Art Alley and the Beginning of an Idea…
When first coming to Oceanside
in 1991, I had my sculpture studio in the Tech
Park area. The studio was a gift
really for the entire Park was virtually vacant. My landlord let me have 1200
sq. feet of 20 ft. sky lighted space for 150. which was decadent in its amenities. As
luck would have it for him this changed after about one year. Then the search
began for a new studio space, one which would offer the ambiance of the beach,
people about and most important a place coffee with colleagues.
So began my tenure in an alley which was the most God
forsaken place in downtown Oceanside.
You might think that being located just across from the incredibly beautiful Civic
Center Plaza
it would be just the opposite. Not So.
The Alley was strewn with unmentionables left from each
nights visitors of nefarious ways, and the detritus was so odoriferous, that
walking down this Alley was a Physical Challenge.
However, and this was the big attraction, it was a Downtown
commercial/retail space for only 350. a month.
The unit was the best one on the Alley for it had a
skylight, and was next to the walkway into the Art
Building as it was to become known.
The space was dark and had carpet with living creatures in it and walking into
it I knew my work was cut out for me. As a former Newport Beach Designer for 20
years I was up to the task, and before long the cement floors gleamed and the
walls were painted white.
Now, I had a Studio. It really was a place for the creative
muse to hang out with me and some of my most original work was done there both
in paintings and sculpture.
After about a year, the building was filling up with artists
both on the Alley and upstairs where there were nine more studios. We met from
time to time and became kind of a unknown force of underground artistic
abilities who were on the outside of anything related to the downtown of Oceanside.
This was a Town of Pizza joints and
Marine barber shops, strip joints and cleaners.
The Playgirl Club" was not the "New Oceanside Image" and it was finally closed by the City.
There were no upscale Restaurants, Hotels, or Theaters which
ordinary folks could patronize. Certainly there was no Art.
About this time, in 1992, I was offered a seat on the Cultural
Arts Commission for the City of Oceanside.
At the same time a seat on the Redevelopment Committee opened up and I was
accepted as a Citizen/business member.
As my involvement in the Oceanside Community became more
intertwined with folks who could help the Arts precipitate change, the idea of
Art Alley developed. On the other side of Art Alley was a wonderful Community minded
man, Jim Terry, who became my ally in approaching the Council. He owned the Building which is now part of Church related activities.
The proposal for a Closed Walking Promenade for Artists to
show their work was made and Councilman Terry Johnson asked if we could hang a
banner and lights to make this venue a true Art Alley. He said, “it could become
another Gas Lamp district”. This was in the year 1993.
It Happened! The Banner was hung, the days for our Art walks
were to be Thursday mornings which coincided with the Farmers Market and we
were in Business. With the songs of Jamaica
Steel drums on the tape in the Alley, folks came into a place which had NEVER
before been attempted.
I journeyed to Carlsbad
and conscripted the Community Arts group who painted on Coast
Highway in front of a Hotel every Sunday. About seven
came up that first day, and eventually they filled the Civic
Plaza every Thursday during the
Farmers Market.
That first morning at 5:00 AM
I was there with my German Shepherd Kruger, and we hosed down the Alley. With
the music, the fragrance of Coffee in the Air and Paintings lining the walkway,
we would become the one of the driving forces for the New Face of Oceanside, a
new element injected into a heretofore Marine Town and a place for the birth of Energy for The Arts to be Realized.
I will never forget our first day. One of our Artists sold a
painting for 1500.00 dollars. It was if we had come from outer space, but incredibly the alley was to become a force because of the talent and drive which
lived and breathed in this place once considered the armpit of Oceanside.
Members of this group were James Aitchison, Ginny Thompkins,
Michael Rosenblatt, Andre Blaine, Gigi the photographer, Sally our wildlife portraitist, and
others who filled the upstairs studios. From this group the beginnings of the
Arts Commission were infused with real artists whose commitment to our City has
become legend.
The Idea of an Art Museum was being Born.
Going Back to the Future:
