On November 9, 2009, founding Director Richard Schave resigned from the board after being informed by board member David Hernand that the board was was rejecting his leadership, but wanted Schave and his wife Kim Cooper to continue volunteering to manage the event. Shortly thereafter, the policy document was removed from the Art Walk website, and to date no replacement document has been posted. Also removed from the website by January 14, 2010 was the event’s core mission statement, which is the first paragraph of the larger document linked above.

For background, see also: Richard Schave’s August 1, 2009 Director’s Report to the board, about his work done prior to incorporation of the non-profit.

Notwithstanding the ethical issues surrounding a board member for a charitable entity posting attacks on past volunteers on the internet, Mr. Green’s blog post contains numerous falsehoods and personal and professional attacks on the people to whom he handed off management of the Art Walk in early 2009, then spent much of the rest of the year undermining and sabotaging.

These documents represent an accurate, day-by-day picture of the volunteer work of running the Art Walk, with good and careful work done for the community being slimed and degraded by the rising tide of manufactured problems that were repeatedly claimed by DLANC President/BID Director Russell Brown. Mr. Brown has since confessed in videotaped testimony at his own Grievance Hearing that he was working with Bert Green from June 2009 to keep the Art Walk non-profit from functioning, which explains his false claims that Art Walk did not produce maps, answer the phone, reply to emails, etc.

In November 2009, worn down by the abuse from these respected Downtown community members, Richard Schave and Kim Cooper stepped down from the Art Walk non-profit, believing they could do more good off the board than on it. Since then, there have been numerous attempts by Bert Green and Russell Brown to rewrite the history of the last year in the Art Walk’s development, and to do damage control as information comes out about how poorly they behaved.

To counter these attempts at historic revisionism, Richard Schave and Kim Cooper are publishing this true narrative of their time at the helm of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, during which time they put it into a California Public Benefit Corporation, created a proper “making the case” document for the goals and objectives of the entity (which was removed from the Art Walk website in late 2009), developed successful walking tour and curated performance programs, placed the non-profit’s website at the top of Google searches for Art Walk worldwide and built a network of dozens of volunteers, among many other accomplishments. This time of creativity and connection ended in their resignations from the very entity which they had brought into being.

These chronological documents serve to counter current Art Walk board member Bert Green’s numerous falsehoods, including his claims that gallery owners were excluded from decision making (to further this lie, in August 2009 Bert Green with no notice deleted a community Yahoo group containing years of gallery owner discussions and all record of Art Walk non-profit outreach to date), that no budget was produced (a three-year budget was, in fact, a condition of the application for 501c3 status), that there was a lack of concern for public safety, and most importantly, that Richard Schave was an indifferent and inept non-profit Director. In truth, he did an extraordinary job under truly horrible conditions, and has much to be proud of during his tenure. Richard’s main failing was that he believed then, and continues to believe, that non-profits exist to effect social change, and not –as Ed Fuentes of Blogdowntown recently suggested– to maintain the status quo.

Looking back on this narrative in light of Russell Brown’s admission of sabotage during his DLANC grievance hearing has deepened the ironic tension: there was never a hope that Richard Schave and Kim Cooper could get any work done, as the individual who gave them the project, Bert Green, along with his close associate Russell Brown, decided to foil them before they even began, souring their work with the community and the Art Walk board, spinning the lies that Bert Green continues to tell to this day.

And yet from mid-June through early November 2009, the Art Walk team brought dozens of people together and accomplished some wonderful things. The Art Walk remains an extraordinary part of life in Los Angeles, and a great opportunity for transforming the urban core. Richard and Kim hope that by publishing these documents, some of the ideas and concerns that they developed in service of the Art Walk will be of use to the event’s current and future stewards. They have been waiting hopefully since November 2009 to see many of these ideas–developed in collaboration with the Art Walk board and meant to improve the Art Walk for the community–be put into practice. If the Art Walk no longer wishes to act upon them, perhaps some other community group or entity will take them up.

In November 2009, two people who believed in a cause stepped away from something they loved and had created, because they believed they could do more good off the Art Walk board than on it. Since that time, Downtown Los Angeles has learned the truth about the dysfunctional system of croneyism, intimidation and obfuscation that has poisoned the public and private discourse of the arts community and the Neighborhood Council, DLANC. This all came about because of the questions Richard and Kim asked, and continue to ask, standing up to character assassination and threats of physical violence. Indeed, they have done more good off the board than on. As for Bert Green: what good is he doing by continuing to lie about people who gave up nearly a year of their life to volunteer for the Downtown community? That is a question only he, and his colleagues on the Art Walk Board, can answer.

Supporting documents:
http://stepdownrussbrown.wordpress.com
http://vimeo.com/10883053

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*

richardschave <schavester@gmail.com>
Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

Dear Gallery Owners:

Please send us short descriptions of your exhibitions on view during this upcoming Art Walk, as we will be sending out an announcement next week through all of our channels (mailing lists, twitter, facebook). Please include gallery hours, a URL for the gallery, and a brief description of the show (50 words maximum). Send this as an email in plain text, no images or HTML.

Please send to downtownartwalk [AT] gmail.com rather then simply replying to this note.

Thanks,

Downtown LA Art Walk

*email removed*
*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 12:33:32 -0700
Local: Fri, Jul 3 2009 12:33 pm
Subject: Fwd: [LADTgalleries] summer artwalk publicity

Dear colleagues,

Please see the below email that went out to the gallery email list from Bill 
at Todd/Browning, and which I responded to.

Richard and I have our doubts about the efficacy of the advertising that 
Bert was doing in the art trade magazines. Everyone complains that serious 
buyers don’t come to the Art Walk, so continuing to throw money (that we 
don’t presently have) into print ads that have failed to perform does not 
seem like the best use of funds. But this is something we can discuss at 
future board meetings. Possibly the art trades are not the ideal market to 
attract local buyers, but I do not know if we would do better in any print 
magazines. Possibly design and home magazines, but in the current state of 
print media, who knows?

Bill also brings up the issue of publicity for the event. I maintain an 
email media list for my own promotional activities, which works out pretty 
well for Esotouric, and I am happy to begin promoting the whole of Art Walk 
through that channel, as I have in the past promoted the Hippodrome shuttle 
programming. However, this is very bare bones promotion, and will not be 
likely to bring in a great deal of new coverage of a monthly event that 
lacks a unique story hook.

[Redacted], I know that you have expressed interest in bringing your friend [redacted]in to unleash her formidable publicist’s muscle upon the Art Walk. Is 
this something that we can move forward with, soon or down the line, or 
should we seek other pro bono publicity assistance?

I do think that we should make publicity a priority in the coming months, 
with the aim to reach a new and better audience. The young kids who dig the 
street scene are not having any trouble learning about the Art Walk, but if 
we can find new ways of reaching older folks who want to buy art, everyone 
will be happier.

Kim
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: [LADTgalleries] summer artwalk publicity
To: LADTgaller…@yahoogroups.com

Dear Bill,

Please be patient. Due to the transition to a public benefit corporation, 
the Art Walk is currently is running on financial fumes, with no cash on 
hand for advertising. Rest assured that there will be publicity and outreach 
campaigns through the summer to bring new visitors to the Art Walk.

best regards,

Kim Cooper

Downtown LA Art Walk

*email removed*

Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:51:28 -0700
Local: Fri, Jul 3 2009 1:51 pm
Subject: Fwd: [LADTgalleries] summer artwalk publicity

Follow up from Bill at Todd/Browning. I asked him to please bring these 
ideas to the gallery owners’ meeting.
Actually, the numbers I’ve seen for hotel visitors are dismal, and I think 
that we’re better off targeting staycationers around LA. But doing something 
to reach out to local concierges can’t hurt!

Kim

*email removed*
*end of email thread*

[LADTgalleries] Downtown Art Walk Map?

*sender name removed*
Sun, Jul 5, 2009 at 8:25 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

*Thread was started by gallery owner asking for location of the map on the Art Walk website. Numerous emails removed, responses from Art Walk volunteers are below.*
*
downtownartwalk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com> Sun, Jul 5, 2009 at 11:02 PM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

Dear gallery owners,

The new map is now online at the downtownartwalk.com website at the MAP link, and can be printed as needed. It is in PDF format, and a direct URL for download is

http://artWalkMapJuly2009.notlong.com

Please let us know if there are any additions or corrections and we will update accordingly. 

Thanks for your patience.

Richard

*various people on the list respond with questions about download problems, and pointing out errors on the map*

downtownartwalk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com>
Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 8:04 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

Bert,

Thanks very much for the quick feedback. Somehow I lost a layer of numbers in the transition to PDF, but I am restoring them right now, and making the changes you point out. The galleries with early closing times are noted at the right in the numbered gallery list, after the address. We’ll find a way to make this obvious.

Will post again to the list when the map is fixed, sorry for any inconvenience.

Richard
*
downtownartwalk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com>
Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

Hi all,

The corrections were made and the updated map is up on the Art Walk website at the MAP link.

Please disregard the previous direct link for the map, which is no longer accurate. The correct link for directly downloading the map is

http://dtlaartwalkmapjuly2009.notlong.com/

Please let us know if there are any corrections or updates.

Richard

*emails removed*

Kim Cooper <amscray@gmail.com>
Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 6:33 PM
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

Nic, Russell, are you trying to download the map on a computer, or on a handheld device? It’s a PDF of about 1 MB, designed to be opened on a computer, so it may simply be too big for the system you’re using. If you are using a computer to download and it’s still not working, please describe your operating system and what is happening.

Kim

*emails removed*
*discussion continues in a new thread*

downtownartwalk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com> Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

The corrected map will be online in a few minutes in both a PDF download and a page that people can look at and print straight from their screen. 

Please don’t print out the map until my next email goes out with notice that the updates have been incorporated. 

Thanks for your patience, 

Richard
*
downtownartwalk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com>
Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

The corrected map is now online. 

Richard

*email removed*

Art Walk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com>
Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

Hi Nic, 

Even if you can’t download the PDF, the JPEG should work. So, don’t worry, people are going to be able to access the map. 

We will get some mention of Gallery Row on to the next edit and when the font is available for circulation please let me know.

Thanks, 

Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:07:38 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Jul 10 2009 10:07 am
Subject: Art Walk Was Great

Dear Board Members:

a great turn out and a great night.  I have never seen it so crowded, 
and it was a distributed crowd, not the usual bottleneck @ 5th & Main.

Kim spoke w/ Shane and he quoted 2,500 in his gallery by 9pm.

The new walking tours were an overwhelming success.  Had 4 tours, each 
with 35-40 people in them.  I took 50 in my first group.

We could easily have 8 tours a night, the response is incredible.  The 
online signups had 50 people or more for each tour Weds. night.  We 
could with some work (and we have the infrastructure to do the work) 
have 12-14 tours a night, which would mean about 700 people taking a 
tour.  That is nearly ten percent of the audience attending the Art 
Walk.

I wish all a good weekend.

Thanks for the great board meeting Weds. night as well.

I remain,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:34:01 -0700
Local: Tues, Jul 14 2009 9:34 am
Subject: Walking tours

Check out video snippets of Richard’s and Mike the Poet’s Art Walk walking 
tours at the link below:

http://www.downtownartwalk.com/artwalks-8-13-09

Joan Renner, walking tour coordinator, is canvassing the LA tour guide 
community to find additional guides to handle the great interest in these 
tours. Next month we’d like to cap attendance at 30-35 people (it was set at 
50 on Thursday, as we mistakenly thought not everone would show up), and 
have tours leave more often. But we’ve found that once the guides are out in 
the streets telling stories, their audience grows uncontrollably. We may 
need to invest in mini-megaphones down the road.

Kim

*end of email thread*

From: “Shane Guffogg” <sh…@shaneguffogg.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:12:36 -0700
Local: Tues, Jul 14 2009 3:12 pm
Subject: [LADTgalleries] Fw: programmer secured

*text redacted*
> Shane:
> please relate that Prof. Sun has assigned the development of the new 
> Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk website, improving user interface and  also 
> the development of a smart phone application as an accompanying  open 
> source module, to Kevin Diep, who is taking his master degree in  Computer 
> Science at CalstateLA.  This work falls under a graduate  level design 
> workshop which lasts six months.
> Yea.
> richard
*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: 16 Jul 2009 2:16pm
Subject:  Gallery Owners & Other Updates

Dear Board Members:

The gallery owner’s meeting on Tuesday was cancelled.  Shane will keep 
us abreast of when it will be rescheduled and report back on the 
discussions.

Chinta is putting the results of the survey into a single document. 
12 gallerists responded out of 39.  That soon.
We have a web programmer, Kevin.  He is a graduate student at 
CalstateLA and the theming of the site, a number of upgrades to user 
interface, and an iPhone app, are a graded seminar he is taking under 
my old Computer Science professor.  This is a good thing and long 
overdue.

I have a designer for the logo.  [Redacted].  A friend of [redacted] 
who has put a number of [redacted]‘s catalogs together.  A good guy.  He 
will advise on the website and the map.  He would like to meet all of 
us at our next meeting, and leave as soon as we are done talking with 
him.  I think this is a good idea.
On the subject of the map, I have been long a long road to find a 
designer, and to no avail.  I have also completely rebuilt the map, 
see it on the web site.  I feel that with [redacted]‘s logo and “look & 
feel” input, that I can produce a map which is very strong.  I will 
also start to think about proper maps, like a AAA map, which are 
larger, with more information and designed for a long walk through the 
neighborhood on the day of the event.

