Santa Monica Cultural Affairs

LEFT/RIGHT/HERE is a one-night only interactive drive/walk-through outdoor art experience and part of the current exhibit Recovery Justice: Being Well at 18th Street Arts Center, Airport Campus. Artists Lionel Popkin, Marcus Kuiland-Nazario, Yrneh Gabon and Susie McKay Krieser, Lola del Fresno, Luciana Abait, Nicola Goode, and Debra Disman use their work to explore the questions: Where is here? Can we be together? Can we find stability amidst uncertainty? This Saturday, July 10, 7:30 - 9:30pm. More info & RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/leftrighthere-an-outdoor-art-e

La Bonita was a Black-owned bathhouse and lodge on Belmar Place, in Santa Monica in 1900. This was a place of hospitality for Black visitors. Learn more more about this welcoming stopover from this history panel located in Historic Belmar Park. More at https://www.santamonica.gov/arts/belmar #ArtSaMo#BelmarHistoryArt

Calling all Santa Monica residents! We would love to hear your thoughts on what makes our community unique and special in order to promote an authentic Santa Monica and support our economic recovery. Click here to take our 10 minute survey: https://www.research.net/r/SMResidentSurvey.

Black Santa Monica history is highlighted in an outdoor exhibit of history panels that surrounds Historic Belmar Park. This map shows the Santa Monica places that are featured in the exhibition. The park is open from 6am-11pm and is located at 1840 4th Street, Santa Monica. More info at https://www.santamonica.gov/arts/belmar #ArtSaMo#BelmarHistoryArt

This weekend, Santa Monica Rep explores the space of 'before and after' the pandemic with their 3rd Annual Playreading Festival, #anothernormal: plays written and directed by women. On Saturday, three short plays about the way we treat each other will be featured. Each production will include a post-show discussion and the program will end with a panel discussion on WHAT IS THEATRE AND WHY IT MATTERS, NOW. On Sunday, a storytelling workshop will be offered, in addition to t...he storytelling show SHINEOnline: A Woman's Place. Register and receive access to both Saturday's playreadings and panel discussion, AND Sunday's workshop and storytelling show. The programs are FREE and online, with a suggested donation of $25. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-playreading-festiva

Cultural Affairs sends out a monthly email highlighting projects, artists, events, artist opportunities, and other important updates about art and culture in Santa Monica. You can read this month's eblast here https://mailchi.mp/smgov.net/explore-artsamo-555980, which features Pride Month, including a Staff Pick of this digital art piece by artist Parisa Parnian. You can sign up to receive the email by clicking here https://us12.list-manage.com/subscribe and selecting 'Cultural Affairs.' Image: PRIDE 2021: We are Resilient, Parisa Parnian

The City of Santa Monica hosts a day of free Juneteenth Activities this Saturday, June 19, 2021. The 29th Annual Juneteenth Celebration will be happening online from 10:30 a.m. - noon. More info at https://www.smgov.net/Departments/CCS/content.aspx?id=32857. Wade In the Water: A Tiny Film Fest will take place in the evening at Historic Belmar Park from 8 - 10 p.m. More info at https://www.santamonica.gov/historicbelmarpark. ... These events commemorate America’s second Independence Day, when the Union general in Galveston, Texas read the federal orders of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation proclaiming all previously enslaved people in Texas were free, two years after the adoption of the proclamation.

Don't miss the remaining #SaMoPride events this month, visit smpride.com/events. Also, check out the City's LGBTQ+ Pride Month Proclamation and accompanying video by Terry Wolverton (poet, novelist, editor, activist) at https://www.santamonica.gov/arts/pridemonth#Pride.

Join us this Saturday, June 19, from 8 - 10 p.m. for a Juneteenth Celebration at Historic Belmar Park! Wade in the Water: A Tiny Film Fest, is an in-person outdoor screening of short films celebrating Black culture and its connection to water. The screening will feature the premiere of BELONGING, a Belmar History + Art site-specific dance film by artist April Banks honoring African Americans in Santa Monica. Pre-event activities will include food trucks and music by DJ Moni Vargas. More info at https://www.santamonica.gov/historicbelmarpark.

Join us for virtual Pride at the Beach , June 15, 2021 at 4 pm PDT! Red Hen Press and #SMBeachHouse present Pride at the Beach featuring Kazim Ali, Carlos... Allende, Judy Grahn, and Joe Jiménez, and moderated by Ching-In Chen. Five incredible LGBTQ+ writers will share their work and discuss what PRIDE looks like in a post-pandemic world, and how we can increase the visibility, representation, and support for BIPOC writers and their experiences in the LGBTQ+ community. The event will be live-streamed at santamonica.gov/beachculture, and the recording viewable soon after. #ArtSaMo #BeachHouseBliss For more City of Santa Monica Pride events visit: https://www.santamonica.gov//city-of-santa-monica-to-celeb For a complete list of #SaMoPride events and opportunities visit: www.smpride.com

Explore Black Santa Monica history through the artwork and interpretive signs around the perimeter of Historic Belmar Park, created by artist April Banks and historian Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson through the collaborative Belmar History + Art project. Open 6am-11pm at 1840 4th Street, Santa Monica. More at https://www.santamonica.gov/arts/belmar #ArtSaMo #BelmarHistoryArt

This episode of KCET's Southland Sessions features three projects spotlighting the history of African Americans in Santa Monica, www.kcet.org//three-major-projects-chronicle-histories-and. You can discover more of the Belmar neighborhood on foot through the history panels and art installation at Historic Belmar Park. #ArtSaMo #BelmarHistoryArt

The Belmar History + Art project won a preservation award from the Santa Monica Conservancy Sunday 5/16/21 for its contribution to Santa Monica’s cultural heritage. See the write up and the other awardees here: https://www.smconservancy.org//the-santa-monica-conservan/ #ArtSaMo #BelmarHistoryArt Women’s Day at Phillips Chapel, 1950s. Waron Turner Railey Collection of Alison Rose Jefferson.

