by Melanie Camp.
On Thursday, March 15, the Venice Art Crawl (VAC) will celebrate local art and in honor of Woman’s History Month, award Legendary Women Artists of Venice at a special ceremony at 8 p.m. in the Hotel Erwin’s Red Bull room at 1697 Pacific Ave., Venice.
The awards ceremony is part of the Art Crawl, that this year will become a more condensed event. In the past, the VAC has seen art lovers trek all over Venice but organizers want to focus the fun. This next Art Crawl will be on Windward Avenue, between Windward Circle and the beach. Venice Art Crawl President Sunny Bak told Yo! Venice, “we intend to keep art alive in Venice by hosting The Venice Art Crawl four times a year.”
Artists will display their works at different locations on Windward Ave from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Legendary Women Artists of Venice award ceremony kicks off at 8 p.m. The reception is invitation only. If you’d like to get on the guest list email info@veniceartcrawl.com.
Bak said the award ceremony is about acknowledging past, present and future women artists in the neighborhood as Venice is historically a haven for artists. “During women’s history month, we pay homage to these pioneering artists of Venice as well as the children of Ecole Claire Fontaine and Joelle Dumas, who nurtures many future artists.”
Meet The Wonder Women of Venice Art
A phenomenal force of art, Professor Judy Baca is one of the original founders of the Social Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) in Venice. Baca stands for art in the service of equity for all people. As a painter, muralist, monument builder and scholar, Baca began teaching art in the UC system in 1984 and is the founder of the first City of Los Angeles Mural Program.
Christened into graffiti by some great early legends Jules Muck began writing graffiti as a teen in Europe and England in the 90s. Muck has painted murals in Syrian Refugee camps, and also several large-scale Bernie Sander’s pieces. Her favorite place to create is her home and studio in Venice and as a result, the neighborhood is one of the most “mucked” places in the world.
Self-taught old painter, Meryl Lebowitz experiments with her art taking her paintings beyond paper and canvas to all kinds of unlikely surfaces, from scrap metal to violins. Landscapes to portraits, realism to abstraction, the Venice artist is always searching for new ways to express herself through paint.
Owner and Director at Ecole Claire Fontaine in Venice, Joelle Dumas has not only been a champion of education in the community but also of the arts, nurturing artists of the future. Dumas “As citizens of the world, when we are enthusiastic and share the pleasures and joys of learning with children, our collective ability to change the world for the better is within our reach,” said Dumas.
Jean Edelstein seeks the sacred. As she deploys the creative to approach the Divine, her art resonates with spirit. Edelstein’s elegant aesthetic is melded with finely honed craftsmanship and expansive inventiveness into abstract icons, inspirational figural studies, innovative performances and compassionate political commentaries.
For the past 11 years, Emily Winters has worked full-time as a billboard artist. She studied with now-retired master billboard artist Mario Rueda. Originally from Illinois, Winters received a B.F.A. in drawing and painting from the Chicago Institute of Art. She moved to southern California in 1963.
Christina Angelina, also known as “Starfighter,” is a Venice-based visual artist, photographer and gallerist. Her public art and large-scale murals can be seen on murals throughout the world and “Splash” her collaboration with Fin DAC in São Paulo, was named one of the “Most Influential Acts Of Street Art Around The World” by Huffington Post in 2015.
British transplant, Lucy Walker is an Emmy-winning British film director who has twice been nominated for an Academy Award and is renowned for creating riveting, character-driven nonfiction. An acclaimed virtual reality director, Walker now calls Venice home.
For more information, visit venicechamber.net. Venice Art Crawl event maps are available online at veniceartcrawl.com or pick one up on the night at Surfside Venice, 23 Windward Avenue.
