June 2009
[LADTgalleries] next gallery owners meeting
richardschave <schavester@gmail.com>
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
Dear Gallery Owners,
Please join me on Wednesday, June 17th at 7pm for an informal gathering in the third floor bar of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, at Olive and Seventh. This will be our first chance to gather and talk about some of the projects in the works to promote the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk is in its new role as a California Public Benefit Corporation.
The club will have a light complimentary buffet for us and parking in the Olive Street lot is validated with the purchase of a drink from the bar.
Please RSVP if you are attending, as names will be left at the reception desk of the 7th Street entrance.
http://laac.com
I remain,
Richard Schave
Director
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
*emails removed*
*discussion continues in new thread*
[LADTgalleries] Venue Change For Gallery Meeting Weds. Night
richardschave <schavester@gmail.com>
Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 9:27 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
Dear Gallery Owners:
I have changed the venue of the Gallery Owner’s meeting from the Los Angeles Athletic Club at 7th & Olive to Pharmaka Gallery at 5th & Main. The meeting will still begin at 7pm. I apologize for any trouble this change may cause.
Thanks
Richard Schave
*end of email thread*
[LADTgalleries] getting up to speed w/ gallery page on web site
richardschave <schavester@gmail.com>
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 10:13 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
Dear Gallery Owners,
The new website is online, and available to promote all of your galleries. To start, we’ll need to manually tie a user account to your gallery. Then you can log in and upload representative photos (a maximum of four, which can be changed as often as you wish) for your gallery’s page.
Please go to the contact page at the link below
http://downtownartwalk.com/contact/1
Select the category “Gallery Owner” and tell us what you would like your user name to be and what gallery you run. The user name can be two words (first and last) or a single word, your name or the name of your gallery. Whatever name you use, this will be the name that is associated with your gallery. We will get back to you soon with a password (which you can change), and then you can log in and upload photos to your gallery page and also set your gallery’s hours. It would be great if all the galleries had photos online in time for the next Art Walk.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Richard Schave
Director
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:36:13 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Mon, Jun 22 2009 8:36 am
Subject: draft letter to gallerists
Dear Gallerists,
I would like to thank those who were able to attend last Wednesday’s meeting. For those who did not make the meeting I am passing along the mission statement, a brief recapitulation of our short term goals for stewardship of the event, and the list of the board members of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, a California Public Benefit Corporation, with their biographies. Your feedback is appreciated.
Mission Statement:
The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk operates on the second Thursday of
each month, celebrating art, creativity and cultural diversity in the
Historic Core neighborhood transforming the community with filled
streets and packed local businesses. Our goal is to harness this
momentum to craft long term policies for economic stabilization, job
creation and the promotion of positive public space, all while
preserving the dynamic balance of local history and culture.
Short terms goals for Art Walk (July 2009-June 2010)
1. Scalability- growing pains and how to solve them
a. Dissemination of crowds
1. Activating dead zones.
2. Signage
3. Shuttles
4. Scheduled performances & lectures
b. Dissemination of information
1. Website
2. Map (online and printed versions)
3. Social networking (twitter, facebook)
4. mailing list with discount and event announcements
5. mobile platform for accessing Art Walk
6. maintain a distribute a list of landlords with storefronts available during Art Walk or as permanent exhibition space.
2. Fundraising Goals
a. Fiscal year July 2009- June 2010: match funds from last year, maintaining all programs. If possible, add at least one more shuttle.
b. Fiscal year July 2010-June 2011: Double budget from previous fiscal years, using the additional funds to expand public outreach programs and PR.
3. Galleries.
a. Figure out how we can help them sell art
b. Gather information on who is already buying art , from which galleries, and at what price point
c. Quantify these numbers
d. Draw correlations from these findings
e. Market the Art Walk and its galleries to those target audiences
4. Create infrastructure for management of event
a. Create single advisory committee to deal with:
i. Police
ii. Fire
iii. Mayor’s Office
iv. Councilmember Jan Perry’s Office
v. County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s Office
vi. Film LA
vii. Street services
5. Clarify policy positions on:
a. Vendors/Catering trucks
b. Street musicians–seek blanket permit for curated entertainment
c. Sponsors
i. Create better criteria for distinguishing galleries/retail sponsors
ii. Develop policy on how to handle corporate sponsors seeking to use Art Walk to further their branding efforts – bus wrapping, website advertising, etc.
Board Members
(1) Kim Cooper
(2) David Hernand
(3) Shane Guffogg
(4) Marc Loge
(5) Sandie Richards
(6) Richard Schave
(7) Bonnie Tseng
(8) Wicks Walker
Advisory Board of Gallerists
Director of this committee TBA, as Karon Morono, who was to fill the
seat has had to bow out to to last minute personal commitments.
Community Partners
Russell Brown (HDBID)
Nic Cha Kim (Gallery Row)
*Board Member Biographies removed*
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:14:36 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Mon, Jun 22 2009 10:14 pm
Subject: draft of survey to gallerists
Dear Board Members,
What follows is a draft of a survey to the gallerists.
I look forward to your feedback,
Richard
The question is followed by the field(s) they can select,
What are your concerns about the event ?
+people are not finding me
+too crowded
+bad element/crime
+no sales
+no publicity
+shuttle does not stop near me
+not interested in participating
+other (fill in the blank)
What would you like to see Downtown Art Walk do for your gallery?
+Help promote throughout the month
+Help promote gallery during Art Walk
+Help find more clients (target new markets)
+other (fill in the blank)
Another blank field (textarea) for additional comments not covered above.
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:23:35 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Jun 24 2009 8:23 am
Subject: revised questionnaire to Gallerists
Dear Board Members,
What follows is a revised draft of a survey to the gallerists.
I can have this up and set out in no time, so let me know what you think. I look forward to your feedback.
Thanks,
Richard
The question is followed by the field(s) they can select. They will also be able to rate the importance of the questions.
What are your concerns about the event ?
+people are not finding me
+too crowded
+bad element/crime
+no sales
+no publicity
+shuttle does not stop near me
+not interested in participating
+other (fill in the blank)
How many people visit your Gallery on Art Walk?
+less then 50
+50-100
+100-300
+300-500
+more then 500
How would you describe sales?
+poor
+fair
+good
What would you like to see Downtown Art Walk do for your gallery? +Help promote throughout the month +Help promote gallery during Art Walk +Help find more clients (target new markets) +other (fill in the blank)
Another blank field (textarea) for additional comments not covered above.
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:39:55 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Jun 24 2009 8:39 am
Subject: Gallerists Take The Lead
Dear Board Members:
[redacted] had a meeting last night w/ Bill (of Todd/Browning Gallery) and Deborah Martin on the subject of the Gallerist’s Advisory Committee and its leadership. I will simply quote [redacted],
“It went very well. Bill apologized for being so outspoken at the meeting and I thanked him for being so outspoken. They are totally on board and get it. They do want the gallery owners to choose who should be the lead person for the gallery owners committee, and I said that would be fine with me and that what I want to see is both myself and that chosen person to meet with the art walk board, that way there is no secrecy. The gallery owners will meet the first week of July so if you can get that list of questions out this week to the gallery owners that would be great.”
I have a draft of a letter to Gallerists posted to this list and waiting for any feedback, but I am not sure needs to be sent out now. Also I have a draft of the Gallerist’s survey posted to this list and waiting for feedback. It seems that that should go out by week’s end.
I thank [redacted] for all his good work on this front. He has earned his moniker, “The Brave.”
I look forward to your feedback.
Thanks
Richard
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:57:41 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Jun 25 2009 10:57 am
Subject: Gallery Owner vs. Gallerist
Dear Board Members:
as I work through drafts of goals and strategy documents so important to our moving forward I am constantly questioning the use of the term Gallery Owner. Yes, it is the term used, and it describes the role very well. I wonder as I think about grants, overviews, official governance documents, if we should not use the term Gallerist instead. I believe the terms are very close. I used the term Gallerist in the draft of the letter to the Gallery Owners to get feedback on how that sounded, to see if it mashed some gears or if it read well. Historically the term has always been Gallery Owner.
Please let me know.
Thanks
Richard
*
From: Kim Cooper
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:44pm
Subject: Gallery Owner vs. Gallerist
According to the NY Times (see below), the debate is not between “gallery owner” and “gallerist,” but between “art dealer” and “gallerist.” From this 2005 article, “gallerist” comes out as the gentler, more artist-friendly term. Also, “owner” or “dealer” both have a commercial tinge, which could impede granting. So I vote for gallerist.
Kim
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/24/arts/20051224gallerist.html
*end of email thread*
[LADTgalleries] gallery owner survey
richardschave <schavester@gmail.com>
Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 9:47 PM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
Dear Gallery Owners,
We have created an online survey with questions that will help us better understand your needs and concerns about Art Walk.
The link is below.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=W3Pw44Z_2bwGDaUfP23ceexA_3d_3d
Please click and fill out the form. It should only take a few minutes. In addition to multiple choice questions, there is room for you to tell us things we have not asked. We look forward to using the information to help make Art Walk better for all of you.
Thanks,
Richard Schave
Downtown LA Art Walk
*email removed*
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:07:53 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Mon, Jun 29 2009 9:07 pm
Subject: incorporation documents sent out this evening
Dear Board Members:
I have sent individual emails to all of you with the incorporation documents. The cover page on the PDF has explicit directions for signing and their return.
I look forward to our first meeting and all of our good work.
A word of thanks to [redacted] doing all of this heavy lifting.
Thanks,
Richard
*end of email thread*
[LADTgalleries] Gallery Owner Meeting Followup
richardschave <schavester@gmail.com>
Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 9:13 PM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
Dear Gallery Owners,
As you know, the management of the Art Walk passed from Bert Green to its new management on June 11. We would like to thank those who were able to attend last Wednesday’s meeting. For those who did not make the meeting, this email includes and expands upon the material which was presented as handouts, including the Mission Statement for our newly formed non-profit entity named “Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk,” a brief summary of our short-term goals for stewardship of the Art Walk event, and names and bios of our initial board members. We would appreciate receiving your feedback.
FORMATION OF NEW NON-PROFIT
As we discussed at last week’s meeting, and consistent with many discussions over the last few months, we have formed a California public benefit corporation, which is a non-profit entity, to provide a more formal mechanism to steer, manage and grow the Art Walk event. Art Walk has grown beyond anyone’s initial expectations and needs more attention and management to ensure it is properly run and continues to serve the constituents who benefit from its existence. Of course, there is no constituency more important than the gallery owners, without which Art Walk could not exist. Our plan is to establish Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk as a living, community museum without walls, to attract private and public funding to help support and sustain Art Walk and to serve as a resource to ensure Art Walk is operated in a responsible, sustainable manner and addresses the needs of the surrounding community and constituents.
MISSION STATEMENT
The charter documents for our new public benefit corporation sets forth our Mission Statement as follows:
The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk operates on the second Thursday of each month, celebrating art, creativity and cultural diversity in the Historic Core neighborhood, transforming the community with filled streets and packed local businesses. Our goal is to harness this momentum to craft long-term policies for economic stabilization, job creation and the promotion of positive public space, all while preserving the dynamic balance of local history and culture.
SHORT-TERM GOALS
We have initially set the following short-terms goals for Art Walk (July 2009-June 2010):
1. Scalability – growing pains and how to solve them a. Crowd flow
i. Activating dead zones.
ii. Signage
iii. Shuttles
iv. Scheduled performances & lectures
b. Marketing
i. Website
ii. Map (online and printed versions)
iii. Social networking (Twitter, Facebook)
iv. Mailing list with discount and event announcements
v. Mobile platform for accessing Art Walk
vi. Maintain and distribute a list of landlords with storefronts available during Art Walk or as permanent exhibition space.
2. Fundraising Goals
a. Fiscal year July 2009- June 2010: match funds from last year, maintaining all programs. If possible, add at least one more shuttle.
b. Fiscal year July 2010-June 2011: Double budget from previous fiscal year, using the additional funds to expand public outreach programs and public relations. Commence efforts to attrac t long-term capital contributions.
3. Galleries
a. Identify concerns of gallery owners.
b. Identify ways to raise profiles of galleries in Art Walk marketing and public relations.
c. Identify ways to increase quality of foot traffic during or around times of Art Walk events.
