ArtCycle Brings Art, Cyclists, Food Trucks and Entertainment to East Hollywood
8/27/11 - On Saturday, September 17, ArtCycle’s vision for bringing public space to life takes over Santa Monica Boulevard, from Vermont Avenue to Virgil Avenue, opening the street to people and closing it to motor vehicles, creating a temporary open-air gallery that features artists and artisans creating arts and crafts, bike tours of local galleries and architecture, live music on two stages, opportunities to create and activities for all ages.
Santa Monica Boulevard, also known as Route 66, has a long history as “the Road of New Beginnings” and on Saturday, September 17th, it will connect with its legacy by once again hosting ArtCycle and bringing happiness to those who travel her way.
ArtCycle is billed as a “Happening” and everything from planning and pre-production to outreach and organization has a social, artistic, and community-building element to it.
The flyers and postcards for the event are created at “stamping parties” that take place at local galleries and street fairs including this weekend’s Sunset Junction festival. Local artists have installed the first ArtCycle mural on the side of Ardmore Avenue’s Armen Realty and the event posters are limited edition silkscreens, created for the third year in a row by local artist Caroline Kim.
Bike Haus LA’s “High Modern in Hollywood” bike tour promises to challenge bodies, nourish minds, and engage the collective intellect of participants with an 11 mile ride that will visit some of the most famous architectural monuments of Modernism and Hollywood films. Billed as “a moderately difficult ride, but well worth the effort,” Bike Haus LA will be touring the designs created by the Modern Masters and made eternal in films such as LA Confidential, Blade Runner, and Ben Hur.
Australia’s Gold Fields, hailed by Rolling Stone and currently in town to record an album, will headline a musical lineup that also includes local band Les Blanks and their guitar-driven, foot-stomping music of Americana.
The Kinetic Bike Race offers artists the opportunity to ride, to create art, and to become a moving gallery that tours East Hollywood before finding a home at ArtCycle.
Through it all, the focus on public space and creativity creates community in one of LA’s most diverse neighborhoods and celebrates East Hollywood’s cultural legacy.
This is the third annual ArtCycle and it is produced by the East Hollywood Arts and Culture Committee and is sponsored by local neighborhood councils, galleries and art spaces. Bike Valet is available and the event is Metro accessible.
