 2012  |
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Join us on April 14, 2012 from 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm, for 18th Street Arts Center’s popular ArtNight celebrating the vibrancy of the creative process, and featuring an opening reception for the Alliance of Artists Communities’ Visions from the New California exhibition showcasing artists from across the state. Stay for open studios by local and international artists, art installations, live Brasillian percussion from Batuclada, and more. Come early at 6:00 pm for an artist talk by Artist in Residence Michiko Yao in conversation with 18th Street’s Director of Residency Programs Pilar Tompkins Rivas. Complimentary beverages provided by Izze Sparkling Juice and Hpnotiq Liqueur
Visions from the New California
April 14 – May 31, 2012 Main Gallery Curated by Mark Steven Greenfield (for 18th Street Arts Center) and Lauren Davies (for Kala Art Institute in San Francisco), this two-city exhibition features recipients of the Alliance of Artists Communities’ ‘Visions from the New California’ Award. With openings in both Los Angeles (at 18th Street on April 14th) and San Francisco (at Kala Art Institute on May 18th), Visions surveys the dynamic approaches and sensibilities of artists working in California. Artists featured at 18th Street: Ala Ebtekar, Joanne Hashitani, Prajakti Jayavant, Bessma Khalaf, Matthew Mullins, John Ruszel, Ethan Turpin, Suné Woods, Andre Woodward Curator Mark Steven Greenfield says: ”There are few occasions when the breadth of work in a group exhibition so serendipitously finds its own cohesion. Consistent themes of “pan-culturalism” are thematically present in the work, as well as in the diverse backgrounds of the artists. The work also suggests a rethinking of long held notions of the contemporary Californian aesthetic as envisioned by a cross-section of artists representing ideas with decidedly global perspectives. The exhibition features works that deal with issues of race, sex, gender, redefinitions of constructionism, new minimalism, early photography, nostalgic meditations, and the interplay between nature and the man-made.” Tandem / Lebensraum- Living Room
April 14 - May 31, 2012 Atrium Gallery In our Atrium Gallery, 18th Street Arts Center will present Tandem / Lebensraum- Living Room, a bi-national photography exhibition consisting of twelve students of artist, photographer and instructor Sandra Mann from the Academy of Visual Arts, Frankfurt; and twelve current and former students of artist and instructor Ichiro Irie, from the Santa Monica College Art Mentor Program (AMP). Previously displayed in Frankfurt, the exhibition now makes its way to Santa Monica. Consisting of twenty-four photographs, the works investigate personal space on physical and psychological levels. Michiko Yao, Samsara Pleasure Principle
April 14 - May 31, 2012 Artist talk: April 14, 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm Project Room From 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm resident artist Michiko Yao will be in conversation with 18th Street Arts Center’s Director of Residency Programs, Pilar Tompkins Rivas in conjunction with her exhibition Samsara Pleasure Principle featuring a video installation of the same title. Join us for a look into the artist’s work, centering around Dutch and Portuguese influences in Japanese culture. For ArtNight, Yao will create an edible and interactive still-life table setting as part of her Project Room presentation. In Samsara Pleasure Principle, Yao considers the historical influences of Western culture in Japan from the Edo period until today. The artist creates a gradually unfolding narrative in the form of a floral still life gesticulating in slow motion. The composition references both Dutch Golden Age painting and ikebana, drawing upon the cultural exchange that evolved through the trading relationship between Japan and the Netherlands.
Open Studios: A selection of artists’ studios at 18th Street will be open to the public. Wander our campus and learn more about artists’ work in an intimate setting where their ideas are generated and their work takes shape. Participating local artists will include: Otis M.F.A. in Public Practice, Clayton Campbell, Yvette Gellis and others. Participating International Artists: Alex Crotitorou, Francisca Caporali, and Guiseppe De Bernardi.
Alexandra Croitoru is a visiting artist from Bucharest, Romania. She is the second artist this year to visit 18th Street from that region through a generous grant from the Trust for Mutual Understanding. Utilizing photography, installation and book projects, Croitoru’s work explores the intersections of personal, group and national identities. Both arts administrators and artists in their own right, Francisca Caporali is the director and co-founder of JA.CA Center for Art and Technology, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Giuseppe De Bernardi is the founding director of Tupac Asociación Cultural in Lima, Peru. While here, they will investigate and research the structure of residency programs such as 18th Street’s, as well as other programs in Northern California. Caporali and De Bernardi come to 18th Street through generous support from the Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles.