4. Create infrastructure for management of Art Walk event
a. Create single advisory committee to deal with:
i. Police
ii. Fire
iii. Mayor’s Office
iv. Councilmember Jan Perry’s Office
v. County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s Office
vi. Film LA
vii. Street services
5. Clarify policy positions on:
a. Vendors/Catering trucks
b. Street musicians–seek blanket permit for curated entertainment
c. Sponsors
i. Create better criteria for distinguishing galleries/retail sponsors
ii. Develop policy on how to handle corporate sponsors seeking to use Art Walk to further their branding efforts – bus wrapping, website advertising, etc.
GOVERNANCE
As we discussed last week, our new public benefit corporation will have a Board of Directors responsible for managing the entity, as well as officers to carry out its day-to-day activities. We plan to seek tax-exempt status with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service so that we can better raise funds for Art Walk from individual donors, and this requires us to demonstrate that Art Walk exists to benefit the larger Los Angeles community and a cultural purpose that is not limited to helping gallery owners attract new business. For this reason and for the purpose of ensuring we create an organization that will have broad appeal to the larger Los Angeles and Southern California community, the initial Board of Directors is comprised of a broad cross-section of persons from the larger community. The initial Board also includes persons with talents in different areas needed to help get this organization off the ground. The plan is to grow the board in the future with persons who can contribute in other ways, including financially, to Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. This approach is consistent with how other non-profit entities organize themselves at the outset.
The initial members of the Board of Directors are:
(1) Kim Cooper (2) David Hernand (3) Shane Guffogg (4) Marc Loge (5) Sandie Richards (6) Richard Schave (7) Bonnie Tseng (8) Wicks Walker
Please see their bios below.
Recognizing the importance of, and indeed essential role played by, the gallery owners, we also want to form a Gallery Owner Advisory Board, comprised solely of gallery owners from the community we serve, which will provide input and guidance to the Board of Directors of Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. Several of us have spoken to various gallery owners about serving as potential chairs of this advisory board, but the consensus seems to be that the gallery owners themselves should select the chairs, which seems entirely appropriate. We hope to have this board organized in early July. Lastly, Art Walk would not exist, and cannot exist going forward, without the active support of our community partners, including HCBID, DLANC and Gallery Row. We hope to obtain the continued involvement of Russell Brown and Nic Cha Kim in all our activities.
THANKS
We thank each of you as gallery owners for your ongoing support, which will be essential to making Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk an enduring success. Please do not hesitate to contact any of our Board Members to address concerns or ideas. Our goal is to operate Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk with complete transparency and be responsive to your needs as our partners.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
*Biographies of Board Members
removed*
*end of email thread*
August 2009
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 12:46:17 -0700
Local: Sun, Aug 2 2009 12:46 pm
Subject: Your feedback please on LA Observed Q&A (Tuesday morning deadline)
Dear board members,
Here are Richard’s answers to Adrienne Crew’s Q&A for LA Observed, which we plan to send off to her on Tuesday morning.
Here’s your chance to 1) provide feedback on Richard’s answers, particularly if you see something you think should be changed or clarified; 2) provide your own answers to one or more of these questions. That would be MOST welcome, and we hope one or more of you will chime in.
If you’d like to contribute to the dialog, please just email me directly at amsc…@gmail.com, and I will collate the final version of the Q&A for Adrienne.
best,
Kim
***
Q: How do the Art Walk organizers plan to deal with the LA City street
parking restrictions, extending metered hours to 8 pm and increase rates to
$3 per hour? Has this change affected Art Walk attendance?
Richard Schave: Parking has always been a bit difficult around the Art Walk,
but it doesn’t keep people from making the effort. Folks manage to find lots
with open spots, and walk to where they want to start exploring. We
recommend people begin their Art Walk experience at Pershing Square,
downtown’s historic “living room,” either parking their car in the
underground city lot or ideally taking public transportation.
Q: You speak of Art Walk as becoming a living museum of downtown–can you
elaborate with concrete examples for manifesting this vision?
Richard Schave: There are already some projects that are active or under
development which are indications in this direction. These include the new
Art Walk walking tours, the music, magic and poetry on the Hippodrome
shuttle, and Art Walk’s upcoming lecture series (which will have a walking
tour component as well), which all speak to our goal to provide stimulating
creative experiences in the city itself. The Art Squared project at Pershing
Square is a great example of how community artists are collaborating with
Parks and Rec to bring contemporary art into civic spaces, and this is
something we hope to help facilitate further through the Art Walk.
Q: What are three (3) things you want Art Walk patrons to get from their
experience at the event?
Richard Schave:
1) Break the Lion Country Safari mentality which plagues Los Angeles
audiences: don’t just watch from the car window, immerse yourself and
participate!
2) Get to know something about L.A.’s most interesting and misunderstood
neighborhood.
3) A desire to return for more, and bring their friends, not just during Art
Walk, but all month long.
Q: What are current attendance rates and what are your attendance
projections for 2010?
Richard Schave: Good question. At the moment there is no official method for
estimating crowds, but it’s clear that the Art Walk is growing every month
and that the warm summer Art Walk nights are hitting critical mass. Some
galleries keep a tally of door traffic, and Pharmaka recently saw more than
3,000 visitors on a single Art Walk night. The latest estimate is 10,000
people. We would like to find funding to quantify these numbers in some
reliable way, and also to find out who is coming to the Art Walk, how they
find out about it, how they get here and what they are doing. Getting
better answers to all of these questions is a very important goal for us.
Q: What other changes are in store for the event?
Richard Schave: Our main goal is not to change Art Walk, but to add new
programs and ways of sharing information so that Art Walk visitors have more
options and can easily find things to do and explore. We want to immediately
address the bottleneck of people that clusters at 5th & Main, sometimes to
the detriment of a safe and enjoyable urban experience, and making it hard
to see the art. Many first time visitors only know to go to that corner, and
we want instead to provide them with guided options for walking routes to
the galleries that show the type of work they’re interested in, scheduled
talks, tours and performances to attend, and a general sense of the scope of
the Art Walk community beyond ground zero. A big part of this is activating
dead zones between clusters of galleries, to get people moving around a
wider area. As Art Walk attendance continues to grow, we want to address
issues of scalability and sustainability, to keep the event attractive,
stimulating and safe for visitors, residents and galleries. And one group we
want to respond to are the downtown stakeholders who have had negative
experiences due to the Art Walk – noise, overcrowding, problems getting home
– their concerns are important to us, and we’d like to help improve their
experience however we can. We’re also striving to improve the Art Walk
website, making it easier for the galleries to publicize their programs and
for attendees to find what they’re looking for.
Q: How do your plans support the independent artist who resides downtown
yet has no gallery representation?
Richard: A goal of the Art Walk Board in the next twelve months is to create
policies on a number of questions beyond how to best serve the entities that
are already part of the Art Walk. We need to think about the needs of local
artists, how street performance can be an authorized part of the event, and
other factors we have yet to recognize. We look to the community to
formalize their concerns and share them with us as we seek to formulate
good, empathic responses.
Q: What new things can we expect from Art Walk in the next few months?
Richard Schave: We introduced free walking tours in July and were stunned at
the demand. You can expect to see more of these tours scheduled (and
interested tour guides, please get in touch). We hope to begin distributing
a printed map soon. We don’t have a precise timeline, but we also want to
soon introduce a lecture series, launch a mobile phone app, and add more
shuttles to help people get the lay of the land and move around the Art
Walk.
Q: How will Art Walk relate to the treatment of homeless people being
pushed from Skid Row in the name of public safety?
Richard Schave: The Art Walk is not a policy maker, but we do seek to
influence policy and dialogue as decisions are made about how this
neighborhood evolves. Our mission statement explicitly supports the historic
nature of the neighborhood, which has always included a transient
population. We plan to be a part of the feedback loop as public policy is
created, and to support the creation of positive public space for all
members of the community.
Q: Is Art Walk a form of gentrification?
Richard Schave: No. Gentrification is concerned with the raising of property
values. The Art Walk is concerned with the creation of free and equitable
public space. Property owners seeking to increase the value of their
investment have a good understanding of the tools available to foster
gentrification, including the creation of local Business Improvement
Districts. Since there aren’t any such formal tools for fostering positive
public space, we have created our own People Improvement District: the
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk in its new manifestation as a California
Public Benefit Corporation.
Q: Any plans for including SRO hotels in the event?
Richard Schave: We’re interested in any and all ways in which the
historically transient population of the neighborhood can be included in the
Art Walk. We are actively pursuing ways to be of service to all local
residents. On my own walking tours, we make a visit to the lobby of the
Barclay Hotel, which while not an SRO per se, is the oldest continuously
operating hotel in the city, and plays a central role in Raymond Chandler’s
novel “The Little Sister.”
Q: What are your thoughts on themed-nights at the local bars such as
Cole’s? Any plans for themed-Art Walk events?
Richard Schave: The Art Walk happens because hundreds of people have their
own ideas about what they want to do on that night. We feel we can’t reign
in creativity with strict theme requirements, but we hope to schedule some
special seasonal treats, so stay tuned.
Q: What are some of your favorite stops on Art Walk?
Richard Schave: As Director of the Art Walk, I can’t play favorites. But
every month there are a few special experiences that stay with me. The best
part about Art Walk is that when people come into the city’s streets, you
can’t predict what will happen.
Q: How do you plan to get Art Walk patrons to interact more with the
cityscape?
Richard Schave: The walking tours are specifically geared towards people who
haven’t been to Art Walk before, and want to begin their experience by
exploring a good section of the territory in the company of someone who
knows the history of the Art Walk and the neighborhood. This storytelling
gives visitors a personal investment in the spaces they’ll then go off and
explore on their own. A more detailed map printed and widely distributed,
and a mobile phone app, will also help give visitors a sense of what parts
of the city the Art Walk covers, and where they should go next.
Q: Who is your favorite LA based artist?
Richard Schave: Millard Sheets, both for his wonderful paintings of old
Bunker Hill and his Home Savings mosaics which sneak up on you in traffic.
Q: You studied art history, what was your focus and why?
Richard Schave: Los Angeles architecture. I have always been particularly
interested in downtown, and my fascination was further developed by my work
with British architectural critic Reyner Banham.
Q: How does being an art historian inform your role as Art Walk’s
manager?
Richard Schave: I think that I have done my best to not think like an art
historian since I was trained to be one. Art Walk is the latest example of
this process.
Q: What do you do as manager?
Richard Schave: Try to keep all the balls balanced.
Q: How do you interact with your board, sponsors and staff?
Richard Schave: Email, a lot of emails. Mailing lists are my friend.
Meetings in person, for all of us, are harder, because there are so many
people, but I keep up with everyone.
Q: What is the City of Los Angeles’s role in Art Walk?
Richard Schave: Councilmember Jan Perry’s continued support is the basis
upon which this entire event has been conceived, executed and sustained, and
will be in the years to come.
Q: How has the economic downturn affected Art Walk’s funding and
operations?
Richard Schave: The new Art Walk organization is starting from scratch and
is just beginning to reach out for sponsorship. We know that times are
harder now, but we don’t anticipate that this will greatly impacted our
programs. The Art Walk is a free event, powered by creativity and passion,
and as long as we help provide good channels for those powerful forces to
move through, we anticipate a bigger and better Art Walk in months and years
to come.
Q: If you could own any painting or piece of art, what would it be?
Richard Schave: I would let my wife pick, she’s very smart.
Q: Any favorite neon pieces downtown?
Richard Schave: The neon on the hotels on 7th Street east of Maple, seen
through a moving windshield.
*end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 12:41:26 -0700
Local: Mon, Aug 3 2009 12:41 pm
Subject: 5pm today – meeting with Russell Brown
Dear Board Members,
We have a 5pm meeting today at the LA Athletic Club at 7th and Olive, in the
3rd floor bar, with Russell Brown to discuss future sponsorship of the Art
Walk by HCBID and DLANC. Please attend if you are able, and call Richard on
his cell if you are coming, so he can leave your name at the desk. Richard’s
# is [redacted].
You can park in the lot on Olive just north of the club entrance, and we can
validate at $1.50, or free if you buy a drink.
best, Kim
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 20:50:32 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Aug 4 2009 8:50 pm
Subject: moving towards solutions on street life & vendors
Dear Board Members:
I am delighted to report that our meeting w/ Council Member Jan Perry’s deputy, Stephanie Magnien, went very well.
