Since moving to Hermosa Beach, Calif., a beach-side suburb of Los Angeles, in February 2011, Shane and I have made a point to seek out local events in our community. So when I learned about the Venice Art Walk May 19-20 on my go-to calendar of events in LA at LA Weekly, I was excited to explore Venice for the first time, especially since it involved art, food and wine.
For two days, art lovers gathered near the Venice Beach boardwalk to celebrate local artists through food, music and art of all generas. Architecture tours of the notable street Abbott Kinney were given for $125, and artist studio tours were given for $50. But the main event of the weekend was the silent art auction at the Google building, which was free to all who signed up in advance at the Westminster School on Abbott Kinney the day of the event.
When we arrived at the Google building, where a DJ was spinning outside the entrance, the famous LA food trucks lined the streets where you could sample everything from bacon-glazed brownies to fresh lobster rolls to gravy-smothered french fries.
Dogtown Dog buffalo tater tots and the Trailer Trash hotdog
Chicken and waffle kabob and bacon-glazed brownie
Inside the Google building, visitors could bid on paintings, photographs and sculptures that were lining the walls of two main rooms and the outdoor courtyard near the beer and wine garden. With reasonable starting bid prices between $100 and $200, we decided to each bid on one piece that was our favorite. I chose to bid on a silver gelatin print of the Venice Canals, while Shane bid on an abstract photograph of mixed metals by artist Jane Norling.
We got a phone call today that we won Shane’s piece. Now to find a nice spot to display our first piece of local artwork from our new hometown.