The Case Statement, the 4 page document which is the guiding light of 
the organization, will be done this week, and I’ll post it for review.

That’s all for now,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 17 2009, 12:01 pm
Subject:  Core Goals & Beliefs DTLAAW

Dear Board Members:

what follows is an attempt to create a short description of core goals 
& beliefs.  It is possible that some later iteration of this document 
become a public document.  I look forward to getting to the point 
where we can make that decision.

Your feedback is important.

The document follows as merely plain text in the body of this email.

I remain,
Richard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

3.2 Infrastructure
To encourage the creation of Positive Public Space, the Art Walk 
management has a number of specific objectives as it enters its first 
year as a California Piblic Benefit Corporation.

3.2.1 Transportation
1. Add a second bus to the existing Main/Spring shuttle route. 
2. Add one bus to a new shuttle route connecting Pershing Square to 
Main and Spring Streets via 5th & 6th Streets

3.2.2 Cultural Programming
1. Program one or more official Art Walk Lecture Series 
2. Develop a program of free walking tours

3.2.3 Public Services
1. Obtain an allocation of more frequent visits from BID Cleaning 
Crews 
2. Invite groups promoting urban Tree Planting to bring their services 
to within the Art Walk borders

3.3
Helping Art Galleries Succeed

1. Activate the streets, drawing visitors to less trafficked portions 
of the Art Walk 
2. Create a pool of shared promotional resources 
3. Help make temporary spaces available for special programming 
outside the regular gallery spaces 
4. Help steer crowds away from galleries that prefer not to be at the 
center of the Art Walk’s energies

3.4 Distribute crowds

1. Work to remove the bottle neck at 5th & Main through promotion of 
alternative areas to gather

2. Make Pershing Square a gathering place and recommended transit hub, 
thus drawing crowd energy to the west

3.5 Art Walk Website and Other Web Development

1. Create a Wiki Travel page promoting the Art Walk 
2. Develop an interactive Smart Phone Application that will provide 
real-time proximity search, telling users what resources and friends 
they are near 
3. Develop a Geo-cache treasure hunt game to encourage exploration of 
the entire Art Walk 4. Focus on the enhanced Functionality of the Art 
Walk Website for visitors, cultural programmers, art galleries and 
downtown businesses

3.6 Maps
1. Provide a downloadable PDF map on the Art Walk website 
2. Create and publish a folded Art Walk map that will be widely 
distributed in the Historic Core and elsewhere in Los Angeles
*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:45:54 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Jul 31 2009 3:45 pm
Subject: Re: Core Goals & Beliefs DTLAAW

Dear Board members,

Richard is out the door, but in response to [redacted]‘s email, asks that 
you please note we are still waiting for the Board to comment on and 
approve the document below. We can’t transparently share our goals 
with galleries etc until we agree what these goals are. We look 
forward to discussion online and at the next board meeting.

With regards to Russell, would a group like to go with Richard to 
speak with him? Please reply if you would be interested. We think this 
would go better than a one-on-one meeting.

Re: unanswered phone calls, this is totally baffling. Our Google voice 
number transcribes and emails every phone call logged. We have tested 
it, and it seems to be working. If someone says they are leaving 
messages and we are not getting them, please have them explain further 
or follow up with an email. This should not be happening, we do not 
believe it is happening, but if it is we want to fix it!

thanks,

Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:18:35 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Jul 17 2009 12:18 pm
Subject: Vendors @ the Art Walk

Dear Board Members:

I was just contacted by a vendor who has purchased space at the 
Downtown Art Park for the last 3 Art Walks.

http://downtownartpark.com/

He came to me as a representative of several vendors who are all very 
frustrated by the organizational structure of the event.  They would 
like to see it better organized for the vendors, for it to provide 
them with a better experience.
He asked me if the Downtown LA Art Walk was going to support an 
official vendor venue.  I simply listened.  He suggested an individual 
who had expressed an interest in managing such a venue.  I simply took 
the name. He expressed to me his feelings that he would prefer to be 
in an official space, and that his colleagues agree. The experience he 
describes includes paid vendors simply leaving in frustration due to 
disorganization.

We touched on this subject at the last (and first) meeting.  If we 
don’t have an official policy on vendors, then we don’t have to 
concern ourselves with a sanctioned venue for them.  If we do move to 
have such an officially sanctioned venue, we should think about some 
criteria and guidelines. However, spending the time to create such a 
policy without simultaneously seeking out a venue and someone to run 
it seems a poor use of time.

I don’t know the answer to this question:  should the DTLLAW seek out 
an officially sanctioned space?  But I do feel quite strongly that 
whatever the answer, it should not take up a lot of our time to arrive 
at it.

I will simply close, as I have said before, that we receive many 
inquiries about vendor space, disproportionately more than any other 
subject.

Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:08:12 -0700
Local: Tues, Jul 21 2009 8:08 am
Subject: Crowdsourced donations

Dear board members,
I wanted to pull your sleeve to a new website that I believe could be of 
service to the Art Walk.

Kickstarter – http://www.kickstarter.com/

The website, currently invite-only but soon to go live to the public, 
provides anyone with a project that needs funding with a way of asking fans 
of the yet unrealized project for small or large donations to reach specific 
goals. If the goals are not met by pledged donations, no one pays.

Here is a link to a blog post from their CTO, which gives a nice 
introduction, with links to interesting active projects, to the site:

http://waxy.org/2009/07/joining_kickstarter/

Small, easily realized Art Walk projects that could benefit from 
crowdfunding might include:

1) a second shuttle for the Main/Spring route for one specific month 
2) a 5th/6th Street shuttle for one specific month 
3) honoraria for the walking tour guides for one specific month 
4) sponsor a lecture or concert during Art Walk, with donors guaranteed 
seating 
5) ???

I’d be curious about your thoughts on perhaps using this as an alternate way 
of funding some Art Walk programming, and making Art Walk fans more invested 
in the process. Since the things they care most about are the ones that will 
reach their goals, it would let folks vote with their pocketbooks.

best, 
Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:06:05 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Jul 21 2009 5:06 pm
Subject: reaching out to the media

Dear Board Members:

Kim has been reaching out to her press contacts seeking coverage on 
the changes happening at the Art Walk. I am pleased to report that LA 
Observed (the widely read website of Kevin Roderick, the KCRW reporter 
who did the story on Art Walk last month) is interested in featuring a 
story on the newly formed DTLAAW, and so is the Downtown News.

LA Observed columnist Adrienne Crew would like to do an email Q&A with 
our board members in the next few weeks.  Anna Scott from the Downtown 
News would like to talk with some of you for a feature article soon.

Please let me know if you want any of these reporters contacting you, 
and which email or phone number to use.

Thanks,
Richard

*end of email thread*

[LADTgalleries] video tutorial for updating gallery page on art walk web site posted

downtownartwalk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com>
Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

Dear Gallery Owners:

Here is the link for a short video on how to update your gallery pages on the art walk website:

http://www.screencast.com/t/SMxGIIXHw3

If you are having problems with your page, I hope this clears them up.

Any other questions just email us directly.

Thanks,

Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:07:23 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Jul 23 2009 12:07 pm
Subject: Street Life & Art Walk

Dear Board members,

Yesterday, [redacted], Chinta, Kim and I met Officer Deon Joseph, 
the LAPD Senior Lead Officer representing the area covered by Art 
Walk.  We are going to make a habit of having a cup of tea with 
Officer Joseph every month to hear his concerns and thoughts on the 
Art Walk.

Officer Joseph’s best estimates of crowds in the vicinity of 5th & 
Main at the July Art Walk were 10,000.  That figure is crucial to keep 
in mind while musing on the subject of this email:  Art Walk & Street 
Life.  If this number is correct‚Äîand it could be an underestimation 
– it represents a jump in magnitude from any previous Art Walk.  This 
is not business as usual, and as we continue towards two more 
summertime 2009 Art Walks, we have a whole new set of challenges. Some 
of those challenges have been anticipated–the very reason for the 
creation of our board, but they are right here and right now not a few 
months off.

Based on increased rowdiness at the July Art Walk, Officer Joseph 
plans to bring more police presence back to the event as a deterrent. 
He is going to increase foot patrols and the presence of squad cars on 
Main & Spring, and will be putting uniformed officers on the 
Hippodrome shuttle.

We also discussed how we could move forward with our curated acoustic 
street musician program without the police shutting performers down. 
We found a good strategy for exploring a pilot program on Spring and 
along 6th Street, on parts of the sidewalk that are privately owned, 
with the permission of business owners.

The issue of the vendor park near 5th & Main, which is run by George 
of Citizen LA, came up at the end of our meeting. I took the 
opportunity to call George and again ask him for some information 
about the venue. There have been multiple requests from [redacted] and I 
for the basics of the operation — most importantly how long the 
parking lot, which we have always known is slated to become a 
construction staging zone, will be available as a venue — which 
George has refused to answer.  Once Officer Joseph’s name was 
mentioned, George immediately answered that the parking lot’s 
availability would end very soon, perhaps before the September Art 
Walk.

The news of the vendor park ceasing to exist so soon had a marked 
impact on Officer Joseph.  He expressed grave concern about where the 
vendors would go, and how he would handle the situation.  His concerns 
cover several areas: is there another vendor area being secured, and 
if so where? What is being done to convey to vendors that the current 
venue is going to become unavailable? What can he expect if vendors 
try to set up in a lot filled with construction materials? He was also 
concerned that there might be no other area available to them.  If 
there is no discrete private area for the vendors to be, their 
attempted return to public sidewalks is of grave concern.

I believe that ignoring Officer Joseph’s concerns is at our peril. 
Knowing that the LAPD perceives that a crisis is pending with the 
vendors, and that the entire Art Walk will be impacted by the LAPD’s 
response to this situation, I believe that we should move forward 
seeking an experienced manager to locate and organize a private venue 
for vendors. This manager would, in return for running the sanctioned 
Art Walk vendor park, pay us a monthly sponsorship fee and abide by a 
set of criteria to keep it within the bounds of good taste and high 
quality products. Any sanctioned vendor park should reflect well on 
us.

I seek each of your feedback on this issue, which I believe is too 
important to begin discussing at our next meeting.

Let’s discuss the 
possibilities through email and continue the discussion at our next 
meeting.

I remain,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:29:39 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Jul 23 2009 12:29 pm
Subject: Reaching out to the media

Dear Board members,

I have received a series of questions from Adrienne Crew of LA 
Observed for the website Q&A about the new face of Art Walk.

Adrienne says: “Below are my questions about the Art Walk and your 
vision for it as you grow into your role as manager. Feel free to ask 
other board members to chip in their perspectives. I don’t really have 
a specific question for each member.”

I will be answering many of these questions, and would like your 
voices to be interspersed through this story. So I am asking that any 
of you who is interested in answering one or more questions below for 
publication type up your replies in the following format:

Q: What other changes are in store for the event? 
Sandie Richards: We are excited about this, that and the other thing. 
Etc, etc.

Please email your replies to me by the end of the day on Tuesday. I 
will collate all the responses and send the completed Q&A to Adrienne.

If you have any questions about this Q&A, or want to see my answer for 
a specific question before submitting your comments on it, just email 
me directly.

** 
Here goes:

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?
You speak of Art Walk as becoming a living museum of downtown–can you 
elaborate with concrete examples for manifesting this vision?
What are three (3) things you want Art Walk patrons to get from their 
experience at the event?
What are current attendance rates and what are your attendance 
projections for 2010?
What other changes are in store for the event?
How do your plans support the independent artist who resides downtown 
yet has no gallery representation?
What new things can we expect from Art Walk in the next few months?
How will Art Walk relate to the treatment of homeless people being 
pushed from Skid Row in the name of public safety?
Is Art Walk a form of gentrification?
Any plans for including SRO hotels in the event?
What are your thoughts on themed-nights at the local bars such as 
Cole’s? Any plans for themed-Art Walk events?
What are some of your favorite stops on Art Walk?
How do you plan to get Art Walk patrons to interact more with the 
cityscape?
Who is your favorite LA based artist?
You studied art history, what was your focus and why?
How does being an art historian inform your role as Art Walk’s 
manager?
What do you do as manager?
How do you interact with your board, sponsors and staff?
What is the City of Los Angeles’s role in Art Walk?
How has the economic downturn affected Art Walk’s funding and 
operations?
If you could own any painting or piece of art, what would it be?
Any favorite neon pieces downtown?

Thanks,
Richard

*end of email thread*

[LADTgalleries] Galleries- Art Walk needs your press releases

downtownartwalk <downtownartwalk@gmail.com>

Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Reply-To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com
To: LADTgalleries@yahoogroups.com

Dear Art Walk Galleries, 

Please add us to your press release circulation list. We want to get the same updates you are sending to the local press so we can help get the word out about your openings and special events through the art walk channels. 

Thanks,

Downtown LA Art Walk

*email removed*
*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:31:42 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Jul 24 2009 6:31 am
Subject: gallery survey results

Dear Board Members:

The gallery owner’s survey results are up.