We discussed two topics, vendor solutions and street life.
Stephanie showed great enthusiasm to the notion of continuing the regularly scheduled farmer’s market on City Hall lawn (every Thursday) on the 2nd Thursday till 9pm to accommodate Art Walk. I have since our meeting w/ her yesterday heard back from her that council member Perry is delighted with the idea too. Happily, this idea came to me as I was speaking with the director of the farmer’s market last Thursday. As all parties, Art Walk, Council Member Perry, and Susan, the director of the farmer’s market are happy with the idea, it is time to figure out what it will take to make it happen. I have another meeting with Stephanie, who has to get costs from the department in charge of overseeing the event, but it seems that any additional costs would be absorbed by Susan (will have to be absorbed by Susan, we will not take them on), and since she is all ready dug in there for the day, and will do quite well in the second part of the day for Art Walk, there should be little trouble on that end.
I have not yet mentioned to Susan that we probably would want money (sponsorship) for giving the event our blessing and our promotion. I use the conditional because I don’t think the question of sponsorship from her should be a deal breaker. She is going to have to pay the city for this second half of the day for Art Walk, in addition to her fees for the lunchtime farmer’s market. I feel if this could come off, we would come out ahead, and have dodged a bullet. Walking away from stewarding the event through CW Perry’s approval over sponsorship fees would be a mistake, I feel.
Of course, we will deliberate this. But first we will have to come up with a figure to ask of her. And then I will simply ask her. I don’t know Susan’s stance on the possibility of paying us sponsorship fees, she and I came up with the idea over a causal exchange where we recognized each other but could not remember where we had meet. I had asked her what she thought about the market being extended to the evening on Art Walk–I often do this with random people I meet downtown. She said she loved the idea, and it did not hurt that she ran the event. I will get to an answer with her.
On the other note, street life, Stephanie and I revisited a topic which has been rehashed between us during Bert’s directorship, to no avail, but I thought I would give it another try now that I am director. I asked her again about sidewalk closure as an option–the closing of the sidewalk, not the street, but just the sidewalk. This does not mean that pedestrian’s are not allowed on the sidewalk–they can come and go, but that the entity which receives the permit to close it, can set up booths on the sidewalk and have street musicians, or some kind of public performance–within reason, as they have been granted use of the sidewalk for the specified period of time. This has been done a lot downtown. This is I believe, our solution to moving forward with a policy on street life. It make possible creating a booth(s) for Art Walk where maps and other literature can be distributed, where walking tours can begin, and also where other participating local nonprofits could have space. The possibilities of local historic groups giving tours from this block is rich.
What is required on our end is the agreement of the property owner on the block in question. I will present the board with 3 possible locations (blocks) for closure at the next board meeting and we can take the discussion from there.
I am delighted to write of this progress on these fronts, as it brings us closure on the vendor issue, and a footing for our program of a living museum in the Historic Core.
I remain,
Richard
*end of email thread*
From: “Kim Cooper” <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:26:34 -0000
Local: Tues, Aug 4 2009 10:26 am
Subject: [LADTgalleries] Updated Art Walk website
Dear gallerists,
We’ve gotten some feedback about problems with how the zoomable map on the front page of the Art Walk website was showing up for some users, and so we’ve taken that feature offline. Please have a look at the updated site, and take a moment to log into your gallery page and post your exhibition info for the August Art Walk.
http://www.downtownartwalk.com/
If you personally have any problems, or if you spot anything that needs to be changed site-wide, please let us know directly at downtownartw…@gmail.com.
Also, please be sure to send your press releases directly to downtownartw…@gmail.com if you want your info included in the press release that the Art Walk sends out. Ideally these should be received two weeks before the event, but if you send something today we can still squeeze you in for August.
best regards,
Kim
Downtown LA Art Walk
http://www.downtownartwalk.com/
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 20:26:57 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Aug 4 2009 8:26 pm
Subject: Summary of meeting w/ Russell Brown
Dear Board Members:
Here is my report on the meeting last night with Russell Brown, Board members Kim Cooper, David Hernand, Sandie Richards and myself attending, notes taken by Chinta Cooper.
I regret to report that we seemed to make little progress, and that I still have no answer regarding a continuation of Art Walk sponsorship from HCBID or DLANC.
Russell repeatedly asserted that phone calls were not being answered, the website was unusable, maps were not accessible and that I was unavailable. He would not hear that these issues have been dealt with– if they were ever an issue to begin with. After the fourth or fifth time of him repeating that “we” had lost the community by failing at this basic foundation of communication, he was asked in turn by Sandie and by David how could we break this cycle of negative feedback, told that we were sorry for any inconvenience and that we sought his aid to help us move forward. Russell offered no direction, but just said that he would report back to the gallery owners and stakeholders of the event.
Then Russell insinuated that because of our basic failure to communicate with the community that he was going to direct the $5,000 for the Downtown Art Walk to a new entity, which is being organized by Bert Green, to help support the businesses of the art galleries and the “3rd Thursday” Broadway walk organized by Brady Westwater.
Although we closed cordially, I do not think the meeting ended with any progress. I will follow up with Russell tonight and ask for a meeting w/ Bonnie and Sandie and Kim and I next week. This meeting’s sole purpose will be to ask for the HCBID money ($5,000) which he has agreed for the past 6 months would be available to Art Walk–until his refusal last Friday. If this meeting does not produce a guarantee of the funds I suggest that we simply go over his head with the request.
Going over Russell’s head would entail contacting Tom Gilmore,
president of the Historic Core BID, for which Russell Brown is an
employee (Executive Director). If every single board member called
Tom on this topic, we would get a response from him. I am not sure it
would be the response we hope for, but it would be a response at
least, and an opportunity to make our case. I have been trying to
schedule an appointment with Tom Gilmore to discuss my (at the time
upcoming) responsibilities and goals as director of the Art Walk for
the past 5 months. I have had not a single call back. United we can
get him to respond, if we must resort to that.
I have asked our Rabbi to set up appointments with the major property
owners on South Spring Street. They are not happy with Tom Gilmore’s
stance that Art Walk is at 5th & Main to stay, and nuts to everyone
else who is hoping for support and stewardship to get Art Walk to
spread to 7th & Main or 7th & Spring. While I do not think they could
sway an HCBID board that was set on not funding Art Walk, I do not
believe the HCBID board shares Russell’s ambivalence towards the
primary economic engine of the neighborhood. And such communication
with the HCBID board might open doors hitherto unseen, and also is
long overdue in general.
I find that Russell is overextended, overworked, overexerted and
unpleasant. I think that his own business at the Exchange at 5th &
Main is in a lot of trouble, as is everyone else at that corner. I
think he is between the devil and the deep blue sea, and he has my
compassion. I am sorry that he is so torn, it makes for difficult
communication.
Let me email him tonight, move forward on a meeting exclusively on the
subject of our securing the funds promised to us in the next two
weeks, and we’ll take it from there.
I remain,
Richard
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 11:39:28 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 5 2009 11:39 am
Subject: meet n’ greet
Dear Board Members:
I am pleased to report that I was able to nail down with Matt Anderson, the director of Catering at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, an agreement whereby the LAAC would host mixers for the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk.
For a weekday gathering (time and date TBA), Matt will provide us with access to a banquet room or the more public third floor lounge–we’ll get to see some of these choices at our August 20th meeting–and a complementary buffet of appetizers. He can NOT provide wine gratis, though he will waive a corkage fee if we bring our own, and can provide staff to serve wine. He and I agree that a case of wine would handle 50 people. I am working on a vinter to donate a case of wine to start, and will seek more if our guest list grows. Matt is comfortable to offer us this hosting framework two or three times a year if we need to make use of it.
I propose that we get a guest list together and pick a date in the fall and have a meet and greet. We should consider inviting all members of City Council, the Mayor, Controller, City Attorney, their chiefs of staff and the person who deals with arts issues on each of their staffs; all members of the relevant city commissions (e.g. Cultural Heritage); all five members of the County Board of Supervisors; Members of the state legislature and Congress (or their rep) that represents Downtown L.A.; senior executives and members of their boards at all of the cultural entities in town (e.g., LACMA, Getty, MOCA); I also suggest inviting the CEO or senior executive of companies which are based downtown.
I will put this topic on the agenda for the August 20th meeting.
I remain,
Richard
*end of email thread*
[LADTgalleries] Gallery Owners to be featured on Art Walk blog
downtownartwalk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com>
Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
Dear Gallery Owners,
The Art Walk will be launching a new blog celebrating the interesting people who make the Art Walk what it is. Of course, you will all be very busy next Thursday and we don’t want to bother you then, but if any of you would like to be featured (your photo taken in your gallery and answers to a few interview questions) please email: downtownartwalk@gmail.com to set up a good time. If you would rather wait a few weeks and see what the blog is all about, that’s fine too, but we very much want to introduce Art Walk visitors to all of the interested individual gallery owners soon. If you have a favorite photo you would rather use, just let us know and we can do an interview via e-mail or in person.
Thanks,
Downtown Art Walk
*end of email thread*
*the following email is the only one in this document not from founding Art Walk non-profit board members Richard Schave or Kim Cooper. It is an email from former Art Walk director Bert Green to a Yahoo group comprised of gallery owners and Art Walk board members, containing several years of community discussions and documentation of outreach from the new Art Walk non-profit to the gallery owners. This was a forum that contained an informal history of the Downtown gallery community, and there was no expectation that it might be deleted by its moderator. And yet, with no advance notice or discussion, Bert Green deleted this Yahoo group on August 6, 2009, one week before the August Art Walk.*
[LADTgalleries] termination of the LADT Yahoo group
from Bert Green Fine Art <gallery@bgfa.us>
to LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
date Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 12:26 PM
subject [LADTgalleries] termination of the LADT Yahoo group
Effective immediately, I am terminating this Yahoo Group, as it is no
longer needed.
Bert Green
Bert Green Fine Art
213-624-6212 (recorded information)
213-842-8574 (direct line)
102 West 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
http://www.bgfa.us
DTLAX Magazine
http://www.dtlax.com
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 21:09:38 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Sun, Aug 9 2009 9:09 pm
Subject: making a case for dtlaaw to NEA
Dear Board Members:
Two weeks ago I posted the first 3 sections of the “Making a case for the DTLAAW” document I am working on. I have completed the last two sections, “history” and “fundraising.” I will put the whole documents on Google Documents for comment in the next day. I preface my post with that reminder because I am so delighted by what I read in the NY Times, an article about the new director of the NEA.
I include in the rest of this post the article from the NY Times, and
then the first 3 sections of the “case statement” mentioned above. I
feel we are dead on the money with what the director of the NEA
outlined as his goals. I am good friends with the director of
Literature at the NEA, and once the case statement has been agreed
upon by all of us (2 weeks at most I suspect), I will ask for an
introduction and pass along our document.
I remain,
Richard
**
ARTS AS ECONOMIC ENGINE
NY TIMES
August 8, 2009
New Endowment Chairman Sees Arts as Economic Engine
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/arts/08rocco.html
By ROBIN POGREBIN
Now that the Broadway producer Rocco Landesman is officially chairman
of the National Endowment for the Arts–he was confirmed on Friday–
his straight-talking style, Missouri roots and affinity for baseball
and country music are expected to give him a leg up with many
legislators.
But in his first sit-down interview since his nomination by President
Obama, Mr. Landesman’s comments suggested that he may nevertheless
raise hackles on Capitol Hill after he is sworn in in the next few
days. Speaking recently in his office above the St. James Theater on
West 44th Street, where Tony Awards abut baseball trophies–testament
to his prowess as a producer and as a pitcher in the Broadway Show
League–Mr. Landesman, 62, made clear that he has little patience for
the disdain with which some politicians still seem to view the
endowment, more than a decade after the culture wars that nearly
destroyed it.
He was particularly angered, he said, by parts of the debate over
whether to include $50 million for the agency in the federal stimulus
bill, citing the comment by Mitt Romney, former governor of
Massachusetts, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in February, that arts money did
not belong in the bill. That kind of thinking suggests that “artists
don’t have kids to send to college,” Mr. Landesman said, “or food to
put on the table, or medical bills to pay.” In American politics
generally, he added: “The arts are a little bit of a target. The
subtext is that it is elitist, left wing, maybe even a little gay.”