Outdoor Area: The Artist and the Past Present - Vincent Ramos and high school students from the Virginia Avenue Park Teen Center Artist Vincent Ramos and high school students from the Virginia Avenue Park Teen Center present an archival project looking back at the sights, sounds and feel of mid-century Santa Monica, told from the Mexican-American perspective. Through research and archives, this presentation maps out the deep diversity of the area and invites viewers to reexamine the chronicles of our local lore. Batuclada 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Batuclada specializes in the infectious rhythms leading the street parades of Northern Brazil during Carnaval. With 8 to 15 drummers, the group performs authentic renditions of well-known songs from the top ‘Blocos’ (carnaval groups), including Olodum, Ile Aiye and Timbalada. Led by musical director, Kirk Brundage, Bauclada plays in traditional Afro-Brasilian street style, with just voice and percussion, and will be joined by Bahian vocalist, Rene Flores. Image: Matthew Mullins, VHS Tape Collection: South Pole, 2010, watercolor and gouache on paper, mounted on panels, three Panels 30″ X 30″ X 2″ each, triptych
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18th Street Arts Center Welcomes New Leadership and Vision for the Organization
February 21, 2012 2:03 pm
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| VENUE ADDRESS: 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 |
| CONTACT: Amber Jones |
| PHONE: 310-453-3711 104 or 108 |
| CONTACT EMAIL: ajones@18thstreet.org |
| WEBSITE: WWW.18THSTREET.ORG |
| CHARGE: Free |
| HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE: Yes |
| CALENDAR / ART |
18th Street Arts Center Welcomes New Leadership and Vision for the Organization
Santa Monica, CA-18th Street Arts Center is pleased to announce two new additions to our creative team: contemporary art curator Pilar Tompkins Rivas, Director of Residency Programs; and artist-technologist Sara Schnadt, Director of Communications & Outreach.
Tompkins Rivas comes to 18th Street with a deep knowledge of both the international and local contemporary art world and an extensive curatorial background. She has served as arts project coordinator at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, curator of the Claremont Museum of Art and director of the Latin American branch of the Artist Pension Trust. As part of the Getty Research Institute’s Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980, she curated Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers Arts Center for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs in addition to co-curating the suite of exhibitions, L.A. Xicano, at UCLA’s Fowler Museum, LACMA and the Autry National Center. Her many projects include Bas Jan Ader: Suspended Between Laughter and Tears, at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, and Museo de Arte Zapopan, Mexico; Citizen, Participant at Darb 1718 Art Center in Cairo, Egypt; and Vexing: Female Voices from East L.A. Punk at the Claremont Museum of Art which represented the City of Los Angeles at the 2009 Guadalajara International Book Fair.
Schnadt is a working artist, technologist, curator, and arts administrator. She comes to 18th Street after 8 years at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs where she co-founded Chicago Artists Resource (an artists’ resource and opportunity website). CAR has become a thriving community hub for artists in Chicago, and a national model for artists’ resource sites. A national version of the web site is in the planning stages based on Schnadt’s design. She also co-curates the IN>TIME Performance Series in Chicago. She has served on the Artists’ Advisory Board for the Chicago Artists Coalition, the planning Committee for Carnegie Mellon University’s Technology in the Arts Conference, as a founding member of Chicago’s SpareRoom Performance Collective, and as co-chair for the Chicago chapter of Upgrade!, an international network of new media artists. Sara’s art practice includes recent projects at the MCA Chicago, MOCAD Detroit, Free Manifesta, UNESP Sao Paulo, and the Busan Biennial.
Jan Williamson, Executive Director of 18th Street Arts Center said: “…Because of Pilar’s strong curatorial background, our artists in residence will receive more tailored support in deepening their artistic practice. Sara’s web development experience on Chicago’s website CAR – Chicago Arts Resource – is in keeping with 18th Street’s longstanding history of embracing technology to engage with our artists and audience members.”
18th Street is very pleased that Tompkins Rivas and Schnadt are joining our staff and that their vision and expertise will be part of 18th Street’s next chapter!