You can find them in the files section of our group site:

http://groups.google.com/group/dtlaaw/files

Or here is a very long URL to follow to the PDF itself:

http://dtlaaw.googlegroups.com/web/Gallery%20Survey%20Results.pdf?gda…

I look forward to your feedback.

I remain,
Richard
*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:48:04 -0700
Local: Fri, Jul 24 2009 7:48 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] gallery survey results

Please note, as will be obvious when you read it, that this document is 
confidential. Folks are letting off some steam, and it is best if these 
remarks do not circulate beyond this discussion.

Note too that the poll went online on June 30 and most responses are several 
weeks old. We have been addressing concerns about the website and map since 
that time.

Finally, it was a struggle to get this small percentage of the galleries to 
respond. (I reminded Gary Leonard, who is a friend and whose feedback as a 
lower Broadway gallery would be a meaningful addition, about the survey a 
couple of times, but he never logged in.)

There are about 40 galleries participating in the Art Walk, and 14 
gallerists or space managers responded. Of the 14, Niche.LA is no longer 
participating in the Art Walk. So please see this for what it is: a small 
slice of opinion from the small segment of the Art Walk galleries and public 
spaces that cared to give feedback. We can learn from it, to be sure, but a 
more reliable survey will require in-person visits.

Kim
*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:05:16 -0700
Local: Fri, Jul 24 2009 9:05 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] gallery survey results

PS Galeria Mijares / Mundo Maya has also closed since filling out the 
survey.

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:30:06 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Jul 28 2009 4:30 pm
Subject: Survey: What’s the best car-free cultural hub?

Dear Board Members:

this just in over the transom from Flavorpill:

http://flavorpill.com/losangeles/issues/current

Survey: What’s the best car-free cultural hub?

One of the choices:  Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk!

Awaiting the results with abated breath.

I remain,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:27:42 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Jul 31 2009 1:27 pm
Subject: Russell Brown Pulling Plug on HCBID Funding of Art Walk

Dear Board Members:

Below is a disappointing email exchange between myself and Russell 
Brown today.

I don’t quite know how to explain Russell’s response, as it does not 
seem to be a reasonable reflection of the relationship between him as 
a representative of two downtown funding groups and the Art Walk.

Let me explain how funding has been received in the past from the two 
groups that Russell oversees. He is the Executive Director of the 
Historic Core Business Improvement District (HCBID), and is President 
of the Executive Committee of the Downtown Neighborhood Council 
(DLANC).

DLANC has been, and continues to be, the sponsor of the Art Walk 
Shuttle (The Hippodrome).  That is about $6,000 a year paid directly 
by DLANC, and covers the cost of the bus rental. HCBID pays a small 
honorarium for the bus host, and a driver’s tip.

In past years, HCBID has also given the Art Walk $5,000 a year as a 
cash donation.  I don’t quite understand what Russell is saying in his 
email, but it does seem as if he is denying that HCBID would consider 
giving a cash donation again. Also in his email he is somehow 
conflating two issues, the separate DLANC and HCBID contributions.
I have in emails and in public meetings asked Russell if the HCBID’s 
$5,000 contribution will continue this year, and

he has always replied 
in the affirmative.  There was a time in May where Russell suggested 
in a public meeting that he might make the DLANC shuttle funds 
available to the Art Walk directly so we could have a larger bank 
balance, but this did not work out; this may be what he is referencing 
in his email, but again, it is not clear.

Here are some points to be discussed among the Board regarding 
Russell’s email:

1) Do we follow up with a reply to his email with a proper letter from 
the Art Walk board?  If so, to whom? The HCBID board or to Russell 
himself as executive director?

2) What does this mean, and is it something we need to concern 
ourselves with?  Will the HCBID cease supporting the Art Walk?  If we 
choose to ignore Russell’s reply but still move forward to get an 
answer, I am not sure what the next step is.

We have many retail sponsors eager to support the Art Walk, and are 
prepared to raise funds elsewhere. We have and can continue to operate 
on a shoestring if needed.  But I still am at a loss as to what to 
think about Russell’s statements.

There does not have to be any official resolution to this situation, 
but I look to all of you for feedback.