And while he praised the way recent endowment chairmen have carefully
rebuilt the agency’s political standing, Mr. Landesman–who is known
more as an independent entrepreneur than as a diplomatic company man–
said he was not planning to follow too closely in their footsteps.
While Dana Gioia, his immediate predecessor, made a point of spreading
endowment funds to every Congressional district, for example, Mr.
Landesman said he expected to focus on financing the best art,
regardless of location.
“I don’t know if there’s a theater in Peoria, but I would bet that
it’s not as good as Steppenwolf or the Goodman,” he said, referring to
two of Chicago’s most prominent theater companies. “There is going to
be some push-back from me about democratizing arts grants to the point
where you really have to answer some questions about artistic merit.”
“And frankly,” he added, “there are some institutions on the precipice
that should go over it. We might be overbuilt in some cases.”
Mr. Landesman does believe that the agency should be “perceived as
being everywhere,” he said. “But I don’t know that we have to be
everywhere if the only reason for supporting an institution is its
geography.”
On the subject of the endowment’s budget, too, Mr. Landesman did not
hold back. Though he would not put a dollar figure on his own fiscal
goals, he called the current appropriation of $155 million “pathetic”
and “embarrassing.” And he seemed to imply dissatisfaction with
increases proposed by Congress and by the president, which both fall
short of the agency’s 1992 budget of $176 million.
“We’re going to be looking for funding increases that are more than
incremental,” he said.
As for grants to individual artists–which were eliminated in 1996
after years of complaints from conservative legislators about the
financing of controversial art–Mr. Landesman said he would reinstate
them “tomorrow” if it were up to him. (It’s up to Congress.)
Mr. Landesman said that as chairman he will focus on the potential of
the arts to help in the country’s economic recovery. “I wouldn’t have
come to the N.E.A. if it was just about padding around in the agency,”
he said, and worrying about which nonprofits deserve more funds. “We
need to have a seat at the big table with the grown-ups. Art should be
part of the plans to come out of this recession.”
“If we’re going to have any traction at all,” he added, “there has to
be a place for us in domestic policy.”
He was less clear about the details of this ambitious agenda, though
he talked about starting a program that he called “Our Town,” which
would provide home equity loans and rent subsidies for living and
working spaces to encourage artists to move to downtown areas.
“When you bring artists into a town, it changes the character,
attracts economic development, makes it more attractive to live in and
renews the economics of that town,” he said. “There are ways to draw
artists into the center of things that will attract other people.”
The program would also help finance public art projects and
performances and promote architectural preservation in downtown areas,
Mr. Landesman added. “Every town has a public square or landmark
buildings or places that have a special emotional significance,” he
said. “The extent that art can address that pride will be great.”
Given the agency’s “almost invisible” budget, he said, goals like
these would require publicprivate partnerships that enlist developers,
corporations and individual investors–largely by getting them “to
understand the critical role of art in urban revitalization.”
Such arrangements–which he said will be a “signature part” of his
chairmanship–will play “right into the president’s wheelhouse,” Mr.
Landesman added, speaking of Mr. Obama’s concerns about cities and
economic development.
The new chairman said he already has a new slogan for his agency: “Art
Works.” It’s “something muscular that says, `We matter.’ ” The words
are meant to highlight both art’s role as an economic driver and the
fact that people who work in the arts are themselves a critical part
of the economy. “
Someone who works in the arts is every bit as gainfully employed as
someone who works in an auto plant or a steel mill,” Mr. Landesman
said. “We’re going to make the point till people are tired of hearing
it.”
As for the former agency slogan, “A Great Nation Deserves Great Art,”
he said, “We might as well just apologize right off the bat.”
Mr. Landesman said he realized he was not the obvious man for the job.
”There are a lot of people whose resumes laid out a lot better than
mine,” he said. “But I think the president is serious when he talks
about change. I think he wanted to bring a new energy to this
agency.”
Mr. Landesman’s own resume starts with his upbringing in and around
the cabaret theater his father and uncle ran in St. Louis, the Crystal
Palace. Performers including the Smothers Brothers and Mike Nichols
and Elaine May often headlined there during his childhood, some of
them staying in the Landesman family’s basement apartment after their
gigs.
Mr. Landesman, who has a reddish beard and lanky physique, did a lot
of acting as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, then
went on to the Yale School of Drama, where he earned a Ph.D. in
dramatic literature and criticism and stayed on as an assistant
professor for four years, until 1978.
After leaving Yale, Mr. Landesman started a mutual fund, bought
racehorses until he had amassed a dozen–one successful horse would
enable him to purchase another–and about three years ago, he said,
”came within about five minutes of buying the Cincinnati Reds.” (He
lost out to another bidder at the last minute, which he said was
”painful.”)
In 1985 he produced the Broadway musical “Big River,” which won that
year’s Tony for best musical, at a theater owned by the Jujamcyn
group, the third-largest of the big three New York theater companies,
after Shubert and Nederlander. Two years later he was hired as the
president of Jujamcyn Theaters, and in 2005 he bought the company; in
his new position he will retain his ownership stake but will not
participate in the company’s activities.
Jack Viertel, Jujamcyn’s creative director, described Mr. Landesman as
smart, decisive and “a very entertaining person to be around,” but
also “mercurial,” “unpredictable” and “an extraordinarily hardheaded
businessman.”
Paul Libin, the producing director at Jujamcyn, said he was at first
”taken aback” by the idea of Mr. Landesman’s leading the endowment,
but that he has come to believe that the job requires “someone who is
a general,” and that his boss fits the bill.
Mr. Landesman wasn’t tapped for the job. “I’d love to say the
president drafted me, and I had to answer the call of duty, but no,”
he said. “I put my hand up for this.”
“Everybody I talked to said, `This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard,
put it out of your head immediately,’ ” Mr. Landesman said. “The idea
of running a 170-person federal bureaucracy seemed crazy.”
But it’s an unusual moment in history, he said, and he wanted to be
part of it. President Obama was “the first candidate in my memory who
made arts part of the campaign,” Mr. Landesman said. “He had an arts
policy committee and an arts policy statement and arts advisers.”
Cultural mavens like himself feel they “have one of their own” in the
White House, he added. “It makes the arts community feel finally, for
the first time in a long time, there might be some wind at their
back.”
~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Core Beliefs & Goals
DTLLAW
Richard Schave
July 17, 2009
1 Mission Statement & Meeting The Needs Of The Community We Serve
1.1 Mission Statement
The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk operates on the second Thursday of
each month, celebrating art, creativity and cultural diversity in the
Historic Core neighborhood, transforming the community with filled
streets and packed local businesses. Our goal is to harness this
momentum to craft long-term policies for economic stabilization, job
creation and the promotion of positive public space, all while
preserving the dynamic balance of local history and culture.
1.2 The Challenges: Public Space, Growth & Scalability
At its inception in 2004 the event was poorly attended, partly due to
the neighborhood being crime ridden and desolate at night. Now five
years ≠ and significant gentrification ≠ later, the Art Walk is at
the opposite end of the spectrum. The intersections at the core of
the event are overcrowded, and services are overtaxed to the
breaking point. Without management of crowds and the planned
programming of compelling cultural events on the perimeter of the Art
Walk boundaries, the neighborhood will not be able to support this
event at
its current growth rate. In order to take the Art Walk to the next
level of growth, the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk board must develop
an information program which addresses the basic challenge for
regular
and first-time attendees: “now that I am at the corner of 5th Main,
what do I do and where do I go?” There is a lack of coordinated
information about irregularly scheduled events during the Art Walk,
and a lack of official, well-promoted cultural programming, resulting
in a mass of visitors who lack awareness of their options. Combined
with long stretches of dark, inactive sidewalk between populated
zones, this causes crowds to pool around core intersections with no
clear path to other active areas.
The Art Walk management must shine a light on the event to alleviate
what has become a confounding urban
experience.
1.3 New Ideas Need Old Buildings
The Holy Grail of the downtown BIDs (Business Improvement Districts)
and residential developers for the last fifteen years is to find an
answer to the questions: “What do you do after 5pm? Why would you
want to live downtown?” The success of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
contains the answer. There is no great and beautiful city where
people do not live close to the core. The whole quality of a city’s
life ≠ its personality and its image ≠ is formed by its inhabitants,
who fill its streets at night, use its parks and restaurants,
populate its open spaces and plazas, and enjoy its amenities and
history. A connection to the past is fundamental to helping the
future to flourish.
2 Goals–Our Ambition
2.1 Affecting Social Change
Our goal is to facilitate the dissemination of information between
art galleries, event promoters, performers and other creative
programmers and their potential audiences, enabling those providing
cultural programming within the Art Walk border to share their
specialized information widely. Communities of creators and consumers
exist both literally within the borders of the event and virtually in
online communities associated with Art Walk. The point of
intersection for these varied communities is where the heavy lifting
occurs, and it is where social change is best affected. The Art Walk,
which essentially creates a living museum in the Historic Core for
one day out of the month, is a uniquely public space in which
everyone involved should be able to gain and share access to the
information they most desire.
3 Objectives For Next 2 Years
3.1 Measuring Success
The creation of Positive Public Space is the yardstick by which the
success of two seemingly orthogonal goals-the free celebration of
creativity and the economic redevelopment of the Historic Core-can be
measured. Positive Public Space does many things: it reduces crime by
activating streets and other public areas, it promotes local
businesses-people out for their pleasure stop in local cafes and
shops- it simply encourages people to walk, drawing them effortlessly
along from one place to the next, encouraging them to look, to
linger, to become fully engaged in the space they’re in.
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:29:42 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Aug 11 2009 9:29 am
Subject: Sponsorship Package For Review
Dear Board Members:
I have uploaded a PDF of a proposed sponsorship package to the files section of this group.
Here is the URL:
http://dtlaaw.googlegroups.com/web/Downtown%20Los%20Angeles%20Art%20W…
And here is the plain text, which might not be as well formated as I would like:
The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
a California Public Benefit Corporation
Held on the second Thursday of each month. Celebrating art, creativity
and cultural diversity in the Historic Core neighborhood.
http://www.downtownartwalk.com Dear interested sponsor: The Downtown
Los Angeles Art Walk is a free event held every second Thursday of the
month, in and around the Historic Core’s Gallery Row neighborhood. For
this one night, Downtown LA returns to its historic pedestrian-based
culture, a vibrant scene that is itself a draw for locals and tourists
seeking an authentic urban experience.
Launched in 2004 by the then-marginal community’s pioneer gallerists,
Art Walk has become a grassroots urban success story, with upwards of
10,000 people coming out each month to see the newest art exhibits,
enjoy the bustling street culture, eat, drink and socialize. In June
2009, founder Bert Green handed the management of the Art Walk to a
new team led by Director Richard Schave, the host of the popular
Hippodrome curated shuttle bus.
The Art Walk is now a California Public Benefit Corporation, the first
step on the path to becoming a 501(c)3 non-profit. We rely on your
generous sponsorship to help to keep the Art Walk experience a
fulfilling, safe and stimulating one for the growing crowds who ink
the second Thursday on their calendars month after month.
Your participation will bring customers to your door and your website,
showing the community that you value the Art Walk’s contributions to
our shared culture. Our sponsors will be prominently featured on the
Art Walk’s highly trafficked website and in targeted emails, and have
the opportunity to update their sponsor page with special offers,
photos and announcements. Your support will allow us to print more
free maps, provide skilled free walking tour guides, charter free
shuttles, host free guest speakers, and keep the website humming with
all the information Art Walk patrons demand as they plan their
adventures in downtown Los Angeles.
We offer a variety of sponsorship tiers, and there should be one
that’s right for you. Please call on me should you have any questions
or ideas for some other form of sponsorship we haven’t thought of yet.
