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Alleys become eclectic when art project moves in
by Jason Dietrich
There's
an old trash collector's adage that says "adjacent to trash -- is trash."
That maxim is generally understood as an assurance to rookie garbage men that the ratty end table they're loading into the crusher isn't someone's prized antique accidentally left on the curb. On occasion, it refers to the state of the city's alleyways. But all that's been changing.
For the past two months budding artists of all ages have been gathering to splash their fancies onto the drab alley walls of Redondo's Avenues area. Next Sunday, Aug. 19, Project Alley Art will be painting a seascape on a wall at Highland Automotive on Pacific Coast Highway with the help of local volunteers and funding from El Burrito Jr. Restaurant.
Project Alley Art grew out of an activity that educator and artist Melinda Moore developed for the Redondo Beach School System. Her idea for the mural-ish project called "Off the Wall" morphed into alley art when she decided to invite volunteers to paint the alleyway walls of her Avenue E home. That project lead to a second mural in another alley off Avenue B. She was able to get Goodstuff Restaurant to sponsor the second afternoon and Supreme Paint to donate the water-based house paint.
Interest in projects like alley art has been growing. Last week, the Redondo Beach City Council decided to appoint a public art commission to create public art in the city. Muralist Richard Stephens, Moore's partner in the project, sees the community's willingness to contribute and the Council show of support as a signs of change.
"Redondo has been kind of anti-public art up until recently; now it looks like that might be turning around," he said. Stephens who is wrapping up a grant-funded six-week mural project on 7th Street in San Pedro, envisions trying to start a similar project in San Pedro.
Spencer Ballard, whose family has owned the lot on Pacific Coast Highway for decades, is enthusiastic about the idea of strangers painting up the site of his childhood home, even though he won't be picking up a brush himself.
"I had read about it in the paper and it looked like a neat idea. It's sort of a community-spirit builder. It's something everybody can appreciate," he said.
At the last painting, four generations of a Redondo Beach family gathered to paint the seascape.
"We had an 80-year-old woman, her daughter, her granddaughter and her great-grandson all painting the wall. It was really neat to see how they all worked in different ways. The great-grandmother brought her own paintbrush and had her idea of how to paint a fish. And of course the boy had his own way of doing it. You give kids permission to paint on a wall and they just go nuts," Moore said.
Stephens and Moore try to leave just about everything that the volunteers come up with, as long as it's recognizable. But occasionally they have to step in when a bit of the alley art turns into an alley oops.
"We try not to '86' anything if we can help it. Part of what's so interesting is the number of different styles and levels of ability," Moore said. "Everywhere you look there's something interesting. There's some more primitive spots and spots where adults who have been doing art for a long time really give it perspective."
"The best part of doing this kind of thing is to take someone who says they can't paint, give them a brush and watch them go," Stephens added.
The next project will be in the alley behind Highway Automotive at 1001 Pacific Coast Highway between Avenues B and C. Paint starts flying at 12:30 p.m. Sunday Aug. 19, and cleanup starts at 4 p.m. Anyone is welcome to come and help. Project Alley art is currently looking for donor walls as well as sponsors. For more information, contact Melinda Moore at (310) 316-2866. ER