BLOOMFEST IS BACK!

Picture of a crowd at the Bloomfest celebration

BLOOMFEST IS BACK!

BLOOMFEST LA IS BACK, BABY!

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

www.bloomfestla.org

 

Contact:               

Cindy Schwarzstein                                     Beth Topping                    

Cartwheel Art                                               LARABA

(949) 463-7454                                            (310) 403-1720

cindy@cartwheelart.com                          beth.topping1@gmail.com

 

 BLOOMFEST RETURNS TO THE DOWNTOWN 

LOS ANGELES ARTS DISTRICT

Annual community event celebrates the evolving culture of the Arts District with art, music, food, and more, with proceeds benefiting area arts organizations

 

 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Bloomfest, the community arts festival that honors pioneering urbanist, Joel Bloom (1948-2007), returns to the downtown Los Angeles Arts District on November 8, 2014.  The free, all-day event centers around the local artists who work and live in the community, with proceeds benefiting neighborhood arts organizations, ArtShare L.A., LADADSpace/Arts District Center for the Arts (ADCA), and the Los Angeles River Artists & Business Association (LARABA).

 

Highlights of the festival include guided art studio and street mural tours by Cartwheel Art Tours; a full day of ArtShare L.A.  activities, including live painting, performances, music and interactive arts; a beer garden, Beer Bazaar and after-party sponsored by Angel City Brewery; and a pinball tournament at neighborhood arcade bar, EightyTwo.

 

Angel City Brewery Beer Garden

11AM-6PM

The Angel City Beer Garden will be located adjacent to Joel Bloom Square at the corner of East 3rd Street and Traction Avenue.   KCRW DJs Travis Holcombe, Mario Cotto, and Marion Hodges will be in the mix throughout the afternoon.  A variety of food will be available, including pork sliders made from two whole-roasted pigs from local restaurant, Cerveteca DTLA.  ACME (All City Mural Endeavor) will also provide live fine art painting for the enjoyment of those in the beer garden.  All beer garden proceeds will benefit area arts organizations: ArtShare L.A., LADADSpace/Arts District Center for the Arts (ADCA), and the Los Angeles River Artists & Business Association (LARABA).

 

Angel City Brewery will also offer their Beer Bazaar, a local arts and crafts marketplace; and is extending their “Let It Fly” art show featuring (but not limited to) Septerhed, Max Neutra, Phobik Art, Annie Preece, TheFree Humanity and D Og Byte.

 

5-11PM

The Angel City after party will feature live roots-based music from Dirty Lingo, Urban Grass and the Vignes Rooftop Revival.  Patrons can also receive a Bloomfest pint glass with one of the brewery’s specially priced craft beers.

 

Artist Studio and Street Mural Tours by Cartwheel Art Tours

11AM, 1 PM, 3PM & 5PM

Cartwheel Art founder, Cindy Schwarzstein, takes guests on an intimate tour of local studios and galleries, as well as the rotating gallery of mural art that has made the Arts District one of the most culturally vibrant neighborhoods in Los Angeles.  Cartwheel Art will also provide detailed maps to the open art studios, galleries, businesses and restaurants, for self-guided explorations of the neighborhood.

 

For more information and to sign-up for tours, go to the Cartwheel Art Tours page (http://www.cartwheelart.com/?p=27643).  Free Arts District maps available at the Bloomfest information booth on the day of the event.

 

ArtShare L.A.

12PM-12AM

ArtShare L.A., a 28,000 sq.-ft warehouse with subsidized live/work lofts, arts programs, classes, exhibitions, and events, is activating its full facility for Bloomfest.  Attendees can participate in an interactive literary room (complete with typewriters for sharing thoughts, expressions and prose), the ceramics classroom or just relax in the lounge with DJs and light concessions.  Local artists will participate in live painting, with rotating, collaborative canvases. Artists include, but are not limited, to Emmeric Konrad, J.W. Pippen, Debi Cable, A.S. Ashley, Robert Reynolds, and Suzi Moon.  Live performances include spoken word, dance and live music, with acoustic sets beginning at 5PM and electric sets at 7PM.  Bloomfest t-shirts are also available from a live t-shirt screenprinting.

 

A full list of participating artists and musicians and more information available at artsharela.org

 

Pinball Tournament at EightyTwo

3PM

Neighborhood arcade bar EightyTwo will host a pinball tournament to benefit the Arts District, with all proceeds going to ArtShare L.A., LADADSpace/ADCA, and LARABA.  The tourney will take place on EightyTwo’s collection of 16 pinball machines and the winner will receive a trophy. Participants will also get a free pint of Angel City beer.  Entry fee is $10, plus coin drop.