I remain, Richard Schave Director Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk (213)
784-2598 P.O. Box 31227, Los Angeles, CA 90031
downtownartw…@gmail.com
The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
a California Public Benefit Corporation
Held on the second Thursday of each month. Celebrating art, creativity
and cultural diversity in the Historic Core neighborhood.
http://www.downtownartwalk.com
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk 2009 Sponsorship Form Sponsor
information: Company:
_______________________________________________________________
Contact:
________________________________________________________________
Address:
________________________________________________________________
City:___________________________________________State:
_________Zip:_______ Phone: ________________________________E-mail
address: ____________________ Level:
$500 Annual retail sponsor $1,000 Opal $3,000 Jade $8,500 Ruby
$50 Single month sponsorship
$2,000 Garnet $2,500 Moonstone $5,000 Amethyst $6,000 Topaz $10,000
Diamond $______ Other amount
Payment options:
Check enclosed payable to: Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
Please list my/our name in the marketing material and on the website
as:
________________________________________________________________________
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk (213) 784-2598
P.O. Box 31227, Los Angeles, CA 90031 downtownartw…@gmail.com
The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
a California Public Benefit Corporation http://www.downtownartwalk.com
Deadline to have your special offers included in Art Walk’s monthly
sponsored email is the first of every month. New retail sponsors will
be immediately added to the website and the online map, and to the
next batch of professionally printed maps. Email us your logo for
inclusion on the web.
Art Walk 2009 Sponsorship Opportunities
Annual Retail Sponsorship
($500) Your own updatable business page on the Art Walk website Art
Walk Sponsor sign to display at your business Your message in Art
Walk’s monthly targeted email Your name on Art Walk marketing
materials, including the printed map Single Month
($50) Your event listing or special retail offer on the Art Walk
website calendar or specials page
Opal Level Sponsorship ($1,000) Same benefits as Annual level above
Plus, one month of free walking tours promoted as being “sponsored by”
your business
Garnet Level Sponsorship ($2,000) Same benefits as Annual level above
Plus, two months of free walking tours promoted as being “sponsored
by” your business
Moonstone Level Sponsorship ($2,500) Same benefits as Annual level
above Plus, three months of free official Art Walk lectures promoted
as being “sponsored by” your business Jade Level Sponsorship ($3,000)
Same benefits as Annual level above Plus, your logo prominently
featured on Art Walk’s printed map for one year
Amethyst Level Sponsorship ($5,000) Same benefits as Jade level above
Plus, six months of official Art Walk musical programs promoted as
being “sponsored by” your business
Ruby Level Sponsorship ($8,500) Same benefits as Jade level above
Plus, one year sponsorship of the official Art Walk map, with
prominent placement online and in print
Diamond Level Sponsorship ($10,000) Same benefits as Annual level
above Plus, one year of an official Art Walk shuttle promoted as being
”sponsored by” your business
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk P.O. Box 31227, Los Angeles, CA 90031
(213) 784-2598 downtownartw…@gmail.com
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 08:30:00 -0700
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Sponsorship Package For Review
Hi [redacted],
Thanks for the feedback!
We are just making your suggested edits so we can begin to circulate the
sponsor package. “Marginal” referred not to the gallerists, but to the
neighborhood–to drive home what an amazing transformation the community has
seen. But I see where the word might be misread, and will change it to
”gritty,” a word that no one is likely to think applies to a human. Will
also make the same change to the Art Walk website (back online with a slight
redesign, more changes to come).
So that sentence in the sponsor package now reads: ”Launched in 2004 by the then-gritty neighborhood’s pioneer gallerists, Art Walk has become a grassroots urban success story, with upwards of 10,000 people coming out each month to see the newest art exhibits, enjoy the bustling street culture, eat, drink and socialize.”
We expect to have this PDF ready to go shortly, so if anyone else had any feedback on the wording or layout, or any suggestions for more artsy substitutes for the named sponsorship tiers (we are currently using gems), please chime in.
Kim
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:11:21 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 12 2009 11:11 am
Subject: Street Life: Arcade Building Pilot for Curated Street Music Program
Dear Board Members:
I am delighted to report that Kim & Chinta & I had a wonderful meeting with Roberto Saladana, legal counsel for the Hellen family who owns my favorite downtown building, the Spring Arcade.
http://www.you-are-here.com/broadway/arcade.html
Its pedestrian walkway which connect Spring & Broadway bwtn 5th & 6th was an important part of the public space which was once downtown, and it will be again. As they begin to offer the newly converted residential units in the buildings two towers the Hellen family is eager reactivate the pedestrian walkway during Art Walk. They have agreed, most enthusiastically, to let us curate an acoustic music program in the arcade. After six months of music curation they would like to explore the possibility of curating art exhibits in the Arcade as well which has a breath taking 3 storey interior gallery.
The arcade is the key connecting Spring to Broadway and expanding the scope and reach of Art Walk, which is a basic mandate of ours. I am delighted to have arrived at this point. The music curation program should begin, with the Arcade as a pilot, next month. I will keep you posted.
I remain,
Richard
*emails removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:39:49 -0700
Local: Fri, Aug 14 2009 9:39 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Street Life: Arcade Building Pilot for Curated Street Music Program
Yes, the plan is to invite good event/musical curators to develop planned programming that we can promote in our publicity campaigns. The space is big enough that there can be a few things happening in the arcade at any given time–a musician, a drawing salon, storytelling, etc. We also want to bring all of the walking tours–which will be starting nearby, at Clifton’s, beginning in September–through the Arcade to draw attention to this path between Spring and Broadway.
Richard and I have been talking about something that is missing from Art Walk: a pleasant place where people can sit and rest, talk and experience culture without having to buy food or drinks. If we get some tables and chairs into the Arcade, this could be such a place.
Kim
*end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:02:23 -0700
Local: Thurs, Aug 13 2009 2:02 pm
Subject: Fwd: FW: 4-Day Weekend: Art Walk, Rock N’ Roll Circus, Adult Milkshakes
Nice bit of press in the Citysearch weekend mailing.
Art Walk is also the featured pick in the Going.com email that went out today.
Kim
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:50:07 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 13 2009 2:50 pm
Subject: Re: Fwd: FW: 4-Day Weekend: Art Walk, Rock N’ Roll Circus, Adult Milkshakes
Thanks, [redacted], we are “well chuffed” as the limeys say.
I asked the editor how many people receive this email: about 32,000!
And right after it went out, Richard got an interview request from Channel 4 news, and will be talking with them shortly.
best, Kim
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:37:04 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Sat, Aug 15 2009 8:37 am
Subject: August Art Walk Was Great
Dear Board Members:
A short wrap up (from my experiences) of Art Walk follows.
All seems well. Good crowds. Shane had 4,000+ people in his gallery. What ever the crowd size was for last month, it was larger this month. Walking tours went well from Lot 44 at 3rd & Spring. Had six tours, all full. Next month we’ll start from Clifton’s Cafeteria @ 7th & Broadway.
[Redacted] seems to be our official “Tweeter” on Twitter for next month. [Redacted] had a lot of fun at the event.
[Redacted] and I rubbed elbows in the press of the crowd at Pharmaka around 7.30pm. Thinking about the Spring Arcade Building and the fall Art Walks.
I remain,
Richard
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:02:28 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 27 2009 10:02 am
Subject: mailing to gallery owners last week of August 2009
Dear Board Members:
Below is a draft of the letter to the gallery owners we discussed at the last meeting. Please provide feedback if any and I’ll get it out in good time.
I created a new gallery owners email list this morning. I did so because Bert Green deleted the original gallery owners list, which was the mailing list we had been using to communicate with the gallery owners, about 3 weeks ago. I am not sure why he did that.
I had been under the impression that I was the sole administrator of that email list as a result of some of the long transition meetings we had, but obviously, I was mistaken. It is unfortunate that this list no longer exists, as it was a record of at least some of our outreach to the gallery owners, but that is spilt milk.
I am the sole administrator of the general Art Walk mailing list hosted under Yahoo, so there is no risk of that list being deleted. In the next few weeks I plan to export the emails from that list and host them on the Art Walk website, which will better allow us to communicate with Art Walk visitors and integrate their user activity with features on our website.
thanks,
Richard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Gallery Owners,
Greetings from the Art Walk, which as most of you know is now a California Public Benefit Corporation overseen by a Board of Directors. We’ve created this email list to provide a channel of communication from the Art Walk to the gallery owners that have listings on the Art Walk website and map. This is an announcement list only, and will have a low level of activity. If you do hit “reply” that message will come back to the Art Walk, but not go to the list.
Most of your day-to-day contact with the Art Walk will be with myself, my wife Kim Cooper, and Kim’s sister Chinta. Please feel free to email us (downtownartw…@gmail.com) or to call the voicemail line (213-784-2598) if you have any questions or concerns, and one of us will get back to you shortly.
We are looking forward to all the good work and great strides ahead of us, and to many successful Art Walks that bring new people into your galleries.
This email serves to give you two announcements:
1) In the fall the Art Walk will host a mixer at the Los Angeles Athletic Club for gallery owners, sponsors, elected city officials and the Art Walk management to mingle and talk about our shared interests. Stay tuned to this list for a save the date announcement.
2) In recognition of the problems facing the economy, and the fact that we are a new group without an established track record, the Art Walk Board has voted to suspend billing for this quarter for all downtown galleries. We will continue to list your space on the Art Walk map and website, but will not be asking you to pay your annual gallery sponsorship fees at this time. Technically, last year’s paid sponsorships ended on July 1, so you’ve already had a couple of months of suspended billing, and this will continue until we have had a chance to show all of you, through documentation and improved programs, how hard we are working to make the Art Walk better for all of you and for its visitors.
Thanks for all you do for Downtown L.A. The Art Walk couldn’t exist without you.
Best regards,
Richard Schave
Director
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:34:15 -0700
Local: Thurs, Aug 27 2009 10:34 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: mailing to gallery owners last week of August 2009
Hi [redacted],
Thanks for your feedback. Please note that Richard had been communicating to the gallery owners through the [LADTgalleries] list on yahoo as far back as June, and that we believed there would be a consistency of communication from the Art Walk to gallery owners through that list. The reason we need to re-introduce ourselves now is that the old list no longer exists, and so, unfortunately, the public record of our outreach is no longer online (though of course we do have copies in our email clients). Do you think we should mention that this email list is a continuation of the old [LADTgalleries] list?
I don’t understand why you are saying there is no map. The map exists as a downloadable PDF and in html format on the website, and all of the 39 Art Walk galleries are listed on it. There has never not been an Art Walk map available on the Art Walk website while it has been under the care of this new entity. Here is the direct link to the map pages: http://www.downtownartwalk.com/map
best regards, Kim
*emails removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:24:52 -0700
Local: Thurs, Aug 27 2009 9:24 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: mailing to gallery owners last week of August 2009
[Redacted], thank you for the suggestions, which we will incorporate into the email. I don’t believe the decision was made to extend a year’s courtesy sponsorship, but simply to suspend invoicing for the quarter and revisit the issue in the future. We’ll find a gracious way of saying that.
With regard to [redacted]‘s having been contacted by gallery owners unaware of the downloadable map, we are very sorry that this happened, but also confused, because the map was discussed on the yahoo group to which all gallery owners were subscribed up until it was deleted.
We took over management of the Art Walk on June 11, and created a map in good time for the July Art Walk, our first as managers. We kept Bert’s map on the website until we replaced it with the new map, so there was always a map available for download.
On July 5, an email went out to the LADTgalleries list from [redacted] looking for the map, and this sparked three days of discussion in which Richard pointed to the link, corrections were suggested and made, and we responded to problems that some users had with downloading the large file by shrinking the PDF. I’ve cobbled together a webpage comprised of several discussion threads about the map, comprised of the LADTgalleries emails that I kept on my computer, and link to it below for reference, if anyone is interested.
http://groups.google.com/group/dtlaaw/web/ladtgalleries-map-discussio…
I’ve also made a file for Richard’s original introductory email to the LADTgalleries list, in which he introduced the new board and spelled out many of initial plans of the new Art Walk entity, and that is at the link below.
http://groups.google.com/group/dtlaaw/web/ladtgalleries-gallery-owner…
I hope these links are helpful in clarifying our position, and why we are so perplexed by statements like “If there was a map from day one, nobody knew about it.” Richard, Chinta and I have put so much time into doing what’s needed to keep the Art Walk working, and it’s difficult to hear that the people we are doing this for are somehow not aware of the tools that exist for their benefit. Hopefully this new gallery mailing list, since it will be lower volume than the old one, will be easier for people to keep up on, and we won’t have these communication problems in the future.
Kim
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:59:08 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Mon, Aug 31 2009 10:59 am
Subject: website downtime today
Dear Board Members:
I am experiencing some problems w/ the site today. Not sure what is
going on but it seems to be an issue w/ the web host. Happily, I am
meeting w/ Kevin the programmer later today and we will attempt to get
a better handle (solution) on the situation. I will keep you posted,
and please remain confident in my abilities to trouble shoot this.
