Grunions inspire art event that will rage all night long
Wanted: Artists who can light up the night like grunion coming ashore to spawn.
Inspired by the sardine-sized fish found off the coast of Southern California, City Hall is planning to host a new art event that will run from dusk to dawn and feature “compelling, enchanting and effervescent” works one Saturday night in July 2008, said Jessica Cusick, director of the cultural affairs department.
Artists from the performing and visual arts are being recruited for “Glow,” which is intended to entice people to abandon their usual patterns and stay awake all night to explore public spaces in new ways.
“It is modeled after successful events sweeping across Europe and into Canada,” Cusick said. “The idea is to allow people to rediscover their city at a time when, normally, they wouldn’t be out and about, through the eyes of artists. All events will be free and we are going to be commissioning artists from both local and international circles to create special installations and unique performances that respond to the site.”
The event will be staged at the Santa Monica Pier and along Ocean Avenue.
Glow is the product of a lengthy, cultural master planning process that took place earlier this year in which community members, including local artists, outlined what they’d like to see in Santa Monica in regards to culture and the arts. In addition to having more public art and venues for performances, residents called for more community-wide events that captured the spirit of the city.
“(Glow) will be an opportunity to showcase Santa Monica as a cutting edge arts destination,” Cusick said. “We are hoping to make this an annual event and expand it to other areas of the city.”
The budget for Glow is roughly $100,000, but there is hope of luring corporate sponsors to help grow the budget to $450,000.
Cusick said the business community is behind the effort, as are the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp.
Art will span the breadth of media, from music and dramatic arts, to visual arts, spoken word and “other impossible-to-define artistic hybrids of assorted tones and hues,” Cusick said.
One artist has already been hired — C.J. Huang, a Santa Monica native now in Brooklyn, who is known for his installations that use objects discovered in the garbage and LED lighting. Huang, who will be one of the first artistic fellows at the Smithsonian Institute, plans to create a grotto beneath the pier.
As part of his work at the Smithsonian, Huang will be studying marine creatures that glow.
While artists and residents are being encouraged to participate, so are local businesses. Cusick said she will be working with downtown merchants to see if some will be able to stay open late and help make the event more enjoyable.
“I’d bet that coffee houses will do pretty well,” Cusick said.
Residents are encouraged to be creative with their dress by incorporating glow-in-the-dark elements.
“What we’ve heard from people so far is that they really want this to be a ‘glow-bal’ event,” Cusick said. “People really resonated with this idea of participation. They want to be more than spectators.”
“We are hoping to make this an annual event and expand it to other areas of the city.”
Jessica Cusick, cultural affairs manager.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 2, 2007. Read the original PDF.