Designing the Future of Art Walk San Pedro

Area is designated a California Cultural District in highlighting diversity and unique artistic identities.

The last First Thursday Art Walk probably feels something like a distant memory since the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly one year ago. However, on Jan. 26, a group of San Pedro arts partners and stakeholders, led by Angels Gate Cultural Center executive director Amy Erickson met virtually to discuss relaunching the First Thursday Art Walk and how to promote, market and move forward the art created in the district.

The group intends to use the remainder of a $10,000 grant the San Pedro Arts District received from the California Arts Council in 2017. The San Pedro Arts District was the first to be chosen out of 14 districts throughout the state.

Thus far, grant funds have been spent on creating a Facebook group for the Arts District, a page on the San Pedro Chamber’s website providing links to all contributors in the cultural district,  light pole signage and sponsoring events with Chamber members and artists and networking with local businesses.

But the question that remained was, what can First Thursday Art Walk look like going forward?

About 50 meeting participants separated into breakout discussion groups with scribes sharing their group’s top ideas, some of which RLn has shared here. We also solicited the thoughts of local artists and gallery owners such as Gallery Azul’s Cora Ramirez and Ray Vasquez and Michael Stearns of Michael Stearns Studio at The Loft who couldn’t attend the meeting. 

Meeting attendees were drawn largely from the nonprofit sector with relatively few artists and gallerists in attendance. Most importantly, the meeting’s attendees were not reflective of San Pedro diversity given that the body was largely senior, white, and female. 

Breakout groups best ideas

• Schedule compelling events such as well known chalk artists and artists from outside the district, or well known street performers with larger social followings to draw a new and existing fan base.

• Food trucks and other activities should be coordinated and strategically placed to draw people throughout the district. 

• More pure focus on the art itself, to get people off the street and into the galleries. It’s about the fellowship and meeting the artists, talking with them one on one. 

• Provide content or advertise monthly on an agreed upon art magazine, like Artillery, to focus on one artist, one gallery, one collection of art in order to draw people from the greater LA area.

• Bring back more art buyers and browsers, such as in 1998, when the art walk was a major art browsers destination.

• Artists should inhabit the space created by street closures so that the event could showcase artists from anywhere to participate, including music or performance art such as dance throughout the event.

• Bring in a university, a museum or major art gallery to have a satellite location in the arts district that would also participate in the artwalk.

• Create a mobile app to see in real time what galleries are open, what restaurants are open or offering special deals, to find out where to go and what to do next.

• Invite high school groups for photography competitions, or project collaborations at the art walks. This would support diversity because San Pedro is a diverse community.

• Comprehensive marketing: use a unified hashtag and connect it to social media and other sites.

• Structure and framework around the event with more coordination: Who books the music? Who coordinates the marketing? The event has historically been organic and free flowing with grassroots efforts. Is now the time to put structure and framework around the event to accomplish what everyone has discussed?

A few of these suggestions have been applied previously, albeit executed with slightly different tweaks — like food truck locations. Given the time constraints of virtual meetings and the choreography of moving from a full panel to breakout rooms, a thoughtful and robust discussion was missing. But foremost, the art walk needs to be an art led event within an artist led cultural district. Historically, this hasn’t consistently been the case.

Gallerists input

Proprietors at Gallery Azul — active First Thursday participants since 2006 — said they chose to open shop in San Pedro for its small town feel, the growing art scene, its closeness to the water and its friendliness. As artists themselves they wanted to add some Latinx/Hispanic flavor to the San Pedro art scene. Gallery Azul prides itself in being a gallery of diversity. 

As Chairs of the San Pedro Waterfront Arts District Board, they agreed the majority of ideas presented provide excitement for the future of the artwalk.

“When we are finally able to resume the art walk, people [will] be looking forward to participating in activities, and events,” Ramirez wrote in an email. “I suspect that people will especially be more comfortable with outdoor activities, and will be easing into indoor events. The art walk is a perfect segue for this … People will [want] to reconnect, they will appreciate an aesthetically pleasing environment and one that also appears safe. The art walk can be that.”

Ramirez said they don’t agree with street closures because people tend to stay confined to those spaces, people should be encouraged to roam. And food trucks need to be revisited. 

“When we have gone out to visit other galleries, the placement of the food trucks, in our opinions, is counterproductive to galleries, they tend to create clutter, and block the art galleries,” Ramirez said. “Our restaurants should be our priority and should not be overshadowed by the food trucks. Now that outdoor dining is a reality, the art walk can become more dynamic and interactive for restaurants.”

Cross coordination with restaurants and galleries may be effective, Ramirez noted. As gallery owners, they’re constantly asked for recommendations and happily refer people to the various local restaurants.

She continued, one of the most important components — publicity — needs to go beyond San Pedro. The arts district would benefit from diversifying publicity efforts by advertising in multiple magazines that promote art scenes, such as Artillery, Art Scene, and Los Angeles magazines, to name a few. Also, take advantage of podcasts, and programs that highlight local LA events. San Pedro should also publicize other neighboring art walks.

They agree, street performers, music or DJs should be dispersed throughout the art walk and suggested creating a mural or public-art walk to encourage people to explore the city’s public art.

In a final note, the couple asked their 19-year-old daughter, who grew up in the gallery and with the art walk, for her feedback: She approved live music throughout the art walk. She recommended not getting rid of the food trucks completely — adding that her peers typically won’t go into a sit down restaurant, there should be less and different ones every month, and they shouldn’t block restaurants or galleries. She also recommended more ice cream trucks — everybody likes ice cream.

Michael Stearns said some of what was done before with the art walk works, like promoting the event in local media such as this newspaper is absolutely required. And adding a map of the art district helps.

“‘Where else is there to go?’ Is part of the marketing concept,” Stearns said.

Stearns was just getting started. Next, he said, “If we’re really trying to grow this, we need to do something with the Vincent Thomas Bridge, some sort of marketing in Long Beach. It’s natural. The bridge is an icon with the lights, maybe some sort of special lighting with the bridge on First Thursday nights …  It could be done.”

He suggested the two art groups on each side of the bridge could combine forces to get something done in the form of marketing to both communities. 

On food trucks Stearns said people have to eat and food trucks are a draw. 

“Because people eat on a food truck doesn’t mean they don’t want to look at art,” he said.

Stearns supports advertising, specifically in Artillery magazine which covers local artists. He added where artists must get involved is in creating a database to market to or else, how will anybody find them?

He agreed, having chalk art events is a good idea that always draws people. But he said no to street vendors.

“It’s good for the locals but is it an artwalk?” he asked. “The key is to keep it clean … What kind of marketing piece are we going to put together? 

He suggested laying out a map, working on advertising and talking about internal marketing as a group.

“The arts district needs to cross market …  if Angels Gate has an event [that falls] on First Thursday, connect it to the artwalk,” he said. “It comes down to communication.”

The goal of the district is to present these priorities to the community by the end of February, then decide how to launch them. From there Erickson said it may be six to eight months to see many of these ideas come to life at the art walk.