I remain,
Richard
~~~~~~~~~~
Art Walk to Russell 
show details 9:51 AM (1 hour ago) 
Dear Russell:

I am delighted to announce that the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk has 
finally received its incorporation filings back from the Secretary of 
State, and that we now have a bank account.  Could you please let us 
know when we can expect the HCBID’s $5,000 contribution to our annual 
budget?

The check, payable to the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, can be sent 
to PO Box 31227, Los Angeles, CA 90031.
We look forward to all the good work the HCBID’s continued support 
will bring to the Art Walk.

Thanks

Richard

Downtown LA Art Walk

**

J. Russell Brown to me 
show details 10:33 AM (41 minutes ago) 
That is not what we agreed to at all.  What I stated was that it could 
be possible that the expenses that we presently pay, as they come due, 
could be billed from the non profit and you pay the bills.  This was 
never presented as advance billing.

Indeed, with the whole direction that this has taken and the lack of 
communication, the sponsorship thru the foundation may not happen at 
all for the HDBID.

There is also significant discussion of the continued DLANC 
contribution of the ArtWalk bus.

– 
J. Russell Brown 
Executive Director 
Historic Downtown BID 
cell 213-999-0379 
Russ.HD…@gmail.com

*email removed*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:39:14 -0700
Local: Fri, Jul 31 2009 2:39 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Russell Brown Pulling Plug on HCBID Funding of Art Walk

[Redacted],

I appreciate your feedback.

All of the gallery owners, and Russell includes himself in that 
number, received a bullet point list of what has been done so far, 
what is being done now, what the time line is and what is planned for 
the future. I am pasting that document in below FYI. This went out to   
the gallery owners list at the end of June.

As for this continued claim that I am not returning phone calls, this 
is simply not true, and I do not know how to respond to this.

I have asked Russell to tell me what he wants on several occasions,   
and he simply replies with hostility and no answers.

Have a good time with [redacted].
Richard
*
EMAIL SENT TO GALLERY OWNERS IN LATE JUNE

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 forwarding 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 a list 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, attract private and public funding to help support and sustain   
Art Walk and 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

1. Activating dead zones. 
          2. Signage 
          3. Shuttles 
          4. Scheduled performances & lectures
b. Marketing

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 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 attract 
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 US 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 will be 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.   
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.

Lastly, Art Walk would not exist, and cannot exist going forward,   
without the active support of our community partners, including HDBID   
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 Directors 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

*end of email thread*

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*

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*

Dear Board:
I present this communication from Bert Green sent last night directed 
to the board.  He and Russell have scheduled a meeting w/ Sgt. Kris 
Werner of the LAPD next week to ask for a ban of all alcohol sales and 
distribution on Art Walk.  That is the topic and gist of this email 
from Bert and I look forward to your feedback.
I will mention in closing that in my regular and frequent 
communication w/ Senior Lead Officer Deon Joseph, this issue has not 
come up.  And I have not felt SLO Joseph to have ever been as 
confident and positive about Art Walk in the last year as he is now.
Thanks,
Richard

*emails removed*
*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2009 15:13:20 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Oct 1 2009 3:13 pm
Subject: making the case for DTLAAW

Dear Board:

The revisions to the Case Statement are done:

http://groups.google.com/group/dtlaaw/web/caseWord.rtf

I have uploaded a Microsoft Word compliant document for your feedback.

Thanks
Richard
**
Making The Case for the DTLAAW
Richard Schave
schaves…@gmail.com

Financials not included because of conversion problems.

Chapter 1
Published Material
1  Meeting The Needs Of The Community We Serve

1.1  Mission Statement
The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk operates a community-based “museum without walls” in and around Los Angeles’ Historic Core neighborhood on the second Thursday of each month, celebrating art, street life and cultural diversity and bringing thousands of visitors to a previously impoverished neighborhood. Our goal as an entity is to steward the continued growth of the Los Angeles Downtown Art Walk as an engine for reviving and sustaining the cultural and economic vitality of the community, facilitating job creation, economic stabilization, and promoting positive public space while respecting local history and culture.
1.2  The Challenges: Public Space, Growth & Scalability
Since its inception in 2004, the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk has experienced spectacular growth in popularity, with attendance growing from tens of visitors in the first months to more than 10,000 in mid-2009. The growth in attendance coincided with the significant gentrification occurring in the Historic Core neighborhood. Now 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 the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk at its current growth rate.

In order to facilitate further growth of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk board must develop an information program that addresses the basic question asked by regulars and first-time attendees: “now that I am at the corner of 5th & Main Streets, what do I do and where do I go? ” There has been a lack of coordinated information about irregularly scheduled events during the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, and a lack of official, well-promoted cultural programming, resulting in a mass of visitors who do not understand the scope of the event or their options for enjoying it. This lack of information, when combined with long stretches of dark, inactive sidewalk between populated zones, causes crowds to pool around core intersections with no clear path to other active areas. For these reasons, the Art Walk has become for many visitors a confounding urban experience, and more of a street party than a cultural exploration. The management of Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk must, through maps, website calendars and a crew of docent staff members, provide clear and accessible information on what areas are part of the Art Walk and what programs and events are happening throughout the community, to make it easier for visitors feel comfortable leaving the well–understood and well–populated parts of the Art Walk (5th Street between Main and Broadway, Main Street between 4th & 6th) and explore outlying galleries and performance venues.

1.3  Old Buildings Need New Ideas
For fifteen years, the downtown Business Improvement Districts (“BIDs”) and residential developers have been challenged by the need to answer the questions: “What do you do after 5pm?  Why would you want to live downtown? ” The success of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk helps answer these questions. 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 are 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 futureflourish, and so it is fitting that Los Angeles’ long-ignored Downtown, with its beautiful and historic buildings, would become the place where a grassroots cultural movement like the Art Walk would thrive.

2  Goals

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 borders of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk to share their specialized information widely, thus reaching the members of the public who wish to explore and consume what is offered. The creators of creative programming and their potential consumers can both be found literally within the borders of the event and virtually in the online communities (Facebook, Yahoo mailing list) associated with Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. Sixteen thousand people visit the website http://downtownartwalk.com in a typical month. The points of intersection for these varied communities is where social change is best affected: by bringing creative promoters together with their audiences, the exchange of information leads to the exchange of money, which is necessary to encourage and support creative downtown programming at the Art Walk and all month long. The Art Walk, which essentially turns Downtown Los Angeles into a living museum 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. By becoming the go-to place for worthwhile information on what can be found at the Art Walk, our channels of communication will serve as essential tools for helping the Art Walk grow, and its participants to benefit. For consumers, this means providing access to vibrant and stimulating experiences calibrated to their specific interests. For producers, this means providing a means of connection to a supportive and interested audience that participates with their hearts, minds and pocketbooks.

3  Objectives For Next Two 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 neighborhood–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.

3.2  Infrastructure
To improve the overall public space in which the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk event occurs, management has the following specific objectives for 2009 & 2010.
3.2.1  Transportation

1.    Add a second bus to the existing Main/Spring shuttle route, thus reducing wait times and crowding, and encouraging visitors to get off in more remote areas knowing that they can catch another shuttle soon.

2.    Add one bus to a new Western spur shuttle route connecting Pershing Square to Main and Spring Streets via 5th & 6th Streets

3.2.2  Cultural Programming
Program one or more official Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk Lecture Series

1.    Develop and sponsor a series of lectures by social historian Allon Schoener, to be titled COSMOPOLIS, demonstrating the relationship between our global society today (New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai) and its historical antecedents in Alexandria, Naples, Rome, etc.

2.    Develop and sponsor a series of free neighborhood history lectures hosted by independent scholars Nathan Marsak, Hillsman Wright, Rick Mechtly and others. These will focus on Bunker Hill, Historic Core, The Broadway Corridor, Main Street, neon sign history, etc. Each lecture in the series will include a walking tour component prior to the lecture through the neighborhood to be discussed.

Develop a program of free walking tours hosted by downtown experts and community members
Current guides include Ed Rosenthal (who is both an accomplished poet and a real estate broker who has had his hand in many of the major deals in the Historic Core for the last fifteen years), Art Walk Director Richard Schave, rhyming educator Mike the PoeT, and others. These tours are a tremendous ways for newcomers to make an immediately and unthreatening connecting with the Art Walk, getting a sense of the area in which the event occurs, exploring its history and getting options for how they can spend the rest of their visit. It is the most important aspect of our outreach due to the potential for one-to-one contact with the attendees, and the ability to address specific questions and needs.

Develop a program of free discussion Salons on various compelling subjects

Each Salon is led by an interesting local figure who can provide expert structure to the dialog and encourage group participation. By scheduling these Salons in the early evening, and holding them in a space where people can also ask questions of Art Walk staff and get printed maps, attendees will have an attractive option for starting their Art Walk experience in a warm and welcoming environment, from which they can then go off to explore on their own.

3.2.3  Public Services
1.    Obtain an allocation of more frequent visits from BID cleaning crews.

2.    Invite groups promoting urban tree planting to bring their services to within the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk borders.

3.    Obtain an allocation of intersection control officers at key intersections during the crowded evening hours of the event (approximately 6pm-9pm). Identified intersections that would benefit from intersection control are 4th and Main, 5th and Main, and 5th and Spring.

3.3  Helping Art Galleries Succeed
1.    Schedule activities and programs meant to “activate” (make safe and appealing) the less populated transition zones within the Art Walk borders, thus drawing visitors to the galleries and other spaces located on the outlying borders of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk.

2.    Develop means by which participating cultural entities can promote their offerings to the thousands of people visiting the Art Walk each month, through the online map and calendar, the printed map, and Art Walk’s regular publicity (for the press) and announcement (for visitors) streams. These will include free listings for non-commercial events and (temporarily) for art galleries, and reasonably priced paid listings for retail, corporate and paid events.

3.    Work to support the development of high toned cultural events during the Art Walk which will be a draw for the type of person who is also interested in collecting art. As this target audience of current or potential collectors may be hesitant to participate in the more spirited atmosphere that Art Walk takes on during the evening, we will explore the notion of developing afternoon programming such as gallery tours, curator’s and artist’s lectures, and daylight openings catering specifically to this audience.

4.    Provide downtown gallery owners with opportunities for networking and cross promotion, through special Art Walk events and publicity.

5.    Create and distribute a quarterly Art Walk flier. This flier will have much in common with the Art Walk map, and can be used to get around the Art Walk in the absense of the monthly map. However, this less-frequently updated, more elaborate flier will be larger and convey more information about the community and its offerings. It will exist simultaneously as a guide to the Art Walk and a guide to cultural offerings available all month long within the footprint of the Art Walk. The market for this flier is in distribution through LA INC and the central BID’s Visitor Centers, and also through hotel concierge outreach. It is meant to be a calling card for the event and the culture of creativity and vitality that it promotes throughout downtown. It is meant to create a sense of destination, and to contain the Art Walk’s brand identity.

6.    Create a monthly map for distribution at the event and online, to include galleries, sponsors, shuttle routes, and a selection of free cultural events programmed by the Art Walk staff.

3.4  Distribute crowds
1.    Create a locus for the event at the Spring Arcade building in the Paseo which spans Broadway and Spring between 5th and Spring Streets. This significant example of Downtown public space is the natural gathering point to harness all the different energies that come together at Art Walk: Spring Street with its community of young residents and late night diners, and Broadway which has the most vibrant and exciting sidewalk culture in Los Angeles, with a markedly more commercial, Latino bent, and a tendency to shut down after 6pm.

2.    Activate the stretch of 6th Street between Hill and Broadway. The area is largely dark and inhospitable, with closed, gated storefronts. That two-block section is all that stands in the way of creating an appealing pedestrian bridge to the metro station that is closest to the most populated sections of Art Walk. Possible solutions are sidewalk closure (permitting the Art Walk management to set up informational kiosks and performers to be booked on the sidewalk) or a full street closure (banning cars from the street for a set period of time). Another idea that’s been proposed to make this area more appealing is curating a program of painting art on the roll-down gates that line that street between Pershing Square and Broadway, thus creating a gallery of art that would in itself be a destination for pedestrians moving between the Metro station and the Art Walk.

3.5  Art Walk Website and Other Web Development
1.    Create a Wiki Travel page promoting the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk and neighborhood cultural attractions.

2.    Develop an interactive Smart Phone Application that will provide real-time proximity search, alerting users to the cultural resources and friends they are near.

3.    Develop a Geo-caching game to encourage exploration of the entire Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk while collecting virtual “stamps” in a virtual “passport.”

4.    Focus on the enhanced functionality of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk website for visitors, cultural programmers, art galleries and downtown businesses. Help all these different specialized groups that exist within the footprint of the Art Walk to share resources and knowledge. This creation of a networked virtual community will start to have a positive impact on the real community.

5.    Implement a morning-after Facebook app called Friday Findings to survey guest activity at the Art Walk, including demographic information, galleries and other venues visited, hours of arrival/departure, form of transportation used, where they came from, how often they attend and what they are looking for at future Art Walks. Some of this information will be available specifically to the Art Walk management for research purposes, but much of it in aggregate form will be accessible in real-time to users, thus providing them with suggestions for galleries and restaurants to visit. A popular gallery which receives many visits on the Art Walk will be featured on the Friday Findings page for the next 30 days, thus encouraging visits after the event.

4  History
In July 2009, the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk became a California Public Benefit Corporation charged with the stewardship of this remarkable grassroots event which has contributed to the transformation of the neighborhood over the five years of its existence. From humble beginnings–five galleries and an estimated 75 people in attendance—the event now has forty participating galleries and attendance figures hovering around 10,000. Participating Art Walk galleries extend throughout downtown, but the core of the event roughly corresponds to the boundaries of the Historic Core district: Second to Ninth, along Main, Spring, and Broadway.
