FAMILY DESTINATIONS SPECIAL FEATURE 23 ADVERTORIAL Los Angeles Street Art California’s Most “Instagrammable” Street Art The west coast’s street-art hotspots – a cool family attraction In cities across the world, street art has become a powerful tourist attraction that appeals to diverse ages, and which is perfect for families who can enjoy a free showcase of local creative talent while enjoying the surrounding neighbourhood colour. While Berlin itself is renowned globally for its street art, especially the murals painted on what remains of the Wall, the American West Coast has long been a street art hotspot, especially LA, which is known as the mural capital of the world. Visit California is promoting the state’s wide and wonderful canvas of street frescoes, murals and stencils in cities like LA to San Francisco, San Diego and beyond. LOCATIONS Long home to San Francisco’s alternative arts and music scene, the city’s Mission District is also the location of Balmy Alley, a legendary spot to see the work of established and up-and-coming talents. The earliest murals date to the 1970s and were political statements about US policies in Latin America. Meanwhile at Chicano Park in San Diego, a park below the Coronado Bay Bridge that is now home to the largest concentration of murals in the country. Located in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood, Chicano Park’s 70- plus murals were recently restored and later catalogued by a University of San Diego student project. The 8-acre park is now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. In the mid-1980s, as Melrose Avenue became a global Mecca for hip style, the street and surrounding alleys became a magnet for street artists that have since become household names like Banksy and Shepard Fairey. The scene evolved further as shop owners started asking the renegade artists to paint their stores and ever since, street art has become an indelible part of the fabric of Melrose Avenue. Today, a young crew of artists are transforming this stretch of the northeast San Fernando Valley, creating vibrant murals that celebrate their Latino heritage via the depiction of icons like Frida Kahlo and Danny Trejo. Lastly, some important murals survive from the 1984 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. Ten murals were created to celebrate the games and the city along two major arteries that meet in downtown LA - the Harbor (Hwy. 110) and Hollywood (Hwy. 101) freeways. Restoration began several years ago to celebrate last year’s 30th anniversary of the summer games and Olympic Arts Festival. Most of the murals have been saved and retain their vibrancy TOURS Instead of pounding the pavement looking for great San Francisco street art, travelers can actually get an informative overview, insider tour and chance to create their own (perfectly legal) street art thanks to the graffiti gurus at 1AM Gallery. For some DIY explorations, you can also download the gallery’s 1AM Mobile app from the iTunes. Based in New York, Graff Tours also recruits local LA artists to lead tours through their city’s best street art locations. Artists plan routes, provide overviews of techniques and styles of all kinds of public art (including graffiti, wheatpaste and stencil art) and often show their own work EVENTS The First Fridays Festival in downtown Oakland is a monthly gathering of artists, musicians, spoken word performers and local culinary favourites. It’s is a great place to stroll Oakland’s emerging downtown scene and see street art in the making. Held in Oakland’s KONO district, the First Fridays Festival is rapidly becoming a signature Bay Area event. The Street Painting Festival at Temecula, part of the annual Temecula Art Festival weekend, takes place every June and transforms the town’s Main Street into a canvas for masterpieces done in chalk by families, kids and professional artists who use the asphalt to create murals of over 100 square feet in size. Hall 2.1 Stand 200 ITB BERLIN NEWS • Friday 6 th March 2015