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ABOUT 18TH STREET ARTS CENTER
18th Street Arts Center’s mission is to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making. We value art-making as an essential component of a vibrant, just and healthy society. 18th Street provides a hub for contemporary art through two program areas: 1) A three-tiered Residency Program that fosters inter-cultural collaboration and dialogue and 2) A Public Events and Presenting Program that focuses on engaging the public and revealing the art-making process through exhibitions, events, talks, publications and other opportunities. Our Residency Program supports artists in three ways: Short-term residencies, for national and international visiting artists who live at 18th Street for 1-6 months; Medium-term residencies, of 3 years to advance California artists’ careers; and Long-term residencies that mentor Californian artists and ‘anchor’ organizations.
Gallery hours are Monday – Friday 11am-6pm. 18th Street Arts Center is located at 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica.
For more information on 18th Street Arts Center visit www.18thstreet.org
MATANA ROBERTS PHOENIX: a radical exploration of sight/sound/journey
January 27, 2012 5:09 pm
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| VENUE ADDRESS: 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 |
| CONTACT: Amber Jones |
| PHONE: 310-453-3711 103 or 108 |
| CONTACT EMAIL: ajones@18thstreet.org |
| WEBSITE: WWW.18THSTREET.ORG |
| CHARGE: Free |
| HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE: Yes |
| CALENDAR / ART |
MATANA ROBERTS PHOENIX: A Radical Exploration of Sight/Sound/Journey
Matana Roberts: Saxophone, composition
Jeff Parker: Electric guitar
Alex Cline: Drums
Friday, February 17, 2012
8:00 pm
The Edye Second Space at the Broad Stage
Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center
1310 11th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Santa Monica, CA-18th Street Arts Center is pleased to announce internationally recognized saxophonist, composer and sound conceptualist, Matana Roberts in concert at the Edye Second Space at the Broad Stage in the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center on February 17th at 8 pm. Roberts and her dynamic ensemble will premiere her latest original works in an intimate performance.
More than a jazz musician, Roberts is an artist who translates images, memories and personal experiences into avant-garde compositions. Inspired by her own African American genealogy and oral traditions, as well as the roots and history of the New Orleans jazz scene, Roberts’ pieces are often musical journeys through time and space. By using improvisational sound techniques and visual elements, Roberts gives her audience an electric, multi-sensory experience.
Chicago-born and New York-based, Roberts has performed across the U.S., Europe, and Canada and has recorded five solo albums and numerous collaborative projects. Investigating various forms of performance, she has created alongside visionary experimentalists in the disciplines of dance, poetry, visual art and theater. Roberts is the first recipient of the 18th Street Arts Center’s Make-Jazz Residency funded by the Herb Alpert Foundation.
While free and open to the public, this event has limited seating. Reservations required by February 14, 2012.
******LIMITED SEATING******
RSVP by February14, 2012 at rsvp@18thstreet.org
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For press passes and inquiries please contact Amber Jones, 310-453-3711 Ext 108, ajones@18thstreet.org
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ABOUT 18TH STREET ARTS CENTER
18th Street Arts Center is a community which values contemporary art making as an essential part of a vibrant, just and healthy society. Its mission to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making.
18th Street Arts Center supports the work of individual artists and nonprofit arts organizations and fosters the public’s engagement with a spectrum of approaches to contemporary ideas that reflects the cultural richness of the region. Focusing on financial and technical support of the creative projects by California artists, 18th Street maintains three programs that reflect its mission: a Residency Program, a Visiting Artist-in-Residence Program, and a Public Events and Presenting Program.
Gallery hours: Monday – Friday, 11 am – 6 pm
For more information visit www.18thstreet.org
Lita Albuquerque Re-imagines “Spine of Earth” Project
January 3, 2012 11:18 am
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| VENUE ADDRESS: 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 |
| CONTACT: Amber Jones |
| PHONE: 310-453-3711 103 or 108 |
| CONTACT EMAIL: ajones@18thstreet.org |
| WEBSITE: WWW.18THSTREET.ORG |
| CHARGE: Free |
| HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE: Yes |
| CALENDAR / ART |
Lita Albuquerque Re-imagines Historic Ephemeral Art Work
January 22, 2012 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook (6300 Hetzler Road; Culver City)
Santa Monica, CA-In conjunction with the Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival, 18th Street is proud to present resident artist Lita Albuquerque’s recreation of her seminal work Spine Of The Earth.