The kernel for all of this change came out of the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) in the late 1980s, as staff looked out their office windows in the Herman Hellman building on the corner of 4th and Spring to the underused assortment of aging hotels, banks and office buildings along Spring and Main Streets. They envisioned a paradigm shift in the way in which they redeveloped neighborhoods: rather than clearing lots and building fresh, the concept that new ideas need old buildings. By preserving and redeveloping historic buildings, one whole block at a time, a neglected neighborhood could be encouraged to come back as a healthy and vibrant community.
It was anticipated that the path to revitalization and the block by block repopulation of the Historic Core would be driven by early adopter artist communities. While a small segment of the projected overall population, these artists would do most of the preliminary heavy lifting: organize cultural events, open and shop in bookstores and cafes, and by living and playing in the community bring an overall increase in the perception of positive public space to the target blocks.

In 1990 this was still just an idea discussed in a report on the proposed revitalization of Spring Street. In 1998, Gilmore Associates expressed interest in the block delineated by Main, Spring, 4th and 5th. To encourage this deal, the CRA cleared a tax lien on the Continental Building, whose owner had entered into partnership with Gilmore Associates. The removal of the lien made Federal money available, and in early 1999 Gilmore Associates purchased the Farmers & Merchants Bank, the Isaias Hellman Building, and the San Fernando Building on the opposite side of Main Street.

That same year, downtown’s adaptive re-use ordinance—the framework under which commercial space can be converted to residential–was passed. The tide had turned. At 6th & Spring (the other pole of the Art Walk) Izek Shomof began converting the former Pacific Stock Exchange into a 37-unit, loft-style apartment building called the Spring Tower Live-Work Lofts. In 2000 the Spring Tower was fully occupied and by 2001, Gilmore’s San Fernando Building was too. And so the repopulation of downtown Los Angeles began in earnest, fifty years after the CRA had emptied it of 9,000 residents with the razing of Bunker Hill.

In 2003, the City Council created the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC) to represent the growing number of community stakeholders. That same year, DLANC’s Arts, Aesthetics and Culture Committee (AAC) requested that the City designate a portion of the Historic Core as Gallery Row. This area–Main and Spring Streets between 2nd and 9th Streets–would come to comprise the heart of the Downtown Art Walk. The Gallery Row concept was the work of Kjell Hagen, owner of Inshallah Gallery, and Nic Cha Kim, co-chair of the AAC. At that time, the neighborhood had just three galleries: Hagen’s Inshallah Gallery (Main Street near 3rd), bank (Main Street near 4th) and 727 Gallery (Spring Street near 7th). The City Council’s motion to designate Gallery Row was passed in July 2003, co-sponsored by Jan Perry and Antonio Villaraigosa, and Gallery Row street signs were installed that fall.
In September of 2004 Bert Green, with the encouragement of gallerist Shane Guffogg, launched the first Art Walk, during which twelve people passed through the doors of Guffogg’s Pharmaka Gallery. Five years on, as the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk reorganized as a California Public Benefit Corporation, the event reached the landmark estimated attendance of 10,000 people, with more than three thousand people visiting Pharmaka alone.

The event has grown in magnitude and scale beyond the founders’ wildest hopes and dreams, and consequently has an entirely new set of challenges to be met. Scalability, dissemination of information about the event, and cohesion between the diverse neighborhoods involved are some of the more important external challenges we face. And with our new structure comes a set of internal challenges as well. The process of seeking tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service to allow raising funds from individual donors requires us to demonstrate that Art Walk exists to benefit the larger Los Angeles community and serves a cultural purpose not limited to helping gallery owners attract new business. For this reason, and for the purpose of ensuring an organization that will have broad appeal to the larger Los Angeles and Southern California community, the initial Board of Directors is primarily comprised of a broad cross-section of persons from outside the art sales world. The founding Board also includes individuals with talents in the many different areas needed to help get this organization off the ground. The plan will be to grow the Board in the future with persons who can contribute in other ways, including financially, to the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. This approach is consistent with how other non-profit entities organize themselves at the outset.
The Art Walk has both shaped the community which created it and is in turn been shaped by community emerging out of it. But the Art Walk would not exist, and cannot exist going forward, without the active support of our community.

5  Organization
5.1  Board of Directors
1.    Kim Cooper
2.    David Hernand
3.    Marc Loge
4.    Sandie Richards
5.    Richard Schave
6.    Bonnie Tseng
7.    Wicks Walker

5.2  Standing Committees

5.2.1  Finance

5.2.2  Exhibition, Curation & Publication

1.    Lecture series

2.    Walking tours

3.    Floating exhibitions

4.    Education and Outreach

5.    Publications for sale

5.2.3  Fundraising

Benefits and Events

1.    Downtown Discount Card

2.    Fundraising events

5.2.4  Venture

The committee which deals with earned income.

5.3  Advisory Committees

5.3.1  Gallery Owners
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 had hoped to have this board organized in early July, but that has not yet come together.

5.3.2  FILMLA
This committee organization or roster is not clear to me, but the idea and role of one is essential. FILMLA is the entity charged with regulating filming in Los Angeles. On some fundamental level they allow Art Walk to exist because they will not issue film permits in the core of Art Walk from 6am to 12am on the day of Art Walk. This is part of a pilot program which is going to end in 4 months. It would be helpful to have members of the entertainment industry available to advise us. Studios want to be able to film whenever they wish downtown, and the freeze for Art Walk is raising the dander on a lot of studio lots. We should also to have a member of Council Woman Perry’s staff in the loop and able to advise on activity and opinion from Council chambers as well.

The notion of this committee came out of many experiences I had watching Bert Green and Russell Brown go into fits of apoplexy trying to discuss the possible end of the pilot program with CW Perry’s deputy Stephanie Magnien. She made it clear that several studios are prepared to spend a lot of time and money to kill the pilot program in Council chambers. This is not a job for a single individual rather something an advisory board well placed in both camps can tackle.

5.3.3  City/County Government & Emergency Services
1.    City Council Members involved with Art Walk (Perry & Huizar)

2.    The Mayor’s Office

3.    City Attorney’s Office

4.    Members of the relevant city and county commissions: Cultural Heritage, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Bringing Back Broadway

5.    Members of the County Board of Supervisors

6.    Police

7.    Fire Department

5.3.4  Pershing Square
This is the largest and most ignored piece of public space within the scope of the Art Walk and it could use some help. There is an existing framework to work with Parks & Recreation on improving Pershing Square. It is an advisory committee of its own run out of the director of Pershing Square, Louise Capone, office. This is a monthly group which advises on use, direction and improvement of the park. Within this group it is clearly understood that individuals or an entity who can provide a clear and authoritative set of design guidelines for improving public space within the park, both through programming and basic infrastructure improvement, will have a major impact on the space. There is all ready a group working with Louise on Art Walk which organize events, Art Squared.

This advisory committee (from within the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk) of designers, architects, and curators who could produce a set of guidelines for both infrastructure and programming with the aim of creating and improving positive public space in the park could make a huge impact on this strategically placed public space.

Chapter 2
Internal Documentation

1  Fundraising

1.1  Individuals

1.1.1  Donations
Will have to wait for our 501 (c) 3 status. Once gained, we could start to implement tiers of sponsorship, $300, $600, $1,000 which come with donated perks, trips, discounts to events, special access to events, what have you…

1.1.2  Benefit events
Fundraising events include but are not limited to art auctions, working with other downtown charities in partnerships, private dinners, and other small scale fundraisers.

A few other notions include:

1.    Art auctions of donated works of art.

2.    VIP events–studio visits, dinner with artists, gallery previews

3.    Gala Black & White Ball

1.1.3  Downtown Card
This is an interesting notion which can start small—create an organization of small downtown businesses that will honor a discount card, then charge $50 for a one year subscription to the card and start to issue them.
It has yet another level of sophistication in that some credit card companies issue cards for a specific 501(c)(3), and donate a small precentage of the amount charged to them. I have spoken with our banker at City National Bank, and he agrees this is worth looking into sometime in the future.

1.2  Grants

1.2.1  Foundations
Make up about 15% of most non-profits fundraising pool. This is a fairly narrow slice of the pie and as such we must carefully call the list of foundations related to the arts and public space to whom we will apply for funding. A major challenge we will face both with foundation and corporation funding is the notion that we are simply a big party. So, by focusing on our cultural programming and leveraging the momentum and rising notion of art walk as a family event, we should have a success fishing in these waters.

1.2.2  Corporations
Sponsorship package is included at the end of this document.

1.2.3  Government
Los Angeles County Arts Commission
To help navigate our way through the murky waters of arts grants, Sonia Mak, formerly of Morono Kiang Gallery, who is now Grants Manager at the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, has offered her advice and direction to the newly formed Art Walk Board. This would also fall under the category of Foundations as well.
Federal Economic Redevelopment Block Grants

The economic makeup of the neighborhood is lower to middle income, which is an ideal candidate for Federal Community Redevelopment Block Grants. The first step on this road is to make a contact in the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) or the County Community Development Commission (CDC).

This is where the long awaited answer to the gallery questions: how can you help my business is. Through the existing county program, historic retail project run by Audrey Madrigal, we can raise money for economic development through these grants and allow VDEC to subcontract out the work of selecting appropriate candidates and distributing the funds.

Also, Community Redevelpment Block Grants have also been used effectively as a way to beautify a neighborhood. Working with community organizations, such a DLANC’s sustainability committee and the local Rotary Club chapter, a large scale greening campaign of the Historic Core could be funded. Between this two entities the better part of the research and statistics have been compiled which would form the basis of a grant proposal. DLANC’s Sustainability Committee could also provide the infastructure through which these funds, once secured, could be delegated to reach the program’s objectives.

CRA
CRA The CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) is also a possible candidate for grants as well, as their redevelopment policies in the Historic Core have lead to the creation of Art Walk.

1.3  Earned income
This is an area of fundraising which is well suited to our endeavor. We can collect ÒcontentÓÐ prints, photos, other types of reproductionsÐfrom local artists of some note and creat publications to sell. These publications can range from calendars to quarterly publications (subscription-based) to an annual publication.
Earned income front needs to be tackled by the venture committee which is created to understand all the aspects involved in the creation and sale of merchandise. This proposed endeavor is potentially lucrative, but requires a firm understanding and documentation of our brand identity. Formulating the Downtown Los Angeles Art WalkÕs brand identity is an exciting prospect and will require a group which both understands marketing, sales, and also the whole spectrum of curation and publication. If this goal were achieved, it could be one of the most important milestones for our endeavor. All questions surrounding what the Art Walk is–valid questions for a publicist asked to help promote–would be answered in this brand identity document, and in the body of work we publish for sale.

1.3.1  Goods
Shirts, hats,…The question with this front is will the time spent shipping (on line sales) outweigh the profit on the item sold. If sold at Art Walk, how to accept payment?

1.3.2  Donated Art
Host benefit Art Auctions. Copy from LACE’s most recent:

25 curators & 100+ artists
A stellar diverse group of artists, curators, and creative professionals organized their personal “visual play list” and presented mini-exhibitions reflecting the multitude of styles that make the Los Angeles contemporary art world such an exciting place to be.

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2009 10:22:50 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Oct 2 2009 10:22 am
Subject: [Redacted] & Sponsorship

Dear Board,

What is the rush? I am concerned that the suggestion that we must act 
immediately without fully understanding the ramifications or impact on 
the Art Walk is not a good course for us to follow.

Why liquor as a sponsor? It is a controversial topic historically with 
the event and it seems that Russell and Bert are days away from 
launching a public campaign to crack down on liquor at Art Walk. So, 
why should we move forward with liquor as our sponsor flagship? 
Furthermore, there is confusion over the notion that a liquor 
sponsorship program would be helping Bert and Russell in their 
campaign. I just don’t understand how liquor companies giving liquor 
to bars is part of a grassroots community push to stop illegal liquor 
sales.

Why not focus on other types of sponsorship? It is clear from [redacted]‘s 
statements that liquor is not the only option. And, the distribution 
outlined for liquor seems a lot more complicated than, say, for ATM 
machines or mobile devices.
I am concerned about the notion that branding opportunities would be 
offered to potential sponsors without first being vetted by the Board. 
It’s important that corporate sponsorship be handled delicately and 
appropriately so that it serves the community as well as providing 
value to the donor.

What is [redacted]‘s role in relation to us? Why are we committing to give 
someone a 20% fee for funds raised? $200 a month (20% of a thousand 
dollars), his initial scenario for sponsorship programs, seems a 
trivial sum (to some). 20% of $100,000, 20% of $300,000 are non- 
trivial sums, and would cut deeply into funds raised. Shouldn’t a 
percentage of those types of sums be going to a grant writer, or be 
the responsibility of a staff development director?

What is [redacted]‘s relationship with these potential donors? He made it 
clear he would be possessive of his relationships with donors. Does 
this mean we would be obligated to pay this 20% fee to him in 
perpetuity? Also, he indicated that once he chose a type of product he 
pretty much had that product type locked up with the specific sponsor 
he found for us. This notion of exclusivity is very poorly understood 
by me, at this point, and I think needs clarification.

We had a very long agenda last night, and we needed to move on rather 
than giving these serious sponsorship questions all the time they 
merit. I feel these questions need to be considered, and I am going to 
wait for feedback on them before moving forward.

I remain,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2009 10:23:18 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Oct 2 2009 10:23 am
Subject: Cadillac

Dear Board:

Why rush? Why do we need to do something for Cadillac next week? I 
don’t understand Children’s Hospital’s art program’s role in relation 
to Cadillac at Art Walk, or how these three entities are going to work 
in the abstract, or in the specific instance of being in a single 
physical location during the event. For instance, what type of crowd 
control measures will be in place to keep this from turning into a mob 
scene?
Also, I have no idea what Crewest’s opinion of seeking to close the 
street in front of their gallery with six days notice would be, 
bringing in a band and asking the curators to find street artists to 
do live painting exhibitions, and I don’t think it is fair to throw 
all this at them right before Art Walk.

I have tried in all of my work with the board to create abstract 
policy positions on issues like street life and vendors. The goal — 
however little we have gotten in creating these policies — is to 
provide an algorithm by which we can test specific proposals in these 
areas.

The instance we are looking at now appears to be the possibility of 
closing Winston to allow Cadillac to park their new cars in it, and 
some unspecified presence from Children’s Hospital. In the policies I 
have tried to outline to the board on this mailing list (see the 
subject lines “street life policy” and “vendor policy”), I believe if 
we were to drop what we know about this proposal into the box with the 
algorithm and crank the handle, the answer we would get out is no.
I don’t believe that we should close streets for Art Walk in general, 
and I certainly don’t think I should go out of my way to close a 
street so Cadillac can show four new cars. In general, street closure 
is going to create a mob scene that we don’t want to encourage, and 
such action needs to be very carefully managed for the health and 
safety of the community and the event. There are very limited 
resources for people and time on Art Walk, and I don’t think it should 
be squandered on promoting Cadillac in hopes that they will like us 
and become a major sponsor. They either will like the Art Walk, or 