Thanks
Richard
*email removed*
From: Art Walk <downtownartw…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 23:15:51 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 3 2009 11:15 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: website downtime today
[redacted]:
everything is as it should be. Posted to the board list a few minutes ago
and it answers all your questions. As I know that you are on digest for
that list, I am pasting the message into this one as well
thanks
richard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Board Members:
My apologies for the downtime on the website yesterday. On Monday night it became clear we were having some issues with processes consuming too many resources on the temporary hosting solution I had, despite good efforts to placate our host. So on Tuesday I looked for a new hosting solution. Kevin, our fearless programming intern, and I started the transfer of the database, directories and DNS on Wednesday morning @ 10am. Due to personal commitments, I had to be away from a network and my computer for most of the afternoon. In that time Kevin, and a very helpful tech support team member of our new host (who lives at the corner of 6th & Spring and is a big fan of the Art Walk) tackled and solved some interesting challenges. Happily, this only resulted in the site being down for a few hours.
In the process Kevin unveiled his new theme, and in the coming week he will
roll out a “mess” of new features which he has been working on for the first
part of his two semester independent study which entails bringing our site
up to speed. Kevin gives his presentation on his work to his professor
tomorrow–he has the new features on a development server–and next week
will start to port them over and iron out any bugs. In about 2 weeks Kevin
will begin work on the smart phone application, and I could not be more
excited. We are very fortunate to have Kevin on board.
Realizing Monday night that I would probably transfer hosts, which would
result in some down time, I held off on sending out the Gallery Owner’s
letter, which will go out later this evening.
It seems like it has been a minute or two since I have posted to the list, and I will have another post or two to go out yet still tonight on some interesting thoughts which have come to mind in the last week or so.
I remain,
Richard
Downtown LA Art Walk
http://www.downtownartwalk.com
*end of email thread*
September 2009
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 23:12:09 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Sep 3 2009 11:12 pm
Subject: website back up (yesterday) & update
Dear Board Members:
My apologies for the downtime on the website yesterday. On Monday night it became clear we were having some issues with processes consuming too many resources on the temporary hosting solution I had, despite good efforts to placate our host. So on Tuesday I looked for a new hosting solution. Kevin, our fearless programming intern, and I started the transfer of the database, directories and DNS on Wednesday morning @ 10am. Due to personal commitments, I had to be away from a network and my computer for most of the afternoon. In that time Kevin, and a very helpful tech support team member of our new host (who lives at the corner of 6th & Spring and is a big fan of the Art Walk) tackled and solved some interesting challenges. Happily, this only resulted in the site being down for a few hours.
In the process Kevin unveiled his new theme, and in the coming week he will roll out a “mess” of new features which he has been working on for the first part of his two semester independent study which entails bringing our site up to speed. Kevin gives his presentation on his work to his professor tomorrow–he has the new features on a development server–and next week will start to port them over and iron out any bugs. In about 2 weeks Kevin will begin work on the smart phone application, and I could not be more excited. We are very fortunate to have Kevin on board.
Realizing Monday night that I would probably transfer hosts, which would result in some down time, I held off on sending out the Gallery Owner’s letter, which will go out later this evening.
It seems like it has been a minute or two since I have posted to the list, and I will have another post or two to go out yet still tonight on some interesting thoughts which have come to mind in the last week or so.
I remain,
Richard
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 23:12:30 -0700
Local: Tues, Sep 8 2009 11:12 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: DLANC Meeting
Dear Board:
Meeting went well.
Motion to reallocate funds for Art Walk Shuttle was tabled because no one would second the motion put forward by Shane of the Arts Committee represented by Bill Eiseman of the new gallery owners’ group.
In the course of the 15-20 minutes spent on this agenda item, Russell
began quite empathically by making it clear whatever the outcome of
the vote, he wants to work with the Art Walk to transition away from
these shuttle funds.
Shane, who runs the Arts and Culture Committee, and who put forward
the motion, was not present, nor was Bert Green who is the alternate
committee head. Bill Eiseman from Todd/Browning Gallery spoke on
behalf of the new gallery owners’ group and its desire to receive the
funds currently allocated for the Art Walk shuttle.
Bill asked for an undetermined sum of money to print maps, maintain a website and host events meant to support the downtown galleries. Currently DLANC spends $500/month on the shuttle, and Bill said his group would like to have all that money. No specific objects were presented, only these general goals.
I then spoke as an interested member of the public. I thanked DLANC for their continued support, and explained that I was there as the Director of a newly formed California Public Benefit Corporation. I told the group that I was seeking to understand the funding process, because I had been under the impression that the funds for the shuttle had already been allocated in May. I said I was puzzled by the way the funds were now being proposed to be reallocated, as this impacts Art Walk’s budget and makes me wonder how to best work with DLANC in the future.
We are here to support the galleries. I support their continued effort to form an economic development team for themselves and I didn’t actually say anything against the motion specifically — just that I was confused about the process by which it was being voted on. It seemed from the comment section that I was not the only one who was confused.
This allocation process was never specifically dealt with, which is fine. The fact that the motion was tabled is sufficient. Later on we will get to the important stuff — which is what Art Walk and DLANC will do together for the community. This is what we want and what they want.
One interesting point brought up by a DLANC board member during the discussion: if DLANC funds the galleries to develop a successful program that brings in collectors, and they truly consider Art Walk a wash for their businesses, what is to stop them from closing down on Art Walk like Bert now does, thus depriving the community of the cultural sustenance that is at the heart of the Art Walk? It was expressed that it would be unfortunate if DLANC did anything to ultimately damage the Art Walk.
It was questioned whether it was appropriate to fund a small group of businesses as opposed to something that serves the whole community. There is no right answer but DLANC didn’t seem like they wanted to foster a schism.
An amendment was added to the motion making any funds allocated to the gallery group contingent on their producing a budget, which Bill said they were working on.
The discussion on this issue ended when Hal Bastian, Vice President of economic development for the Central City BID commandeered the meeting and requested the chairman move along, as this was too complicated and volatile an issue to vote on at the moment. Hal’s salient point in his time on the floor was his concern about this schism between the gallery owners and Art Walk. He was worried about the notion of DLANC fostering this schism by allocating funds to the gallery group. He warned that this split runs the risk of causing implosion of all bodies involved.
As such the motion was not seconded and was tabled.
On to what Art Walk can do with DLANC and what can be done to deal with this DLANC shuttle funding. And please remember that we have never voted as a group to allocate our own assets to the Spring/Main shuttle route. We inherited the shuttle, and if the funds disappear, we need to determine how important it is to our programming, and if it is best continued in its current form, changed or allowed to go away.
DLANC wants us to tell them what we need that really maps to their goal — which is community outreach. I believe that if the board decides to move forward keeping the shuttle(s) rolling that we should sit down with [redacted] and get a game plan for raising corporate sponsorship funds to replace DLANC and HCBID’s funding of the Hippodrome, and seek additional funds for a second shuttle.
Whatever happens with DLANC’s Arts Committee funding, we should bear in mind that there are other committees within DLANC that are interested in outreach. That outreach could include docents and walking tours. I believe that a big part of the outreach is completely inclusive of the marketing strategy and brand identity that the new gallery group is clamoring for. All of this is something we can provide for them and for the community under the auspices of this California Public Benefit Corporation that seeks to foster economic development in the Historic Core.
Bill says that the galleries want maps. We have a map. At the moment, it only exists online and in the laser printed sheets that will be rolling off our printer all night, but the longterm plan has always been to create a professionally printed quarterly rack card promoting the Art Walk, its galleries and sponsors, which will be distributed citywide.
I don’t understand why the gallery owners are trying to duplicate this basic mapping work already being done on the Art Walk website/map (and for that matter on the Gallery Row website), when they could put their energies into the marketing to collectors and special event planning that they insist is their main aim.
We have great tools to help them in the promotion of their businesses, and indeed this is part of our mission statement. Art Walk inherited a paid up membership with LA INC (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau), and so we have access to their tourist information centers and their marketing and publicity muscle. Printed Art Walk maps and a quarterly flier can be produced. I believe DLANC is amenable to helping fund these publications.
Bill said that the galleries want to get their flier into hotels, but this is not something that you can simply snap your fingers and make happen. That rack space is very desirable and hard to get. Outreach to concierges throughout LA is something that [redacted] has a very good angle on. Also I believe that we are going to have a brand identity for the Art Walk inclusive of the galleries that will address the concerns and will be a document that people can use all month long — as we believe the downloadable map already is.
Kim and I will come up with a proposal for our next board meeting about finding resources for funding for the shuttle — if that is what we want to do — and a budget for outreach as outlined above, some of which I think DLANC would like to fund.
This is a very long email. It was a good meeting. People care a lot about the Art Walk and about the galleries, and don’t want to see a split between these groups. I am finding vast disparities between what some people say is happening between the galleries and Art Walk, and the larger community response. I get a really different picture from the general DLANC meeting than I do at the smaller Arts Committee meeting, which is where I have until now been putting my efforts.
Good night.
Richard
*end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:48:01 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 10 2009 10:48 am
Subject: NBC online article
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/around-town/events/5-Years-of-Walking-fo…
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:56:16 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 10 2009 3:56 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: NBC online article
Happy to report that Art Walk is getting plenty of press, and the 5th Anniversary angle from the last press release is showing up widely. In general, it is hard to promote a recurring event that doesn’t have a lot of differences from month to month, so I would say we’re quite fortunate with how much the media has been covering Art Walk.
Speaking for Richard, Chinta and myself, it would be a significant increase in our workload to keep a log of the work we are doing to promote the Art Walk, as it is daily, on-going, and already taxing our minds and bodies to an extreme point. The galleries play an important role in the community, but they are not our only stakeholders, and I do not believe it’s necessary to report our work load to them.
We will of course continue to communicate to them through the new channel of the gallery owner email list whenever we have something important to pass along to them, like the invite to the forthcoming mixer or introducing them to new features on the website.
Unfortunately, only a small number of galleries are currently taking advantage of their accounts on the Art Walk website to log in and update their show listings and hours. This means the gallery-provided listings are of varying quality, and sometimes months out of date. We wonder if it would be best to
1) update gallery’s pages for them based on their own websites, or 2) simply link to gallery websites and not attempt to host information about the galleries on the Art Walk site?
It’s unfortunate that some gallerists are not happy with the work being done to promote the arts in their community.
All we can continue to do is our best, and hope that they will avail themselves of the tools we are providing for them to promote their businesses.
Kim
*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:02:47 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 10 2009 4:02 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: NBC online article
PS We have asked the galleries to send us press releases prior to the first of the month for possible inclusion in the general Art Walk press release. By the September deadline, we had received releases from just 3 galleries (Morono Kiang and Crewest with shows by the same curator and REDCAT), and were able to feature two 2 of them.
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:27:34 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Mon, Sep 14 2009 6:27 pm
Subject: Sept. 2009 Art Walk Recap
Dear Board:
A great Art Walk again.
We printed 2500 Art Walk maps and distributed them to the Main and Spring Street galleries and to the Purple People headquartered at 5th & Main the day before and around noon on Art Walk Thursday, and we gave maps to the walking tour guests. Chinta kept a couple hundred maps and handed them out to people on the streets, and it was interesting how in the early evening people were eager to take a map, but as it got later the response was often “I already have one.”
It seemed that the crowds on Spring south of 5th (down to 6th & 7th) were on the rise. The Spring Arcade Building was open and we had a wonderful band, Caravan to Pollenland, perform with a trio of amazing costumed dancers engaging the people entering from Spring and Broadway. The Paseo was well populated, the acoustics were wonderful, and the building functioned exactly as it should, creating a path from Broadway to Spring. A surprising number of people were entering from Broadway, not usually considered a big part of the Art Walk. We look forward to a great deal of momentum and excitement from this location in the future. Kim & I will meet with the owners of the building next week and see what they think about raising the bar of activity in the building next month.
The walking tours were a huge success. Ed Rosenthal, the poet/broker of downtown LA, has joined our ranks as a tour guide, and next month we hope to have a historic theater tour (possibly of the Mayan and Belasco, two great palaces on S. Broadway) from Hillsman Wright, who heads up the Historic LA Theatre Group.
