Arts District and the Commitment to Public Art
As a local business owner in downtown San Pedro, I want to express my strong desire to see a true arts district take shape here.
The art committees and Arts United are making efforts, and I appreciate that. Still, I believe there is far more that could be done. Putting resources into night markets filled with vendors—many of whom are neither local nor artists—does little to strengthen San Pedro’s identity as an arts community.
The First Thursday Art Walk has increasingly become a night market, and it is now being advertised as such, with the term “Art Walk” being dropped from the new advertising altogether. This makes the Art Walk itself feel like an afterthought. I am all for change and the introduction of new events, but not at the expense of a longstanding San Pedro art tradition. We can build something new without losing what made the Art Walk important in the first place.
I have spent time in arts districts across more than half a dozen cities. What stands out in successful arts communities is a genuine, visible commitment to public art. San Pedro has that opportunity right in front of us. We have walls. We have public spaces. What we largely lack is a consistent presence of art that announces, “This is an arts community.”
I am not a native of San Pedro, but I have lived and worked here for nearly ten years. I built one business, then a second, and I have fallen in love with this community. That is why it bothers me to see many of the same vacant storefronts on Sixth Street that were empty when I first arrived. Those empty spaces are a missed opportunity.
I encourage the PBID, property owners, and the City to issue meaningful calls for art: invite artists to design storefront windows, install temporary sculptures, create murals, and activate vacant storefronts. The artists are already here and ready to work. What they need is space, opportunity, funding, and a clear signal that the community and property owners want them here.
Public art should be front and center—not an afterthought. If we call ourselves an arts community, let’s make it look like one.
I feel the same way about West Harbor. I believe it will be a tremendous addition to San Pedro, even if some local residents remain skeptical. Right now, however, the blank white walls give portions of the development a temporary-structure feel rather than that of a welcoming destination. Murals and other public art could transform the atmosphere. If that is not already part of the plan, I believe it should be.
This letter comes from one of San Pedro’s biggest fans—someone who simply wants downtown’s arts community to look and feel like the creative place it already is!
Sincerely,
David Winthrop Hanson
The Winthrop Gallery of Art & Curiosities
Gallery Three Six One
PBID Ignores Local Artists and Prioritizes Shipped-In Vendors and Food Trucks.
Artists started First Thursday to showcase the local art community. It was a laid-back affair, with visitors stopping by art studios and galleries to see art and to engage with the creators. First Thursdays gave artists a way to gain exposure, talk with visitors, and attract new collectors. It was an important part of the local artists’ ecosystem. This has now been replaced by a Night Market ignorant of the local art scene.
The people in charge seem to have forgotten what First Thursdays were about and are blatantly ignorant of what artists want or need. Instead, they have chosen to kill off a well-liked event with a big circus unrelated to the local art community.
It’s easy to promote San Pedro as a vibrant art community in marketing talk, but it seems harder to actually nurture it. I see the Night Market as a slap in the face of the local art community. A slap by people who should know better.
Peter Scherrer,
Founder, solo Gallery
Why I am Voting for Nithya Raman for LA Mayor
Nithya Raman is the best bet for Mayor of LA. I urge you to vote for Nithya Raman for Mayor.
Raman has a clear vision for LA: “I’ve been privileged to serve for the past five years,” Raman said. “I started with a strong focus on serving my constituents, addressing everything from streetlights to preventing evictions and responding to homelessness. Under Bass’ leadership the city’s ability to respond to residents has deteriorated. I think there are a lot of people out there who are frustrated, too, who want the city to work for them. That is not happening. I promise a city government focused on basic services, housing and accountability.”
Consider this: Bass’ signature issue is homelessness but her Inside Safe program is a total failure. She wants to look good by “closing out encampments” but she is spending $84,000 per homeless person per year to house them in hotels with 40% of the homeless leaving the program (quoted from the LA Times) because it simply doesn’t work to lock people up with no access to family, friends, pets, or cooking just so the Mayor can say she closed some encampments. I do not want $84,000 per person of my tax dollars wasted.
The agreement between the City and the Olympic Committee is so weak that the City could be stuck with billions of unpaid costs from the Olympics for “bread and circus expenditures”. This is also the wrong time to commit to a new convention center. Bad decisions all around. Bass is simply a poor manager of city resources. And her big donors the LA Police Department and Air BNB cannot solve her problems.
And all of this is nothing compared to what Bass has done to the Harbor community and the ILWU. When Bass ran in 2022, she had virtually no base in the Harbor area. I was Vice President of the Harbor Commission at the time (having been appointed by Mayor Garcetti). I hosted an event for over 100 people to introduce the Mayor to the Harbor community. I told her that all I wanted in return was the opportunity to sit with her and tell her what our workforce and community needed from her and the Port. She never met with me.
I was up for re appointment in 2024. Gary Herrera was President of ILWU Local 13. Mayor Bass assured Gary and our Councilman Tim McOsker that “there is no problem with Diane’s reappointment. We love her and she is doing a good job”.
Bass waited until the day before my term was up to announce she was NOT reappointing me. The ILWU was outraged. For the first time in 30 years there would be no labor rep on the Harbor Commission. Mayor Bass had numerous opportunities since 2024 to appoint an ILWU member. She passed every time.
She also refused to support the ILWU request for “no public money for automation”.
We know who Mayor Bass is: someone who cannot be trusted.
Don’t give her another four years to double cross us.
Nithya Raman has committed to uphold the Cooperative Agreement that will lead to zero emission equipment on the waterfront. She has (on Instagram) issued a clear statement that “no public funds should be used for automated equipment that eliminates jobs on the waterfront”.
Let’s give Raman a chance. She has to do better than Bass. VOTE FOR NITHYA RAMAN FOR MAYOR OF LA.
Diane Middleton
San Pedro