they won’t.

I have in documents outlining vendor and street life policy suggested 
that a good path to go down for these challenges/ proposals is 
sidewalk closure. I don’t feel we have enough information about this 
joint Cadillac/Children’s Hospital project to know if sidewalk closure 
would be effective for them, however it would certainly provide public 
space for sponsors and non-profits to display their wares and engage 
in some limited programs.
I have spoken at length of algorithms and boxes with cranks which 
return the answer yes.  An instance that make sense for these policies 
which we are still in the process of forming, which returns the answer 
yes, is a Happening.

http://downtownartwalk.com/happeningsubmit

This is a non-commercial event in a non-commercial space. This is what 
we are doing in the Spring Arcade Building, and this is what we would 
like to do in temporary installations throughout Art Walk as part of 
the living museum.
In the Case Statement the board approved last night I have put forward 
the notion of how to quantify how well our work is going. That 
yardstick is the promotion of positive public space. I do not believe 
devoting a lot of time and resources to giving Cadillac a free event 
in the middle of Art Walk without a better understanding of their 
program, and their work with Children’s Hospital, is really promoting 
positive public space.

I remain,
Richard

*emails removed*
*end of email thread*

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2009 15:14:19 -0700
Local: Fri, Oct 2 2009 3:14 pm
Subject: Ethics and Fundraising

Dear Board,

I have spent some time today researching the issue of percentage-based 
compensation in the non-profit world. While legal, this is a concept that is 
controversial, with some experts saying that it conflicts with the essential 
principles of a non-profit organization and creates the potential for 
damaging the fragile relationships that must exist between donors and 
non-profits. Any such payments to a contractor would also have to be 
publicly disclosed, and could be unattractive to donors who wish to see all 
of their funds going directly to the organization’s programs and management.

The following link is to a position paper from the Ethics Committee of the 
Association of Fundraising Professionals that explores the ethical and 
practical issues raised by percentage-based commissions, primarily as they 
impact the work of a non-profit’s employees, but also how such types of 
fundraising can impact the relationship between an organization and its 
donors.

http://www.afpnet.org/Ethics/EthicsArticleDetail.cfm?itemnumber=734

Below is the summary of the paper, but I would invite each of you to read 
the complete paper at your leisure, so that we can come together soon with a 
better understanding of the complex issues raised by such fundraising 
methods, and to ensure that as we move forward it is at the right pace, and 
using the best methods to allow the Art Walk to grow in a way that suits our 
mission.
***

SUMMARY 
For purposes of this paper: 
    •    Percentage-based compensation for contributions is defined as any 
compensation that is based on a percentage (sometimes referred to as a 
commission) of contributions raised. 
    •    A finder’s fee is a fee paid for bringing a donor to a 
not-for-profit organization for the purpose of charitable solicitation. 
    •    A bonus is a form of compensation based on performance (but not on 
a percentage of contributions raised) that is paid as an incentive to 
performance in addition to a salary or fee. 
The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) believes that individuals 
serving a charity for compensation must accept the principle that charitable 
purpose, not self-gain, is paramount.  If this principle is violated and 
percentage-based compensation is accepted: 
   •    charitable mission can become secondary to self-gain; 
    •    donor trust can be unalterably damaged; 
    •    there is incentive for self-dealing to prevail over donors’ best 
interests. 
In addition, percentage-based compensation, however administered, can 
produce reward without merit. 
AFP holds that percentage based compensation can encourage abuses, imperils 
the integrity of the voluntary sector, and undermines the very philanthropic 
values on which the voluntary sector is based.  AFP stands firm with its 
Standards which prohibits members from working for percentage-based 
compensation or accepting finder’s fees. 
***
For some contradictory viewpoints, I would direct you to the following link, 
which hosts an uncredited article (which seems to have been written by Bill 
J. Harrison for the journal “Fund Raising Management” in 1995). I believe 
that this article, taken in tandem with the AFP position paper, gives us 
some excellent information which we can use to analyze the fund raising 
methods proposed by [redacted].

http://www.iteachfundraising.com/articles/percentage.html

I look forward to your feedback.

best regards, 
Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 23:31:26 -0700
Local: Sat, Oct 3 2009 11:31 pm
Subject: Competitive logo design sites

Here are several websites where you can put out a call for logos on spec, 
and pay the winning designer.
http://99designs.com/ 
http://logotournament.com/ 
http://www.crowdspring.com/

Once [redacted] determines if we can or can’t go ahead with the Roslyn neon as 
the core idea, we might try one of these sites. The benefit is in reaching a 
larger pool of artists, and someone else organizes and hosts the images, 
which would become quite a job.

worth considering, I reckon,

Kim

*end of email thread*
*first email in thread removed*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 10:22:22 -0700
Local: Sat, Oct 3 2009 10:22 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: dtlaaw – 9 new messages in 5 topics – digest

Dear [redacted],

Thanks for your thoughtful and constructive email.

I’m going to write a long email in response, which I hope will help to get 
us onto a better track for communication, in the board and out, and give us 
some paths through which we can move forward on the marketing proposals on 
the table–if not immediately for Cadillac, soon, and similarly for 
marketing sponsors.

I am finding that it is difficult, while abiding by the time constraints and 
structures of our board meetings, to properly comprehend, analyze and commit 
to such complex and important concepts as seeking corporate sponsorships 
with a finder’s fee attached or securing an event space for Cadillac. And I 
apologize for failing to fully recognize my own concerns that more 
information was needed before we could move forward, which came out in 
post-meeting discussions with Richard and Chinta as we tried to determine 
what additional work we were expected to do on Friday morning and beyond, 
alongside all of our existing responsibilities in the week before Art Walk.

I would like to propose that in the future, when new ideas are being brought 
to the board, especially ones which are so timely, that they first be 
presented via email at least a week prior to the meeting. This will 
encourage the preliminary dialogues which must precede any important 
decision, and allow the formation of questions that can be put forward ahead 
of time, so that the person bringing the idea can be prepared with answers. 
I felt that the board meeting format did not allow the full exploration of 
the two marketing ideas brought by [redacted], and that it was to all of our 
detriment that post-meeting questions got in the way of our moving forward.

[redacted], I wish that you had put your concerns about the 20% fee on the table 
at the meeting, even to say that you had considered it a potential problem 
and thought it was fine. It is a legitimate question, and one I would have 
rather we discussed in the meeting than have it arise later, when we 
couldn’t hash through it as a group.

If indeed it is appropriate to separate Marketing-type sponsorship from 
straight Donor-sponsorship, we should discuss exactly how it differs and 
what our expectations from the Marketer and their expectations of the Art 
Walk will be. This includes legal ramification, tax disclosure, 
reimbursement policies, payment schedules and how the Marketer will be 
informed of how their money is being split up.

We do already have a tier of Marketing sponsors–mainly downtown retail, 
with $6000 raised. In each case, the retailer knows exactly what they are 
getting for their $500/year: a spot on the map, a link on the website, and 
the ability to promote discounts through our Facebook, Twitter and targeted 
emails.

If [redacted] is going to go out and seek larger Marketing sponsorship, I 
believe that we need to have the same clarity about what is being provided 
on each side before any deal is made. Would we be obligated to provide 20% 
of the value of any donated liquor to [redacted] in cash? How does Art Walk 
benefit from liquor donations to venues that are already having their most 
successful day of the month? Will Bombay expect Art Walk volunteers to pick 
up banners from Santa Monica, affix them to a bus, retrieve them at the end 
of the night and return them to Santa Monica? That’s not a commitment we can 
or wish to make, and so it’s important that the people actually working the 
event are informed about proposals being made, to ensure that they make 
sense on both sides before being finalized.
So what we should get, for each potential Marketing sponsor, is a Value 
Added Proposition for approval by the Board. Marketer X will provide the 
following cash/product, and in return they expect to receive Y: discuss.

In the case of Cadillac, it seems like [redacted] did know prior to the meeting 
what they were looking for in terms of a car placement, and it would have 
been helpful to have had that information as soon as he knew it, so we could 
have explored the options and brought vetted proposals for car locations to 
the meeting. Nothing complicated can be well planned 6 days before the Art 
Walk unless there is a dedicated team devoting serious time to the 
project–and maybe not even then, because prime locations are reserved 
months in advance! At the moment, Art Walk’s all-month staff is my family, 
and by the week before the event we have a long list of deliverables which 
keep us working until late every night. We should have been more clear about 
our time restrictions.

Once we left the meeting and began discussing the process by which a Winston 
closure might be requested, we recognized all the additional issues this 
raised, and which we failed to explore during the meeting–the needs of the 
gallery on that street, crowd control–and it was obvious that there was so 
much more than a phone call to the city involved. And, too, Richard’s points 
about the obligations to create positive public space are important ones. 
Yes, corporations will be involved with Art Walk and will have a visible 
presence in the community–but in turn, they will need to contribute to the 
health of the Art Walk through funding, and they also need to do their own 
heavy lifting with regards to marketing, and not ask the overworked 
volunteer staff to step away from their existing obligations in order to 
work on a corporate event.

I’d like to go on record as saying that commercial sponsorship is a 
wonderful thing, and I welcome any and all corporate sponsors with great 
enthusiasm. It’s going to make for a better Art Walk, and everyone will 
understand why sponsor logos begin appearing around the event. However, a 
corporate sponsor can’t have carte blanche to put their logos anywhere they 
want, without consideration for the immediate environment and the how 
appropriate the placement appears. People expect to see logos or even 
product on the outside of a museum or on the signage for a blockbuster show, 
but not on a gallery podium as if it were a work of art, or etched onto the 
frame in which a painting hangs. A quick way to alienated the serious arts 
community in Los Angeles will be to allow marketing sponsorship to become 
vulgar and to intrude on the non-commercial, creative space which is the 
best thing we have going for us to distinguish Art Walk from the accusations 
that it is a Party Walk.
The Spring Arcade, to which Richard, Chinta, curator Kelley and I have been 
devoting extensive development and organizing time, is meant to be an 
artistic attraction that promotes positive public space. This space is meant 
to become the locus of the Art Walk, the place where people know to come to 
get maps, information and begin their experience. We are striving to make 
the Art Walk more understandable and give visitors a structure in which to 
negotiate the event. This space also serves to connect Art Walk with Western 
Downtown via Broadway and the Pershing Square Metro Station. We haven’t done 
all of this work in order to create an attractive location for corporations 
to place their product. However, we would be open to considering corporate 
placement in the space, if given sufficient time to consider the 
ramifications, discuss the proposal with the building’s owners, and if the 
placement came with actual funding which contributed to the health of the 
Art Walk.  I don’t believe that it’s unreasonable to expect that potential 
corporate sponsors go through a process of proposal and discussion in order 
to come to a solution that is good for the corporation and the event.
I’m glad that we continue to develop our ideas of what the Art Walk will be, 
through all of the good contributions of our volunteer board. Please know 
that everyone’s commitment and contribution is valued and respected, and 
that I have faith that once we get through our initial growing pains, we 
will be a powerful force for good in this extraordinary organization.

Two questions for [redacted], in the interest of moving forward: Can we look 
Cadillac having a presence next month, and what are they prepared to do? Can 
we have a q&a session with [redacted], in person or via email, to get clarity on 
how he might move forward in a way which is better understood?

best regards,

Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2009 08:22:33 -0700
Local: Sun, Oct 4 2009 8:22 am
Subject: October 8 walking tours live on the site

Dear board,

We have free ten walking tours scheduled this Art Walk, including some 
exciting new hosts: LA Historic Theater Foundation with four departures on a 
Broadway/Hill walk ending with an open house at the Mayan, a culinary tour 
of food trucks hosted by young blogger Javier “Teenage Glutster” Cabral, and 
horror film director and Eastern Columbia poster boy (his spooky loft decor 
was featured in the Times) Jeremy Kasten.

http://www.downtownartwalk.com/walkingtours

Board members are encouraged to take one or more of these walking tours, and 
we’ll bend the sign up rules for you if your pick fills up before you can 
save a spot, or if you want to reserve for a few friends. Just email me or 
Richard with your request.

We expect to host about 350 official walking visitors this month, as well as 
the stragglers who inevitably see the walkers and join the group, and will 
continue seeking new volunteer tour guides with interesting takes on the 
community and event.

As we add tour guides and tours it’s becoming exponentially more complicated 
to manage the schedule, web programming and sign ups before the event, and 
the waivers, nametags and the crush of guests (some of whom are very 
demanding) during the event. We’re seeking volunteers to help Joan Renner at 
the check in table, and looking at ways to automate more of the pre-event 
work. Soon we should think about compensating some of the volunteers to 
ensure more solid support staff, and recognize all that Joan has been doing 
to wrangle the guides, guests and volunteers.

best regards,

Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2009 08:56:53 -0700
Local: Sun, Oct 4 2009 8:56 am
Subject: Personal attacks

Dear board,

As we move forward into uncharted waters of change and growth, I am asking 
that we refrain from engaging in personal attacks on one another, in print 
or in person. Such activity has an damaging impact on the group morale, is 
distracting, and it is not conducive to creating a positive atmosphere in 
which to work together.

Thank you for maintaining a respectful tone, and for all you do.

best regards,

Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2009 14:14:38 -0700
Local: Tues, Oct 6 2009 2:14 pm
Subject: Fwd: Media Kitty News, Leads, Trips + More

Dear board,

This just came over the transom and it’s very good news.

Media Kitty is a subscription based travel journalism site for which 
Esotouric has a membership, and I’ve been adding Art Walk news to my PR 
feed. In today’s email blast, which goes to thousands of writers, the Art 
Walk is the lead story!

It’s through MK that we’ve made many of our good international press 
connections for the bus tours, so it will be interesting to see what comes 
from this.

Also, Edward Goldman, arts reporter from KCRW, has been in touch about 
coming down and reporting on the event.

best regards,

Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2009 12:32:49 -0700
Local: Wed, Oct 7 2009 12:32 pm
Subject: January Art Walk

Dear board,

Via LA Times ad sales contact, I have been informed that the Mayor’s Office 
has told them that January will be LA Arts Month. We should do something 
special for it!

Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:32:13 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Sun, Oct 11 2009 9:32 pm
Subject: Oct 2009 Art Walk

A great Art Walk.

The Spring Arcade building is coming into its own.  Kim will post some 
footage of the space in the next day or two.  Kelley Francis, our 
curator for the space is doing deep and fundamental work.  We are 
lucky to have her.

Walking tours still wonderful.  Great to connect with all these people 
and take them by the hand and show them everything.

Salons at Cliftons were well attended, this months topics were writer 
Charles Bukowksi and the nature of ritual and magic in our lives, 
hosted respectively by Marco Mannone  and Maja D’Aoust of the Philosophical 
Research Society.

My grownup child, The Hippodrome (Art Walk Shuttle), is doing well. 
We saw lots of traffic on and off it all along the Spring Street 
stops.

The shuttered doors on the space which was formerly Pharmaka made for 
a still quieter corner at 5th & Main.

A sad note:  Todd/Browning to close in next few weeks, and Phyllis 
Stein Art closed about 2 weeks ago.

The following email thread I am simply passing along.  I have asked 
for corroboration from Senior Lead Officer Joseph about the incidents 
and have heard nothing back from him. [Redacted] and Kim and I are 
scheduled for our usual meeting with him in 2 weeks, and will see what 
he has to say then.  I have searched blogs and twitter feeds from all 
potential sources, official as well casual, and have heard nothing.  I 
will send updates on this as soon as I have any.  Please note I do 
have a meeting with Tom Gilmore on Wedsnesday, so perhaps I can get 
more details from him as well.  I will most likely have an update from 
