Festival features graffiti art and urban culture
SM PIER When sitting around the dinner table, parents often ask their kids what they learned in school that day. They usually get the same response — “Nothing much.”
This weekend, parents will be able to get a better idea of what their kids are up to roughly nine months out of the year, at least those who are involved in the arts.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving, supporting and enhancing a comprehensive range of programs within the school district, is hosting its fifth annual Celebration for the Arts at the Santa Monica Pier this Saturday and Sunday.
Admission is free and parents are encouraged to attend so that they can better understand arts education in Santa Monica and Malibu, as well as spend money to help fund programs. Last year the foundation raised $15,000 thanks to proceeds from vendors and donations by sponsors. This year sponsors include Morley Builders, First Regional Bank, Bob’s Market, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and Lexington.
“We want everyone to come down and see all the hard work of the choirs, bands, performers and artists. This event is about community involvement,” said Sarah Gross, a junior at Santa Monica High School who has been working for the last few months lining up child stars from Nickelodeon, Disney and the CW to come out and sign autographs and talk with kids about the entertainment industry.
There will be music, drama and dance performances, plus original art by students in the district. Kids will also have the chance to make their own T-shirts and decorate their sneakers.
Vendors will be on hand to sell their artwork and various foods. There will also be a coffee lounge in the carousel building for parents to relax and check out student art.
New at this year’s festival will be performances by a coalition of artists from various mediums called Bagavagabonds, who will be performing on a third stage along with local musicians and DJs from the Scratch Academy, who will teach kids the art of turntabalism. Graffiti artists from London’s Heavy Artillery will also be on hand to teach kids about graf-fiti art, how it is different from tagging and how they can one day use their skills to get jobs.
“We’ve always been able to attract elementary and middle school kids, but we knew we didn’t have much to offer the older crowd, so we brought [Bagavagabonds] in, and for the first time we are having DJs from the Scratch Academy, breakdancing boot camps, silk-screening and an interactive art booth,” said Linda Gross, director of the Education Foundation.
This won’t be the first time that the foundation has hooked up with the Bagavagabonds. The two have joined forces for at least six other events, helping to raise $2,500. The Bagavagabonds helped infuse the festival with hip-hop culture.
“It has been a really good marriage,” Izzy Holden, a member of the Bagavagabonds, said about the partnership with the foundation. “We all came from schools in places where we were highly involved in our arts programs and we see what it means to us because we are all still doing it and without that opportunity for people out there, what would that mean for the next generation?”
For more information about the festival, go to www.smmef.org/pier.html.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 26, 2008. Read the original PDF.