Artist April Banks, who created A Resurrection in Four Stanzas at Historic Belmar Park, is featured in "Unshuttering LA, a new exhibit at the Getty May 25 October 21, 2021. This beautiful selection of photographs was chosen by jill moniz, who also curated Lives that Bind: a restorative justice exhibition featured at Santa Monica’s City Hall East lobby. More about the Getty exhibit here: https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/photo_flux/

Join the City virtually to celebrate Day of the Dead. This family-friendly hour will include an overview of this celebration of life and death, live Day of the Dead inspired music, presentations of altars by local community members, and a workshop on how to make a paper flower for your own altar.

Calling all aspiring high school student artists! DOWNBEAT 720, the open-mic for high school performers, takes place this evening at 7:20pm in a virtual format. Participants can share their music, poetry, comedy or art and receive positive constructive feedback to help strengthen their performance. There is no cost to participate. For more information and to sign up: https://www.santamonica.gov/.../downbeat-720-launches... #ArtSaMo Photo taken prior to COVID-19

Don't miss this upcoming talk hosted by Santa Monica Conservancy with historian Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson and artist April Banks. They’ll be discussing the new Belmar History + Art project and the upcoming interpretive signage and public artwork at Historic Belmar Park. Wednesday, 10/28, 5pm. RSVP at https://smc.givecloud.co/2020mosaic2. #ArtSaMo #BelmarHistoryArt Image credit: Santa Monica Library image archives

CALL FOR ARTISTS! Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) seeks proposals for temporary tree wrap art to be installed around the trunks of 95 Jacaranda trees along Third Street Promenade. The entry deadline is October 23, 2020, midnight PST. More info at https://drive.google.com//1_QVaV3MzoyyccItESj3NoskEqi/view

TOMORROW is the last day to respond to the #2020Census and ensure our community receives vital funds for education, health care, and so much more that we depend on. It's never been safer or easier to respond visit https://my2020census.gov/ before it's too late! MAÑANA es el último día para responder al #2020Census y garantizar que nuestra comunidad reciba fondos vitales para la educación, la atención médica y mucho más de lo que dependemos. Nunca ha sido más seguro o más fácil responder: visite https://my2020census.gov/ antes de que sea demasiado tarde.

"Explore #ArtSaMo" is our monthly newsletter that will keep you up to date on everything going on at Cultural Affairs. This month’s is filled with assorted tricks and treats Read it here: https://us12.campaign-archive.com/. Sign up to receive these monthly messages here: https://us12.list-manage.com/subscribe.

Huge congratulations to Larissa Fasthorse, our 2019-20 Artist Fellow, on being awarded the prestigious MacArthur ‘Genius Grant! https://www.macfound.org/fellows/1059/. Larissa recently wrote the City’s 2020 Arts Month proclamation, which we highly recommend you watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8bWZOEsRzc #ArtSaMo

DOWNBEAT 720, Santa Monica Cultural Affairs' long-running open-mic for high school performers, returns for its nineteenth year in a new all virtual format beginning Tuesday, October 13. Participants can share their music, poetry, comedy or art and receive positive constructive feedback to help strengthen their performances. Downbeat 720 will occur twice a month, through June 2021. There is no cost to participate. All Santa Monica high school students are invited to join this supportive community of aspiring artists! For more information and to sign up: https://www.santamonica.gov/.../downbeat-720-launches... Photo taken prior to COVID-19 #ArtSaMo

Tonight at 7pm, don't miss the kick off of 2020's Virtual Fall Arts and Cultural Affairs Forum, hosted by Santa Monica College. The topics of this week's convening align with the City's Art of Recovery initiative and will provide some great food for thought! https://www.smc.edu//public-policy-institu/fall-forum.php

Check out this quick video to learn about our Belmar History + Art project, which brought together art, history and community to commemorate Santa Monica’s African American history. And then head over to www.santamonica.gov/arts/belmar to learn more! #ArtSaMo #BelmarHistoryArt https://youtu.be/5yk_sV6JIgs

Project artist April Banks and project historian Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson, along with members of the community, discuss personal and community histories, stories of growing up in Santa Monica, African American history, and the City's Civic Field project during Belmar History + Art, a public art project that commemorates and celebrates the African American experience in Santa Monica from the early 20th century to the present. With an initial focus on the Belmar neighborhood, ...a historically diverse community that was erased through eminent domain in order to build the Santa Monica Civic Center campus in the 1950s, the project invites story sharing, is putting together artwork, interpretive signage, and an educational program through a community engagement process at the site of the upcoming Civic Multipurpose Sports Field. More at http://www.santamonica.gov/arts/belmar. #BelmarHistoryArt #ArtSaMo See more

We’re celebrating Annenberg Community Beach House 2014 Choreographer-in-Residence Ana Maria Alvarez who won the $275,000 Doris Duke Award! The Awards invest in exemplary individual artists in contemporary dance, jazz, theater and related interdisciplinary work who have demonstrated their artistic vitality and commitment to their field. Congratulations Ana Maria! #ArtSaMo #SMBeachHouse https://www.latimes.com//202/2020-doris-duke-award-winners. Photo: Choreographer-in-Residence Ana Maria Alvarez rehearses Agua Furiosa with dancers Jeremiah Buren, Isis Avalos and Sarah Culberson, Annenberg Community Beach House, 2014