him on his deepening understanding of his policy on catering trucks.

*quoted email removed*
*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:14:44 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Mon, Oct 12 2009 2:14 pm
Subject: Spring Arcade Building Art Walk Footage

Dear Board:

here is some footage of the wonderful event Kelley Francis organized 
at the Spring Arcade:

Enjoy,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:07:14 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Mon, Oct 12 2009 6:07 pm
Subject: Praise For Spring Arcade

Dear Board:

the promised blog post on the Spring Arcade space:

http://blogdowntown.com/2009/10/4755-not-so-fast-food-trucks-and-craf…

I remain,
Richard
**
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:29:12 -0700
Local: Mon, Oct 12 2009 7:29 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Praise For Spring Arcade

And an interesting comment on Ed’s post:
Tony Hoover writes:

I’m perplexed as to why people keep on thinking Art Walk is dead?! I just
don’t get it.

I have an art education, I’ve pal’d around with high profile artists from 
New York to Chicago in the mid 80′s, and I’ve even directed an art gallery 
myself. With 30 years plus in and around the art world I’m not “new”.
Downtown gallery owners who are all bent out of shape over Artwalk “becoming 
something else” seem to think that Artwalk was really ever about selling 
art. Gallery owners should be thanking their lucky stars that nearly 10,000 
people are even coming to “Gallery Row” each month whether they are buying 
art or not. These 10,000 people are the ones who put Gallery Row on the 
proverbial map. By putting it on the map it’s drawing attention. A truly 
creative mind would realize that this kind of attention could be used 
productively.
Art openings in New York and Chicago in the 80’s had little to do with 
selling art. Most of the “art revelers” who came to the openings didn’t know 
anything about art (although they would pretend that they did). They just 
wanted to be fashionable and wanted to hang out with the “stars” of the art 
world. That was the New York culture. The gallery owners would have sold the 
art whether they had openings or not. It was their clientele that bought the 
art, and everyone else was simply there for the party.
It’s the same thing here in Downtown LA years later, except one crucial 
piece is missing – a foundation for art business. Leo Castelli in New York 
and Stuart Regen here in Los Angeles knew a thing or tow about the 
“business” of art. I’m not seeing that level of sophistication in terms of 
the business of art in Downtown Los Angeles. One can understand that these 
galleries need to bring in business in order to stay open – but they were 
fools if they ever thought Artwalk was going to produce a crop of art 
collectors.
……however, what I do see in Artwalk is a “lowbrow” version of the 1980’s New 
York art scene. The food trucks are appropriate for LA’s “lowbrow” art scene 
– one that was born here, not imported from somewhere else. I also see lots 
of young people who are out enjoying the party and are willing to learn 
about and appreciate art even if it’s the backdrop. Artwalk is the beginning 
of a very long process in cultivating a real west coast art scene that has 
never really existed in this city’s history – and one that is unique to this 
city and does not need to apologize for itself because it is “lowbrow.” What 
downtown needs are more Stuart Regens.
On that note – one thing that really turns me off about the west coast “art 
scene” is rampant art snobbery and this strange need to over intellectualize 
art. The local art intellects should take their cues from Dudamel and 
realize that the future of art in this city isn’t about showing off, but 
rather showing up. 
 #<http://blogdowntown.com/2009/10/4755-not-so-fast-food-trucks-and-craf…>on 
*Oct.12.2009 AT 06:20 PM*

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:08:09 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Oct 13 2009 9:08 am
Subject: Officer Deon Joseph Happy With October Art Walk

Dear Board:

I have finally caught up w/ SLO Joseph [of the LAPD] and he has only good things to 
say about his teams’ experiences at Art Walk.  He noted that after 
midnight there was an incident near Pershing Sq. (mentioned in the 
email from Russell Brown I forwarded yesterday) but he sees that as 
tangential to the event.  He appreciates our continued good work and 
what is yet to come.

I remain,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:11:45 -0700
Local: Thurs, Oct 15 2009 10:11 am
Subject: Art Walk logo competition

Dear board,

Midway through the Art Walk logo competition — which we decided to host on 
the 99designs site, as it had the best reputation for attracting multiple 
qualified artists, and allows the competition holder to seek a refund if no 
suitable design is submitted — and there are some very nice submissions in 
the queue. The culture of 99designs suggests that the best artists may be 
holding off until late in the game to post designs informed by the extensive 
feedback we’ve been giving to early entries, so the next few days may hold 
even more interest.

But for now, behold — 
http://99designs.com/contests/29959

Pretty impressive turnout for a $295 prize, which only one will receive! 
Total competition cost is just over $400 with fees to the website and 
featured competition status, which I selected to make our contest more 
visible despite the modest prize.

Kim

*email removed*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:28:08 -0700
Local: Sat, Oct 17 2009 10:28 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Art Walk logo competition

[Redacted],
Thanks for checking in, and glad you like the results, too. I don’t know 
what it will look like–9 more designs came in overnight–but I know we will 
have a great logo soon.

What I think we will do when the contest ends is for Richard, Chinta and I 
to separate out the top contenders and put them into a private photo set, 
either in flickr or in the files section of this list. Then anyone among us 
who wants to have a vote in the logo selection can rate the nominees within 
a time window, and we’ll calculate the best choice from that result.

Then as we announce the winner, I’d like to create an Art Walk blog post 
recognizing all the fine designs and suggesting people consider the artists 
for their logo needs.

best,

Kim

*email removed*
*end of email thread*
*initial email in thread and others removed*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:56:09 -0700
Local: Fri, Oct 16 2009 7:56 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: New Board Member Suggestion

Dear Board:

I am saddened to hear of [redacted]‘s resignation.

I am working on a set of parameters for board recruitment as discussed   
at our last meeting.  I think we can make some good progress on this   
front at our next meeting.

Some of the parameters I will put forward will include a “test” period   
for a candidate, give them a chance to see how we work, and if they   
are a good fit.  More soon on this front.

I don’t think Brady is a strong candidate–I mention this in direct   
response to [redacted]‘s question which started the thread.

Looking forward to all our good work ahead of us,

Richard

*email removed*
*end of email thread*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:38:16 -0700
Local: Mon, Oct 19 2009 9:38 pm
Subject: Art Walk logo competition vote – Thursday 5pm deadline

Dear board,

The logo competition has closed and we received 159 entries… of course, 
some of these are near duplicates from very enthusiastic designers. Lots of 
locals participated, as demonstrated by their comments on their designs. In 
the end, we felt that while there about ten strong designs, there were only 
four which really grabbed us and seem like they could be a logo we can live 
happily with for web, merch and general marketing for a while.

But please do go to the main competition link and check out everything that 
came in. There’s some very interesting work, and maybe there is something we 
didn’t highlight that one of you will love, in which case we want to hear 
about it.

http://99designs.com/contests/29959

The designers all seem to be open to tweaking color, spacing, fonts, so 
don’t think that what you are looking at is the absolute last word. Please 
go into our Files section of the group mailing list and look at the four 
logo files we have selected for consideration, artwalklogo1-4 at the link 
below: 
http://groups.google.com/group/dtlaaw/files?hl=en

We would love to get your feedback on which design you prefer, of the four 
in the Files section, or something else from the competition.

To vote for a logo, please select and rank your top 3 designs and submit 
them via email to this thread no later than 5pm on Thursday October 22. We 
will then rank the entries and see if we have a clear winner.

A few design notes. In the case of design #1, the artist provided some 
alternate color schemes at our suggestion that they look at Mark Rothko 
paintings. In the end we decided we liked their first colors best, but they 
are certainly open to revision. In the case of design #3, the artist 
provided a variety of different sky treatments as potential backgrounds and 
suggested that this area could be changed occasionally to reflect seasonal 
change, holidays, etc. We picked the one we felt was strongest on its own. 
In the case of design #4, the artist provided some alternate designs in 
which certain letters were dimmed out like a dying neon sign, but we went 
with the brighter version.

Looking forward to your feedback, and to picking our favorite logo.

best regards,

Kim

*email removed*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:15:04 -0700
Local: Thurs, Oct 22 2009 8:15 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Art Walk logo competition vote – Thursday 5pm deadline

Hi all,

Just a reminder, if you want to have a vote in the logo competition, we’ll 
expect your feedback on the submissions by 5pm today. Thanks!

Kim

*emails removed*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:03:02 -0700
Local: Thurs, Oct 22 2009 5:03 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Art Walk logo competition vote – Thursday 5pm deadline

[redacted], [redacted], your thoughts on a logo? Last call, gentlemen!

Kim
**

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:47:25 -0700
Local: Sat, Oct 24 2009 10:47 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Art Walk logo competition vote – Thursday 5pm deadline

Dear board,

I am pleased to report that a consensus has been reached, and the best liked 
logo in competition is:
Entry #4 in your mailing list files, aka 99Designs entry #142 by GeoDesigns!

Geo’s design was very close to the original Rosslyn sign, with strong 
colors, striking neon tube effects and a balanced composition. Concerned 
that the glowing neon look might be ideal for web use but less suitable for 
print and black and white uses, I contacted the artist to ask if he could 
provide alternate versions in monochrome, low-glow and white background 
styles, and he promptly provided samples, which have been uploaded to this 
group’s files for your reference. I am confident that these vector graphic 
images will serve our various needs going forward.

While driving in Boyle Heights this evening, we had the unexpected pleasure 
of seeing the lit Rosslyn roof sign against the downtown skyline and the 
sunet–it was perfectly readable and striking from the far side of the 
river, and seemed like a good omen. Perhaps knowing the Art Walk is adapting 
the logo, Amerland is making an effort to show their sign off more often.

Kim

*email removed*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:04:42 -0700
Local: Sun, Oct 25 2009 10:04 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: Art Walk logo competition vote – Thursday 5pm deadline

That version of the logo is actually in the files, too — look for the file 
called coloronwhitenoglow.jpg

Glad you like it.

Kim

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:36:28 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Oct 20 2009 8:36 pm
Subject: white nights comes to los angeles

Dear Board:

Kim and I meet w/ Jose Huizar’s district director, Arturo Gonzalez, 
and he is very happy to hear of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk as a 
California Public Benefit Corporation, and also told us that the group 
which stages all of the white nights across western Europe is going to 
come to Los Angeles–the just staged the festival of lights in 
Berlin.

They just contacted Huizar’s office because they want their 
new year’s event to include Broadway.  Arturo is going to put me in 
touch with them this week.  This could get interesting.  I will keep 
the list posted.

I remain,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:06:15 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Oct 23 2009 11:06 am
Subject: board development algorithm

Dear Board,

I have been looking into how other non-profits have handled the board 
development process. The best single document that I found on this 
issue is Hildy Gottlieb’s article for the Community Driven Institute, 
linked below.

http://www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_Bd_Recruit_Article.htm

Taking what I’ve learned and adapting it to the specific requirements 
of the Art Walk, I have come away with some specific points and 
procedures by which we can identify, engage, interview and potentially 
add new board members.
Your feedback is appreciated.  And I look forward to some great 
candidates!

To start, we have the overarching question: what are our basic needs 
in a board member? I believed the answers are as follows, and that we 
should be looking for potential candidates who fit these parameters.

1. An understanding of our community and its needs

2. A passion for our cause

3. A willingness to commit time for board meetings, committee 
meetings, planning sessions and special events, including attendance 
at the Art Walk itself.

4. Works well in a group

5. A good listener

6. Has a clear sense of milestones they can meet for their role in our 
entity

7. Are well qualified for the specific committee(s) within the board 
that they are slated for
The following numbered list provides a path by which we can 
systematically seek out qualified potential board members, get to know 
them, provide them with an opportunity to serve with a specific 
milestone/deliverable, then after about 12 weeks (2 board meetings) 
vote on if they are a good fit with the board.

1. Either a candidate approaches a board member asking to join, OR a 
board member approaches a prospective candidate to ask about their 
interest

2. In either case the next step is the same: a board member assumes 
the role of guide (a Virgil to Dante through the Inferno) to help the 
potential board member through the application process.

3. The candidate provides their guide with a current resume, including 
all relevant volunteer work, and a digital photograph.

4a. The candidate is given a core set of questions to answer, in 
writing. The guiding board member may choose to tailor an additional 
question or two to draw out inherent strengths of the candidate which 
may not be obvious from the resume or standard set of questions.

4b. Here is a set of core questions that can be used for all 
prospective board members: Why do you want to become a board member of 
the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk? What professional and/or personal 
experience do you bring which makes you particularly well suited to 
the task at hand? What do you bring to the board in the way of 
professional and personal relationships which could be a benefit to 
the Art Walk? What milestone(s) can you set for yourself in the next 
two months which would directly benefit the Art Walk? Where do you see 
the Art Walk in three years? Where do you see the board of the Art 
Walk in three years (with regards to size, internal organization– 
committees/planning, fundraising goals, type of people belonging)?

5. A Candidate Profile is created by the guiding board member, for 
online circulation among the entire board. This is a page hosted in 
our board Google group which contains the candidate’s resume, their 
answers to the core questions, a photo, and any other ancillary 
information of importance.

6.  The board members have a time period in which they are asked to 
each review the Candidate Profile and form an opinion about the 
Candidate.

7a. There will be a vote on if the candidate will be allowed to 
address the board at the next meeting, and take some questions in 
person.  If there is uncertainty on the candidate’s suitability, there 
may at this stage be some follow up questions from board members to 
the candidate (through the guiding member) prior to determining if 
they will be invited to the next meeting. Any additional questions 
should be immediately presented to the guiding board member, to keep 
the process on track.

7b. Candidacy may END here.

8. If candidate seems viable, they come to the next board meeting to 
meet the board and make a case for their membership, in a short 
interview. Their guide will inform them about what they can expect at 
the meeting, and ask that they prepare a short-term milestone that 
they would like to accomplish for the Art Walk to prove their 
suitability as a functioning board member (examples: “I will put 
together a list of 15 potential donors who I am prepared to call and 
tell about the Art Walk, with board approval.” “I will ask my contacts 
in the printing industry if they can provide free or reduced rate 
flier and map production to the Art Walk.”)   
  
9a. The candidate leaves the board meeting. The board then discusses 
the candidate, either in the meeting, or online in the near future, 
and then votes on whether to move forward with their candidacy.

9b. Candidacy may END here.

10. If board voted to move forward with the candidacy, the candidate 
is invited to sit on the board on a trail basis, with the expectation 
that they will be attending meetings, and contributing in online 
discussion with specific board members about shared interests and 
projects, but will not at this point become a member of the board 
Google group. They are expected to deliver the milestone they have 
promised during this time period. Prior to the second board meeting 
after the candidate’s first appearance before the board, the board 
will vote online on whether to invite the candidate to become a full 
voting member of the board. A candidate should be received positively 
by a clear majority of the current board. This vote should be 
conducted online to spare the candidate the potential embarrassment of 
attending a board meeting at which they are rejected.

10b. If the candidate is rejected by the majority of the board, their 
candidacy ENDS here. Their guide will convey the thanks and regrets of 
the board to the candidate.

10c. If the candidate is approved by the majority of the board, they 
are invited to attend the next board meeting, at which the offer of 
full board membership is extended to them.