The Salon at Clifton’s Cafeteria attracted an impassioned group of about a dozen engaged conversationalists discussing the role of magic in everyday life with hostess Maja D’Aoust. Maja would like to host another Salon next month, and we are looking into scheduling additional Salon discussions to happen simultaneously. Journalist Marco Mannone wants to host one about Charles Bukowski.
The Shuttle was packed and we had good reports from riders on the caliber and scope of performers. Hats off to the Uklulady, the Shuttle’s hostess.
What else? The barber shop in the Rowan Lofts seems very interesting, and just slightly off clinker in a charming way.
All for now,
Richard
*end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:52:26 -0700
Local: Fri, Sep 18 2009 8:52 am
Subject: a DLANC board member’s response to Downtown News article
Nice of her to write this! Hope it helps shape the conversation.
http://ginnycase.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-take-on-artwalk-in-response-…
**
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:23:45 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Sun, Sep 20 2009 9:23 pm
Subject: Bert Green talks about Art Walk
Dear Board Members:
a nice post by our good friend Ginny-Marie about Art Walk and the Downtown News article, with a very interesting series of comments back and forth between her and Bert Green, who speaks on the very nature of Art Walk. I include the URL and quote Bert in this email below.
http://ginnycase.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-take-on-artwalk-in-response-…
I remain,
Richard
*
Bert’s comments to the post follow:
September 18, 2009 10:34 AM
bgfa said…
Ginny, this is not true. The Downtown News article manufactured a
controversy that does not exist. Nobody is blaming Richard for any
crowd problems, nor is there a “schism” between the gallery owners and
the DAW management. All that is happening is that the gallery owners
have decided to work together to promote the gallery district outside
of the Art Walk day, something that I had always done when I ran the
Art Walk but which is not really a part of what the new group is
doing.
Prior to Richard’s management I worked closely with the BID, DLANC,
and the police to monitor and solve any problems, none of which were
ever ignored. We addressed the issues of public drinking, we found a
solution to the street vendor problem (the Downtown Art Park),
addressed the police response to traffic and pedestrian safety, etc.
Other than simple numbers (too many people clustered in some areas),
the remaining problem we have is alcohol being served by venues which
are NOT a part of the Art Walk, who set up just for the night and
illegally give out free drinks and allow people to walk the streets
with drinks. The police will cite anyone who does this, but they have
been very willing to be lenient as long as things stay under control.
Your implication that Richard is being blamed for things that are
legacy problems is insulting to me, because it implies that I did not
address them.
*
September 18, 2009 11:05 PM
bgfa said…
Basically it comes down to this: The Art Walk was NEVER about buying
art, nor was it created for that purpose. It was designed to make
people feel comfortable coming downtown, because just a few years ago,
people dissed downtown entirely. This is where it has been successful.
The gallery business is NOT a walk in business. I have art on my walls
for $10 and $20, and the art walk crowd could not care less. Also,
fine art is not a popular pursuit, so there is no solution to the
dilemma of galleries closing early on Art Walk because as long as it
is a game of large numbers, it won’t work for us.
Let me provide an example for comparison: Let’s say 2,000 people came
into Pete’s Cafe every Art Walk night but refused to spend any money.
Don’t you think Pete’s would be closed tight at 6 pm? That’s what’s
happening here. When it was just a few hundred, no problem. Once it
hit 2,000 I needed 4 employees and a security guard, and the crowd
would not even spend $20 on a catalog, print, or small artwork. I
can’t afford to lose $500 a night. I would go out of business very
fast.
What the DT News ignored in their biased hit job is that the gallery owners met months ago to discuss MOVING Art Walk to a Saturday afternoon. While that did not happen, it was proposed for this very reason, and as a way to save the galleries’ relationship to it. The outcry against this from other people in the neighborhood (and some of the galleries themselves) was loud, because they still saw benefit from it and were unable to see the coming storm, so the decision to continue Thursday night was a decision that actually works against the galleries, in favor of the restaurants, bars, and one night pop-ups (many of which have no permanent stake in the neighborhood).
*end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:31:04 -0700
Local: Fri, Sep 18 2009 9:31 am
Subject: Sponsor package PDF for your feedback
Dear board,
After much in-house discussion on the various types of potential sponsors beyond the previous model (gallery, retail, corporate), we’ve generated the attached Art Walk Sponsor Package PDF for your feedback. If you all like it, we can put this online where interested sponsors can download it, and also use it in our sponsor pitching. I think there are many sponsors who won’t even need to be pitched, they’ll just read our package and mail a check.
In response to the calls we’ve been getting, we’ve created a sponsor tier for Promotional Giveaways, which is the same price as a retail sponsorship. Maybe this is too cheap (12 Art Walks for $500), but it’s the price we quoted to a coffee company that wants to come down and give out free coffee, and to a power bar company that wants to give out product. This rate can be changed for subsequent requests. Do you think this one be a monthly-only sponsorship, and more costly, say $100/month?
New sponsor types include Food Trucks, whose rate is set to double what local restaurants would pay to be a sponsor. I have compiled a list of 11 food trucks that I know have been at the Art Walk and twelve other trucks that are active in LA.
We’re creating a new sponsor type (Event Promoter) that can be used by artists who are showing in retail venues and otherwise would be invisible to art seekers. Vendors can support the Art Walk directly with a page on our website and info on their work and location. Performers whose work doesn’t fall under the free Happenings category can promote their show on the Art Walk website.
We’ve also created tiers of super-sponsorship, amounts above $999 which directly support the walking tours, maps, salons, musical performances and shuttle.
Please read and comment – thanks!
Kim
**
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:26:31 -0700
Local: Tues, Sep 22 2009 8:26 am
Subject: Re: Sponsor package PDF for your feedback
Hi all,
If there’s no feedback on the sponsor package, I think I’ll just make a change to the Promotional Giveaways tier ($100/mo instead of $500/year) and begin circulating it.
If you wanted to give it a read-through and comment, please just reply to that effect with when you’ll be able do that, and I’ll await your thoughts. It would help Chinta to have a circulating document this week so she can get back to sponsor solicitations.
thanks, Kim
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:20:09 -0700
Local: Tues, Sep 22 2009 9:20 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Sponsor package PDF for your feedback
Hi [redacted],
Thanks for your feedback. Yes, monthly sponsorships make sense for special cases, and there is a line in the cover letter asking that potential sponsors who want to do something unusual contact Richard directly.
We’ll look forward to hearing how the liquor sponsors you’re talking with would like to support the event.
The Art Walk already has a Treasurer — me. ; ) And stay tuned to this channel for the three year projected budget, which will be posted online shortly before our next Board meeting.
best regards, Kim
*emails removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:03:23 -0700
Local: Tues, Sep 22 2009 11:03 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Sponsor package PDF for your feedback
A finance committee is a wonderful idea, and I agree that [redacted] would be a great leader, if he’s game.
Right now things are simple (expenditures have been essentially for the maps and website expenses), but as we get a larger pool of sponsor income to draw on, and have to allocate funds to all the items on our budget (essentials and wish lists), it will become significantly more complicated. That’s when we’ll need more points of view to ensure we’re making the right decisions.
With regard to sponsorships, specialized tiers are going to be a big part of major funding, but I think most of those special sponsors will be ones we contact rather than ones that come to us. Right now we are hearing mainly from would-be vendors, retail establishments, and companies that want to do giveaways, and I want them to understand immediately the costs and benefits of becoming a sponsor. These small donors will provide the funds we need to function, as we gear up for major sponsors and all the potential their support provides.
Kim
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:41:07 -0700
Local: Tues, Sep 22 2009 2:41 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Sponsor package PDF for your feedback
Okay, I think we should hold off on posting the PDF and talk about all this in the board meeting.
I think that we should have some of these tiers available in print or on the
web–$500 retail/annual is well understood and grandfathered from past
years. The food trucks, a new tier, we’d like to start soliciting because
they are all coming to Art Walk and we think would be interested in giving
something back. Individual vendors, as above.
Maybe people should just have to email us for a sponsor package? The time
spent giving every small sponsor personalized attention needs to be offset
by the value in protecting the brand and obtaining larger gifts.
Let’s plan to take some time to talk about this on Oct 1 and figure out what
works.
thanks,
Kim
*end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:13:06 -0700
Local: Wed, Sep 16 2009 11:13 am
Subject: Proposed Art Walk logo
Dear Board,
Richard and [redacted] and I have been brainstorming about a logo that will be distinctly tied to the Historic Core and the Art Walk’s history. One signature image that keeps coming up is the twin rooftop signs of the Rosslyn Hotel at Fifth and Main, which were relit as part of a community project called LUMENS, early in downtown’s renaissance.
See link below for the sign on one of its too-infrequent lit nights, captured by an intrepid photographer. http://www.flickr.com/photos/13015998@N00/2397232394/
And attached is my rather clumsy proposed adaptation of this sign into a logo for the Art Walk. I’ve kept the color scheme and general layout, as well as the slogans “Fire Proof” and “Popular Prices” — which could apply to the Art Walk as well as the hotel.
If this logo idea meets with the board’s approval, I’d like to discuss paying a graphic artist to create a cleaned up version of the logo as a full color drawing and in a black and white version, which we can use for correspondence, merchandise and other branding. The cost should be significantly less than hiring someone to create and release all rights to an original design.
I do not believe there are any trademark issues raised by using this design, as the signs are so old. And a positive side effect would likely be encouraging the building’s new owners, Amerland, to light their sign more often!
And as a side note, here is a work up of an animated Art Walk sign which was proposed by Kim Koga of the Museum of Neon Art some time ago. This wouldn’t work as a main logo, but could be used in a more playful fashion on the web–or if we have a custom don’t walk box built (something Kim could do) this could be a sign in the window of our eventual office space. http://gickr.com/results2/anim_9d18043d-5fbb-4d54-191b-62e954b5fb7c.gif
Looking forward to your feedback,
Kim
*emails removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:45:51 -0700
Local: Wed, Sep 16 2009 6:45 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Proposed Art Walk logo
Hi [redacted],
Thanks for the positive feedback–glad you like it.
Here’s an edit using a more easily read font and with the extra slogans taken out, and also the “Art Walk” street sign image on its own.
Once we have a logo as a vector graphic we can immediately start selling merchandise online through a print-on-demand service like Spreadshirt or Cafepress. To lay in a supply of, say, t-shirts will require an outlay of cash and some work keeping track of inventory, but we can make more money per shirt and benefit from impulse sales.
Kim
*emails removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:25:56 -0700
Local: Thurs, Sep 17 2009 5:25 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Proposed Art Walk logo & sponsorship
See attached 1915 postcard of the Rosslyn with this amazing slogan:
“Meet us in the Heart of Los Angeles – Fifth & Main Streets”
(Hart Brothers were the owners, they played on that with their heart shaped
neon sign).
Kim
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:17:20 -0700
Local: Wed, Sep 23 2009 9:17 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Proposed Art Walk logo
Hmm, we probably don’t want to use another Art Walk’s graphic identity, so I’d be less keen on this one–even though they are just once a year, and across the country. Good find!
Kim
*end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:15:48 -0700
Local: Mon, Sep 28 2009 11:15 am
Subject: Projected 3-year Budget file update
Hi all,
Richard earlier sent a link to the three year projected budget which was stored at the Art Walk gmail account, but this should be stored in the google group’s account, with other board-related documents. We’ve moved these files accordingly.
Please visit the Files page of our group at the link below, where you will find three excel files, one for the next three budget years. http://groups.google.com/group/dtlaaw/files?hl=en
These are projected budgets, and your feedback is welcome. Please make notes of any thoughts you have, and bring them to the board meeting, where we will be discussing the budget as a group.
If you have any problems with the XLS format, reply via email and we can upload a PDF instead.
thanks, Kim
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:40:11 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Sep 29 2009 1:40 pm
Subject: Spring Arcade Building & Art Walk
Dear Board:
A great meeting yesterday with Greg & Roberto of the Spring Arcade Building and the curator Kelley Francis, who has been bringing performers into the space at my request. Based on how well things went last month, they are delighted with our interest in continuing to program their space and using it as a rendezvous/locus point for the Art Walk.
They also own the parking lot just to the north of the building and they have been getting a lot of requests from DJs to use it for a performance space. This is of no interest to them, and I am glad to report that they told us they are simply going to refer inquiries about the parking lot to the Art Walk directly–with the understanding that we understand what an appropriate use of this exterior space next to the arcade would be.
