Artist Alley

This Beautiful Mural is located on the South side of the Arkley Center. It is also a Venue for many
Arts Alive! Events. The scaffolding for his endeavors is seen above on the red truck.

Art Walk Eureka

From 2004 until 2009 I lived in Eureka CA. Here in this small town on the North Coast of California, there are more artists per capita than any where in the State of California.

During this time, I was the owner of a small Fine Art Gallery “Kronos” and was a participant in this incredible happening of “Arts Alive” every month. The town has had hard luck since the closing of the Paper Mill which was the main source of employment and the logging industry that was the source of its wealth.

The Arts have somewhat filled the void of “belonging” in this small City on the Humboldt Bay. The Murals are without peer, and the artist of many of them, Duane Flatmo is world renown. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zli8PGuxpL4

I was living in Eureka when the mural for the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts was created. It was amazing, I stood in awe of this man so small in relation to the mural he was painting, and wondered if it could be completed in reality to the small scale of  his drawing. So it was, more so than we could have ever imagined. In a word, Perfect, for the Venue.    

Here in Oceanside as we contemplate our own Arts Walk, the ideas, the energy, and the talent will have to combine to make our Monthly Event unique and memorable. There is much to be done in the search for our own place in the Art Walk World, as it will be a challenge to engage our many venues to become the place where Artists want to be seen.

I know from personal experience what a successful Arts Alive can be to the Merchants, shopkeepers, and the building of an Art Voice for a Town. It has taken many years for Eureka’s Arts Alive! to become an incredible draw from all over the County, and it will take patience for our own efforts to succeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq75f1sVRME  (“soul of Eureka”.)

It will happen! Look what has been accomplished in the past 10 years, and this is only a prelude to what will become a full blown Concert! When we returned to my City by the Sea, after 10 years, the transformation had begun. Ginny Tompkins and I used to dream of a downtown where there were fine Hotels, great Restaurants, and an Art Museum which would be the catalyst for a Renaissance of Oceanside. It has more than begun, it is transforming before our very eyes…