I remain,
Richard

*end of email thread*
*initial email in thread removed*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:01:08 -0700
Local: Wed, Oct 28 2009 10:01 am
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] From Bert & Russell Fwd: Downtown Art Walk concerns

I am so tired of being criticized for my volunteer efforts, which take up 
practically my entire day, not to mention that of my husband and sister. 
Especially when the criticisms are not fair or accurate. No printed maps? 
Not true–there were 2500 distributed last month alone. No phones answered? 
We have a voicemail system in place so we can work with some measure of 
peace. ALL calls are returned promptly, even the ones that ignore the 
request on our contact page that you not call us with questions about 
vending or showing art. No press releases? One goes out every month, which I 
spend hours crafting — with no help from the art galleries which do not 
inform me about their current shows despite my contacting them via email 
every month asking for their info — and the result has been a consistent 
stream of positive mainstream press coverage. No follow through? Please.

I believe it is disingenuous at the very least for these claims to be made 
as an excuse for not cooperating with the new Art Walk management. You are 
all very much aware of how Russell has refused to cooperate with this 
organization from the outset, and has made us jump through hoops to 
absolutely no end.
As for the suggestion that we are encouraging food trucks to come down, 
that’s absurd. You have all seen the sponsor package, which was open for 
board review, which includes a food truck sponsor level simply to seek some 
financial support from these mobile business owners who are already coming 
to the Art Walk, with no effort on our part.

As for performers not being paid on the shuttle, Russell has had problems in 
the past meeting invoices–they are regularly submitted multiple times 
before being paid. The only person who is supposed to be paid on that bus is 
the hostess, The Ukulady, and she probably has complained about outstanding 
invoices. She is supposed to be paid directly by the BID, not by Art Walk, 
so I don’t see what this has to do with us, other than just another 
accusation.

I do not have the time or the energy to deal with these regular streams of 
criticism and emotional abuse from Russell Brown, and to lesser extent from 
Bert Green. We’ve tried to work with them, and have found it to be 
impossible, because whatever we try to do, it is never productive. They do 
not want to work with us, not now, not six months ago.

Two weeks ago, as Richard mentioned in his Art Walk wrap up, we met with Tom 
Gilmore to talk about his concerns and goals for working with us. It was a 
cordial meeting of no real consequence, we shared our thoughts, he briefly 
expressed his support for us, complained about “roach coaches” (a term he 
refused to correct after we pointed out that they are called “catering 
trucks” and are legitimate businesses) and how he plans to have their 
parking limited, and none of these negative issues were raised–particularly 
not the suggestion that our nascent non-profit might have to bear the costs 
that HCBID pays for event management at this most financially remunerative 
event for their stakeholders.

We are doing the best that we can, without the benefit of the support that 
we should rightfully have received from the business and community interests 
that are in place to support this enormously successful grassroots event, 
the most significant influx of cash and bodies that this neighborhood sees 
all month.
I am sorry that Russell and Bert are unhappy, but it is really hard to take 
their concerns to heart when they are filled with such blatant character 
assassination and misinformation. I don’t know what Art Walk management 
they’re talking about, but it is not the one I see.

This entire organization by the very nature of its non-profit status exists 
to effect social change. We are not a money laundering operation for 
galleries, and we are not in existence to shoulder the burdens of a Business 
Improvement District that can’t seem to understand what its own goals are. 
We will continue to do our work, for the betterment of the community and as 
guided by our mission statement and core goals. It’s all we can do.

Kim

*email removed*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:10:01 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Oct 29 2009 10:10 pm
Subject: a sponsorship solution

Dear Board:

As part of my ongoing exploration of a solution to the problem of how 
the Art Walk will make the best possibly connection with a select 
group of brands that will come on board as high level sponsors, Kim, 
Chinta & I had a meeting today with Dave Matli of Matli Group, a 
branding and marketing company with offices overlooking Pershing 
Square.

http://www.matligroup.com/

Dave and I had spoken on the phone last week for about an hour and had 
delineated the problem space pretty well, so we hit the ground running 
and in today’s meeting hashed out some important points:
Matli Group is willing and interested in becoming the brand strategist 
team behind the Art Walk. Dave and his team of designers, marketers 
and brand analysis experts could deliver everything needed to secure 
sponsorship from one or multiple corporations to cover our programming 
and administrative costs.
The brand positioning and marketing would be an intensive, 
collaborative process by which we would come to have a Brand Identity 
Statement (who we are, what we do, how we do it, and why no one else 
like us) and a circulating Brand Package (delineating which aspects of 
the Art Walk are open for brand placement, and representing levels of 
detail and professionalism which will position our event as an 
attractive prize for brands seeking a unique opportunity). Once these 
documents exist, Dave’s team can either take full responsibility for 
the process of securing sponsors, negotiating deals and delivering all 
the value added propositions to the sponsors, or step back and allow 
us to take the lead in doing our own pitching. I am inclined to put 
our brand strategy entirely in Dave’s hands, but appreciate the fact 
that he is willing to offer us different levels of support, with 
appropriately tiered costs.

All of this brand development Dave is prepared to do at his risk, with 
no cash payment up front.  He is further happy to work on a commission 
basis.

I will end by noting that in the last few weeks I have spoken with 
every major advertising and branding firm in Los Angeles, and Matli 
Group was the most responsive–most of his staff work in friends’ 
galleries on Art Walk, so there’s a strong community interest among 
his team.

I am excited about the possibilities, and look forward to your 
feedback.

I remain,
Richard

*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:12:15 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Oct 29 2009 10:12 pm
Subject: new board member proposed

Dear Board,

I am proposing we consider an old friend, Len Rushfield, as a board 
member.  I put Len forward because he spent his professional life as a 
banker, and had been head of the finance committee for a number of 
nonprofits, one specifically a downtown arts nonprofit (LA Theatre 
Center).  He is interested in the project, has said he will deliver a 
budget and keep the entity on track with prudent financial direction 
and oversight.  He has the time to committ to our endeavor and the 
inclination.

His wife, Karen, has been involved in the theatre and arts in Los 
Angeles for 30 years, and through her work in Yiddish Theatre, 
introduced me at the tender age of 14 to the notion of the schmiel and 
schmazel.  Her husband Len is definately the duppis–the straight man.

Here is his resume which I have posted on the files section of this 
mailing list:

http://dtlaaw.googlegroups.com/web/lenRushfieldResume.pdf

I look forward to your feedback.

I remain,
Richard
**
Leonard H. Rushfield
(address/ phone / email removed)

Primary Experience/ Banking
Bankers Trust Company of New York – responsibilities in international corporate banking in New
York, Tokyo and Los Angeles. Managed country relationships for Japan and Korea in New York head
office. Served as Deputy General Manager of the Tokyo branch with responsibilities for corporate finance.
Managed California business as President of Bankers Trust Pacific Corporation focusing on corporate
finance activities with American and Asian companies, supervising a professional staff of 25 officers and
support  ((1968-1980)
Republic National Bank of New York – Senior Vice President and Regional Director for California.
Organized and managed Los Angeles subsidiary as President of Republic International Bank of New York,
an Edge Act subsidiary. Supervised 35 officers and staff in businesses concentrating on trade finance,
private banking and foreign currency.  Initiated purchase of assets of West Coast Bank from FDIC to
establish Safra Bank of California under a charter from the State of California. Served as Director on the
Board of Safra Bank which focused on private banking, commercial and real estate lending through
branches in Beverly Hills and Encino. (1980-1986)
American Express Bank – Executive Vice President and Regional Director for the Bank’s activities in
California emphasizing corporate banking and investment activity with privately held companies in
Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines and in Mexico and California. Established and
managed branch offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Beverly Hills with responsibilities
for strategic planning, financial, business and operational activities, overseeing a staff of 80 professionals
and support staff. Intensive travel for business development in Asia and Mexico. (1986-1993)
Bear Stearns Asia – Regional Director in Hong Kong for business development in Asia focusing on
Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Korea and the Philippines.  Developed corporate finance, debt, equity and
securities activity among very large Asian conglomerates.  Managed a staff of 25 professionals. Series 7
and 63 securities industry qualifications. (1993-1996)
Comerica Bank of California – member of the Asian Business Advisory Board in Los Angeles providing
strategic advice and business connections to expand the bank’s activities in the Chinese and Korean
communities. (2000 – 2004)
American Premier Bank  — Member of the Board; Chairman of the Audit Committee; and member of the
Credit Committee of this Chinese community bank in Arcadia, California. Appointed at the direction of
the Department of Financial Institutions of the State of California and the FDIC to provide professional
direction and knowledge on the Board, under a regulatory order. Established effective relationships with the
principal officers of the California Dept. of Financial Institutions and FDIC. (2005 – 2008)
Western Business Bank (Proposed) – President and CEO in the organization phase for a new national
chartered  bank to be located in downtown Los Angeles. Approved by the FDIC and the Controller of the
Currency. Recruited principal officers (CFO, Chief Credit Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Senior
Business Development Officers), identified location and managed the legal and regulatory application
process under a consulting agreement with the proposed bank in the pre-opening phase. (2005-2007)
Page 2
Primary Experience/ Financial Advisory
Asia Development Partners – Managing Director and founding partner in a business serving major Asian
clients and their companies in venture capital, direct investment and real estate investment in the United
States. Partners in Seoul, Hong Kong, Manila and Jakarta. Participated in the direct management of
Gridcore Systems International, one of the targeted investments, as Chief Financial Officer. Also served on
the Board of Agriboard Industries. Developed advisory relationship with the US Department of Agriculture
to provide financial and investment support for companies in Minnesota, New Mexico, Mississippi and
California. Major advisory clients include labor union pension funds, real estate development companies,
and significant cultural institutions in California. (current)
Through IESC programs in Slovakia served as Advisor to Capital Partners, an investment bank in
Bratislava, Slovakia with emphasis on investment and capital markets projects. Also served as Advisor to
Sevis in Zilina, Slovakia, a substantial regional securities company, with emphasis on financial
reconstruction of middle-sized companies and on the establishment of investment advisory services for
private investors.
Primary Experience/Academic
Pepperdine University – Adjunct Professor, Department of Finance, Graziadio School of Business.
Course responsibilities in Capital Markets: International Finance; Management of Financial Institutions;
Managerial Finance; and Mergers & Acquisitions at the MBA level. Locations – Malibu; Pasadena;
Westlake Village. (2004 –present)
University of Redlands – Adjunct Professor, School of Business. Course responsibilities in International
Business; Management Finance; Management Strategy; and Public Policy and the Firm at the
undergraduate and MBA levels. Locations include Torrance; Burbank and corporate centers. (2000-present)
Education
Columbia University – Master of Arts in International Politics and Economics. ABD in Asian Politics and
Development including all course requirements and oral examination, with extensive work on dissertation
“The Politics of Defense Spending in India.”
University of the City of New York – Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Politics.
University of Ceylon  (Sri Lanka) – Fulbright Fellowship in politics with residence in Colombo
Board Memberships
Member of the Board and founder of Safra Bank of California, a privately-owned commercial bank
emphasizing business with the Iranian community.
Chairman of the Finance Committee and Board Director of Gridcore International Systems in California
and Agriboard Industries, Dallas, Texas.
Member of the Asian Advisory Board of Comerica Bank of California.
Member of the Board of American Premier Bank, a Chinese-American community bank in Los Angeles.
Public and Non-Profit Service
Vice Chairman of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Infrastructure to review and propose a plan for
the City of Los Angeles – Appointed by Mayor James Hahn in March 2003.
Member of the Advisory Board of the College of Business at Loyola Marymount University.
Director and Treasurer of the Los Angeles Theater Center.
Board Member of the Latino Theater Company.
Executive Director of the Los Angeles Theatre Center on behalf of the Latino Theater Company.
Member of the Board of the American Express Philanthropic Foundation.
Member of the Board of Shelter Partnership, a consortium offering services and financial support for
organizations assisting the homeless.
Page 3
.
Personal
Married – wife Karen is Program Director at the Center on Aging at UCLA. She previously served as
Theater Critic for the South China Post in Hong Kong and Executive Director of the Los Angeles Theater
Alliance. Extensive background in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) at Berlitz and in
international locations.

Children – Richard  is West Coast Editor  of the website Gawker.com and previously served as Senior
Editor  and  Entertainment Industry Editor at latimes.com; Alexandra was the creator  and Executive
Producer of “Help Me Help You” and “In the Motherhood” for ABC Television. Daughter-in-law, Nicole
La Porte, is Senior Entertainment Industry Editor for dailybeast.com  and previously covered the television
industry for Variety.

*emails removed*
*end of email thread*

*email thread was begun in response to a quoted email which has been removed*

From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:52:43 -0700
Local: Fri, Oct 30 2009 8:52 am
Subject: Re: Art Walk Organizers Meeting

But you were not actually invited, Sandie, nor was Wicks, nor was David – 
Richard, myself, Bonnie, Marc and Shane were. Why that is, I could not tell 
you.

We have been in regular contact with Tom and with Officer Joseph, and all 
seems well–there is no pending crisis in anyone’s mind but Russell’s, 
though we are told that Tom is doing his own work with the city to seek some 
limitation on food truck parking. I believe this is yet another attempt to 
sidetrack, waylay and antagonize Richard.

The reference to “encouragement” of food trucks and sidewalk events suggests 
that Russell seeks to blame the Art Walk for things outside our control that 
he has determined are negative. We have nothing to do with food trucks 
coming to the event, and our Happenings program explicitly instructs anyone 
planning activities on the streets to keep moving so not to impede 
traffic–and we will not and have not posted anything that could be 
problematic for the community. Happenings submission is very low at this 
time, in any case.

In light of Russell’s recent email in which he makes a series of 
demonstrably false claims about the work being done at the Art Walk, then 
states he is seeking a new group to work with that is not us, the calling of 
this crisis meeting seems peculiar. Why is Deborah Martin, leader of the new 
gallery list, not in the loop? Is Bert Green the actual gallery 
representative of note?

Richard is of the belief that he should try to attend, although we suspect 
this meeting is being called in an attempt to publicly tar the Art Walk 
management with Russell’s repeated false claims. Does anyone else wish to 
attend and support this entity in the face of Russell’s continued 
antagonism, to protect our relationship with the police and the BID via the 
persons of Russell’s employer Tom Gilmore, and Tom’s legal council Suzanne?

Kim

*quoted emails removed)*
*email removed*
*end of email thread*

From: Richard Schave <schaves…@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:35:31 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Oct 30 2009 8:35 pm
Subject: richard is attending Russell’s meeting on Weds. Nov. 4th

Dear Board:

I will be attending the meeting Russell has proposed on the 4th of 
Nov..  I will take notes and report back.
I remain,
Richard

*email removed*
From: Kim Cooper <amsc…@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:02:08 -0700
Local: Sat, Oct 31 2009 8:02 pm
Subject: Re: [DTLAAW] Re: richard is attending Russell’s meeting on Weds. Nov. 4th

If this is the level of discourse to be feared/expected — and clearly it is 
where R. Brown is concerned — then if only Richard attends, even with 
Chinta and I at his side, we are going to be put very much on the defensive, 
and I believe it would behoove any of you who are able to join us to be 
there to deflect and defend.
Wicks, Sandie, David, let us know please if any of you is able. Alternately, 
perhaps someone else from David’s firm could attend in some protective 
capacity? We are tired of taking the brunt of these assaults, folks, and 
could use your help.

best,

Kim
*emails removed*
*end of email thread*

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*