With the endorsement by Greg & Roberto for our continued use of the
Spring Arcade space, their interest in activating the adjacent parking
lot with “low impact” programming, and their sending interested
parties who ask about using the parking lot to us, it seems time to
consider that parking lot as a third temporary “living museum” space,
after the Arcade and Clifton’s Cafeteria. We can discuss the
possibilities more at the board meeting.
I remain,
Richard
*end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:14:05 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Sep 29 2009 10:14 pm
Subject: Carson Daly to film show @ Art Walk
Dear Board:
contacted by some producers @ NBC today. They are going to film the show at Art Walk. Very light crew, very fast. Probably will film in the Paseo of the Arcade Building. Not sure how the show looks because I don’t watch TV, but the producers assured me they are breaking all the rules with this show now. Want to use the Art Walk as backdrop for the episode and mention the event often in the scenes.
Will keep you all posted.
Richard
*end of email thread*
November 2009
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 13:13:42 -0800
Local: Tues, Nov 3 2009 2:13 pm
Subject: Seeking clarification re: Cadillac/Children’s Hospital at the Art Walk
Dear board,
I am writing to seek an open discussion of the situation with the proposed Cadillac sponsorship of Art Walk, in conjunction with Children’s Hospital.
It was Richard’s and my hope that we could come to some clarity about this situation, which is very confusing, and share it with you all in a single document. However, Richard has just been told by [redacted] that [redacted] has been receiving communication regarding this issue — communication which [redacted] chose not to share freely with Richard.
A short explanation: [redacted], who identified himself as being from Cadillac’s Ambassador Program contacted us in late September expressing interest in sponsoring Art Walk, and we passed him along to [redacted]. [Redacted] made promises regarding placement of Cadillacs at this Art Walk, which we were unable to meet, and said he had then told Cadillac that Art Walk was not interested. Recently, we were contacted by someone at Children’s Hospital, at Bert Green’s suggestion and with a long email thread [September 30-October 21] between them and Bert, asking that the Art Walk provide significant event production support for their November 12 event with Cadillac at the Art Walk. We replied that we were not able to do this, and advising them of the parameters for sponsorship of the event; there was no reply. After a week, Richard followed up with [redacted], who told Richard that everything was fine because he was working with Russell and Bert to put on a good show for the executive from Cadillac who was coming out to see the event, and that there was a lot of sponsorship money on the table. Completely aghast, Richard simply took notes and a few minutes later made a follow up call requesting contact info for [redacted] and the visiting Cadillac executive; there has been no reply.
After several days, Richard called Children’s Hospital and Cadillac Ambassador Program to inquire. Both corporate entities said they knew nothing about the proposed event, would look into it and get back to us. We are waiting for their replies.
While sometimes a board member might need to engage in Art Walk related
discussions without the participation or knowledge of their peers, I do not
believe it is appropriate for a board member to withhold information that
directly impacts our work for the Art Walk.
[Redacted], please let us know if you are willing to provide information about
who you have spoken to and what has been said regarding the
Cadillac/Children’s Hospital presence at the Art Walk on November 12?
I also feel compelled to say that if [redacted] had informed us of [redacted]‘s resignation when it happened, we would have been better able to follow up on and manage this sponsorship issue with Cadillac.
Richard and I have extensive notes on our communication with representatives of Children’s Hospital and Cadillac, plus emails, which we are happy to post to the board group files section for your reference if requested.
It is not my wish to have Art Walk business spill over into creating conflict on this board. If the people involved in the event would simply be forthcoming, we would not have this issue to deal with. Sponsorship is not rocket science, but when it’s not handled in a straight forward fashion, it is confounding, and a time sink we would like to plug and move on from.
Kim
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:24:00 -0800
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Seeking clarification re: Cadillac/Children’s Hospital at the Art Walk
[Redacted],
I apologize for any perceived hostility, and will look forward to hearing
who has been calling you about what Richard and I consider to be reasonable
inquiries with two corporate entities that contacted us seeking to form a
business relationship, but failed to respond when asked to provide essential
information or to follow our set procedures for building such a
relationship. If nothing peculiar is going on, why is there such blow back
from these inquiries?
Yes, we are all volunteers, and please know that your service is appreciated. It’s unfortunate that so many working hours have been spent dealing with fallout from this Cadillac situation. Thank you for your efforts in untangling the issues, which may combined with ours reveal what is actually going on. I really hope so.
best regards,
Kim
*email removed*
*end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 15:33:42 -0800
Local: Tues, Nov 3 2009 4:33 pm
Subject: Gallery owner outreach
Dear board,
Per [redacted]‘s request for documentation of our outreach to the Gallery Owners, please see below the three email updates that we have sent to the reconstituted list of active downtown gallerists whose spaces are included on the Art Walk map and website. I have also attached a screen grab of the discussion page of the Google group, with appropriate date stamps. We started with about 40 individuals on the list, and we have added a couple of new gallerists as they have contacted us asking to be listed.
There are also numerous older emails to galleries that went out to the Yahoo
group that Bert shut down, which we do have a record of, but which are
harder to access.
I am happy to report that this month, when I was very explicit in pointing
out that I can’t promote galleries that don’t send information about their
shows, we received four press releases by my deadline (which I always
stretch in the hopes that more info will be forthcoming), three more than
last month. These four galleries are included in the monthly press release
now circulating, and which you can see at the link below.
http://explosivepr.com/artwalknov09
best regards,
Kim
**
#1) Art Walk gmail to Gallery list, Sept 6, 2009 9:43pm
Dear Gallery Owners,
Greetings from the Art Walk, which as most of you know is now a California Public Benefit Corporation overseen by a Board of Directors. We’ve created this email list to provide a channel of communication from the Art Walk to the gallery owners that have
listings on the Art Walk website and map. This is an announcement list only, and will have a low level of activity. If you do hit “reply” that message will come back to the Art Walk, but not go to the list.
Most of your day-to-day contact with the Art Walk will be with myself, my wife Kim Cooper, and Kim’s sister Chinta. Please feel free to email us (downtownartw…@gmail.com) or to call the voicemail line (213-784-2598) if you have any questions or concerns, and one of us will get back to you
shortly.
We are looking forward to all the good work and great strides ahead of us, and to many successful Art Walks that bring new people into your galleries.
We’d like to let you know that in the fall the Art Walk will host a mixer at the Los Angeles Athletic Club for gallery owners, sponsors, elected city officials and the Art Walk management to mingle and talk about our shared interests. Stay tuned to this list for a save the date announcement.
The Art Walk Board wishes to express its respect and appreciation to the pioneering gallerists who have turned downtown’s Historic Core into a destination for arts and culture, and directly jump-started the economy in the neighborhood. It’s in direct response to the remarkable contributions that you have all made, and continue to make, that thousands of people circle the second Thursday of the month on their calendars and make their way downtown to enjoy your galleries and each other’s company.
In recognition of your great contributions, and in light of the weak economy which has all of us tightening our belts, and also because we are a new group without an established track record, the Art Walk Board has voted to suspend billing for this quarter for all downtown galleries. We will continue to list your space on the Art Walk map and website, but will not be asking you to pay your annual gallery sponsorship fees at this time.Technically, last year’s paid sponsorships ended on July 1, so you’ve already had a couple of months of suspended billing, and this will continue until we have had a chance to show all of you, through documentation and improved programs, how hard we are working to make the Art Walk better for all of you and for its visitors.
Thanks for all you do for Downtown L.A. The Art Walk couldn’t exist without you.
Best regards,
Richard Schave
Director
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
#2) Art Walk gmail to Gallery list, September 30, 2009 8:33am
Dear Gallery Owners,
It’s just over a week until the next Art Walk, and we’re preparing the map for circulation. Please let us know ASAP about any changes at your space that would effect the map layout. Such changes might include: not being open during this Art Walk or closing before 7:00 pm.
Today is the last day to submit your press releases for possible mention in general Art Walk publicity, sent via email please to downtownartwalk(at)gmail(dot)com.
Each of you has a gallery page at the Downtown Art Walk website, which you
can log into and update with images and information for your current exhibition. Please help us to keep these pages up to date, so that potential visitors know what they can find at your galleries, how to contact you and when they should visit. If you have any trouble logging in, just hit “reply” or email us at downtownartwalk(at)gmail (dot)com with your gallery and user name, and we can reset your password.
Looking forward to seeing many of you next Thursday, and to a great first Art Walk of the Fall season!
best regards,
Kim
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
#3) Art Walk gmail to Gallery list, October 28, 2009, 11:59am
Dear Gallery Owners,
With two weeks until the next Art Walk, we’d like to remind you to let us know ASAP about any changes at your space that would effect the map layout. Such changes might include: not being open during this Art Walk or closing before 7:00 pm.
If you are interested in having your exhibitions mentioned in general Art Walk publicity, be sure to send your press release via email to downtownartw…@gmail.com by the end of the month. We haven’t been receiving many gallery press releases, and it makes it difficult to promote your activities if we don’t know what you have planned, so please try to send us something whenever you change shows.
Each of you has a gallery page at the Downtown Art Walk website, which you can log into and update with images and information about your current exhibition. There is now a box on the edit screen of your gallery page that you can check if your update is something substantial that you would like to see pushed out over the Art Walk’s Twitter feed (1562 followers), which also appears on the front page of the redesigned Art Walk website. Just click the Twitter box for anything substantial, like an exhibition announcement or new photos, but not for something slight, like a changed contact number.
We ask that you help us to keep your gallery pages up to date, so that potential visitors (and we get thousands on the day of Art Walk alone) know what they can find at your galleries, how to contact you and when they should visit. If you have any trouble logging in, just hit “reply” or email us at downtownartw…@gmail.com with your gallery and user name, and we can reset your password.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns, and we’ll do our best to assist.
best regards,
Kim
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk
*email removed*
* end of email thread*
From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 06:27:17 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Nov 4 2009 7:27 am
Subject: 213 meeting
Dear Board,
I am happy to report that Kim and I had a wonderful meeting with Joan McCraw of 213 Ventures (bars and restaurants including our sponsor Cole’s, plus 7 Grand, Broadway Bar, Golden Gopher, etc.). We were exploring how 213 could become more involved with Art Walk promotions, either through additional venues becoming sponsors, or by donating space for official Art Walk programming.
Joan has graciously offered us the use of their brand new back room theatre in Casey’s Bar (6th & Grand) for our proposed local history lecture series.
Some URLs:
http://www.bigcaseys.com/
http://www.213downtown.la/
We can generally use this space from 8pm to 9.30pm, which gives us a venue to continue our programming in after Clifton’s shuts at 7:30pm. It is a great space with a lot of historic resonance, and helps to make a bridge from the Art Walk deeper into western downtown, which we believe will make the whole event more accessible to people who are intimidated by the Historic Core.
We are in the midst of securing the lecturer for the December Art Walk, and will have a schedule of several upcoming lectures shortly.
Casey’s will also feature a special discounted bar and dinner menu for lecture guests, and will be feeding the lecturer. And 213 will be promoting this event through their 10,000 person email list and through fliers. It is a good match, and I am excited to have found such a nice home for the history lectures.
I remain,
Richard
* end of email thread*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:10:46 -0800
Local: Wed, Nov 4 2009 1:10 am
Subject: Lack of communication from Russell
Dear board,
With regards to tomorrow’s meeting called by Russell, please note:
On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 11:45 AM – Richard emailed Russell asking who else had RSVPd for the meeting – there has been no reply
On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 11:15 AM – Richard emailed Russell again asking who had RSVPd, and for an agenda – there has been no reply
It is not clear at this point if anyone from LAPD or Tom Gilmore’s office will be attending the meeting. However, as we are in regular contact with both entities, not meeting with them is not of any great concern. But one wonders about the efficacy of a community-wide meeting that is not widely attended, and about the lack of a response.
Kim
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 02:44:33 -0800
Local: Wed, Nov 4 2009 3:44 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Lack of communication from Russell
No it was not, it was follow up to Richard’s RSVP of 10/30, which was followed by David’s via Richard, seeking an attendee list and an agenda.
Kim
*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 03:02:12 -0800
Local: Wed, Nov 4 2009 4:02 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Lack of communication from Russell
Yes, and provided the address when asked (within 3 minutes), he’s just not answering questions about agenda or attendance now.
Kim
*end of email thread*