This large-scale art performance will take place at the breathtaking Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook in Culver City, in conjunction with the Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival organized by Glenn Phillips of the Getty Research Institute and Lauri Firstenberg of LAXART.
Spine of the Earth was originally created on the El Mirage Dry Lake bed in the Mojave Desert of California in the fall of 1980. It was a transient pigment-based land work that commenced with a performance by Long Beach State University art students who laid red, yellow and black pigment on the desert floor. Albuquerque used the Earth as a two-dimensional drawing surface with a spiraling geometric pattern that was over six hundred feet in diameter. The final piece could only be seen in its entirety from hundreds of feet in the air.
For Spine Of The Earth 2012, Albuquerque is re-imaging her seminal project from 1980 in an entirely new context with an innovative component of suspense that emphasizes the spectral line connecting the Earth’s core to the sky above. At 12:00 pm, over 500 people participating in this performance will reveal the surprise to spectators watching at the base of the hill with choreography by LA based choreographers Wife. Attendees to this phenomenal event are guaranteed to walk away with an unprecedented art experience.
To sign up to participate in the performance, volunteers should visit: http://www.spineoftheearth2012.com/
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ABOUT LITA ALBUQUERQUE
Lita Albuquerque is an internationally renowned installation, environmental artist, painter and sculptor. She has developed a visual language that brings the realities of time and space to a human scale in ways that are simultaneously ancient and futuristic. For decades she has created large scale ephemeral pigment pieces in desert sites including the Pyramids of Giza and more recently the ice desert of Antarctica where she led an expedition and team of scientists and artists that culminated in the first and largest ephemeral art work created on the continent. Often best seen from space, Albuquerque’s work challenges perspective, and the perpetually shifting relationships between bodies in space.
Her paintings are a materialization of the ideas about color, light and perception first created in her ephemeral works. Through her use of pure pigments, gold leaf and copper, she engages perceptual and alchemical shifts in the viewing subject. Her work was recently seen at MOCA in The Artist’s Museum exhibition and was featured in Art Paris 2011. Her solo show 287 Steps opens on January 21st, the night before her large scale ephemeral work Spine of the Earth 2012 is performed in conjunction with the Getty Museum’s Pacific Standard Time Performance Festival. 287 Steps features a new body of work and will be on view at Craig Krull Gallery in Bergamot Station through February 25th, 2012.
Albuquerque is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including three National Endowment for the Arts, the Cairo Biennale Prize and a National Science Foundation Artist Grant. Albuquerque’s work is included in collections at the Whitney Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Getty Trust, and The Los Angeles County Museum, among others. She has been a Professor on the Core Faculty in the Fine Art Graduate Program at Art Center College of Design for over twenty years.
ABOUT 18TH STREET ARTS CENTER
18th Street Arts Center values contemporary art making as an essential part of a vibrant, just and healthy society. Its mission to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making.
18th Street Arts Center supports the work of outstanding individual artists and fosters the public’s engagement with a broad spectrum of approaches to contemporary ideas that reflect the cultural richness of the region. With 5 studio buildings in Santa Monica, 18th Street provides a hub for contemporary art through two program areas that reflect its mission: 1) A Residency Program that fosters inter-cultural collaboration and dialogue and 2) A Public Events and Presenting Program that focuses on engaging the public and revealing the art-making process to them through exhibitions, events, publications and other opportunities. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday 11am-6pm.
18th Street Arts Center is located at 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica.
For more information on Lita Albuquerque’s Spine of the Earth performance visit: www.18thstreet.org or http://pacificstandardtimefestival.org/
Pacific Standard Time is an unprecedented collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together to tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene. Initiated through grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time will take place for six months beginning October 2011. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.
Los Angeles was a key international birthplace of performance art. Engaging the innovative spirit of that period and LA’s vibrant contemporary art scene, the Performance and Public Art Festival will transform Southern California over eleven days (January 19-29, 2012) during Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980. Featuring more than 30 major performances and large-scale outdoor projects, the festival will include new commissions, reinventions, and restagings inspired by the radical and trailblazing public and performance works that were created by artists during the Pacific Standard Time era. Performances and projects will be located at institutions and sites throughout Southern California, in close proximity to more than two dozen Pacific Standard Time exhibitions. The festival is organized by the Getty Research Institute and LA><ART; support is provided by the Getty Foundation.