 

Participants can sign up for the pinball tournament in the beer garden at East 3rd Street and Traction Avenue before 2 PM on the day of the event.

 

UTI Crew at Al’s Bar

All Day

Legendary graffiti crew, UTI Crew (Using The Imagination, Under The Influence, Urbanarea Tag Infection, United To Inspire, Unite Then Ignite, Use To It), have spanned four decades of inspired street art in Los Angeles.  The Crew will be setup in the UTI Hall of Fame Yard (aka, the old Al’s Bar parking lot at 303 S. Hewitt St.) with graffiti-based art projects for kids and other arts activities.  The Crew will also curate a show of their works in the old Al’s Bar space and plan to screen “Tempt,” a documentary about celebrated graf artist, Tony ‘TEMPT’ Quan who was diagnosed with ALS in 2003.

 

More Art, Shopping and Fun

Open studios and activities near 3rd Street and Traction Avenue include access to the studio and gallery of renowned neon artist, Lily Lakich; the District Gallery (featuring  an exhibit of works by J.W. Pippen), and the Cornerstone Theatre.  Just east of 4th Street on Colyton, attendees will find The Container Yard Marketplace and Creative Space, offering a vintage pop-up shop, ice cream churned with liquid nitrogen and some of the most recent mural work added to the Arts District.  Colyton is also home to The Arts District Flea, a weekly flea market with artisan crafts, jewelry, vintage clothing, art and more.

 

Food and Drink

The Arts District offers one of the most innovative culinary scenes in Los Angeles, with notable restaurants like Wurstküche, Pie Hole, Eat.Drink.Americano, Cerveteca DTLA, Blacktop Coffee, Umami Burger, Zip Fusion, Urth Caffe, Blue Bottle Coffee, The Springs, Zinc Café, Little Bear, and Church & State.

 

Free Parking & Transportation

Bloomfest is offering free parking at a self-park lot at 950 E. 3rd St.  The Arts District is also accessible from the Metro Gold Line (Little Tokyo/Arts District Station) and the Metro 30 bus line.

 

Bloomfest is made possible with the generous support of Council District 14.  For additional information, please contact Cindy Schwarzstein (949-463-7454) or Beth Topping (310-403-1720) or visit www.bloomfestla.org.

 

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About LARABA: The mission of the Los Angeles River Artists and Business Association (LARABA), a community betterment association, is to improve the quality of life and enhance opportunities for all Arts District stakeholders by encouraging a lively and healthy social, cultural and economic environment.  LARABA also seeks to preserve and promote the Arts District as a true creative community for the cultural and economic benefit of all Angelenos.

About ArtShare L.A.:  Art Share L.A. is a sanctuary for the arts in downtown LA., maintaining a 28,000 sq-ft warehouse in the heart of the downtown Los Angeles Arts District.  Offering 30 subsidized live/work lofts for artists, they also have a community-programmed facility offering classes, exhibitions and events.

About LADADSpace/ADCA: LADADSpace (Los Angeles Downtown Arts District Space) is developing the Arts District Center for the Arts (ADCA) which will open at the southern tip of One Santa Fe in 2015.  The ADCA will feature a gallery, theater and screening room.  The mission is to provide opportunities for a variety of downtown Los Angeles artists, particularly those  associated with the Arts District, to present their work to the community. 

 

About Joel Bloom: Joel Bloom was an urban advocate, whose efforts anchored the Arts District as a creative hub for downtown Los Angeles.  Considered the “godfather” of the AD, he championed the campaign in the 1990s that led to the city’s official recognition and designation of the neighborhood as the Arts District.  From improving city services and nurturing its artistic bent, Joel worked tirelessly from the helm of his eclectic general store on Traction Avenue and Hewitt Street.  He passed away in 2007.

 

About Angel City Brewery™:  Angel City Brewery is excited to be part of the renaissance of Downtown LA by bringing old-world, small-batch, craft brewing to the expanding Arts District. Angel City is committed to the continued growth and revitalization of its neighborhoods by being an interactive and supportive partner to the arts and business communities. Visit the Angel City Brewery and Public House downtown for a brewery tour, tasting, or weekly event. Angel City is also available in bottles or on draft at bar, restaurant and retail locations throughout Los Angeles.

 

About Cartwheel Art and Cartwheel Art Tours:  Based in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District and led by Cartwheel Art’s founder Cindy Schwarzstein (with a rotating team of guest speakers), Cartwheel Art Tours offer an insider’s perspective for individuals and groups to discover and explore the culture of this vibrant neighborhood, while supporting the local artists and creative businesses. Cartwheel Art also engages the art community with editorial coverage and media partnerships in their online-magazine, CartwheelArt.com and provides a full range of promotional editorial media, event and consulting services.