Making art, whether it be ballet, a play, or public art, is inherently an act of resistance.
The arts can elevate our sense of community and solidarity by beautifying our surroundings. Through visual storytelling, art can be a catalyst for change, inspire hope, and explain ourselves to each other.
We are grateful to the artists, galleries, and arts spaces who have faithfully kept the First Thursday ArtWalk going for the past 28 years. To celebrate, we will be conducting a guided tour of San Pedro’s public murals using the Downtown San Pedro trolley during the First Thursday ArtWalk on November 6. We will visit the following locations:
SOULFUL SUNRISE
by Luis Sanchez
454 West 6th Street (in the Lilyan Fierman Walkway)
Officially unveiled on February 2, 2017, the Arts District was thrilled to announce a mural award to local artist Luis Sanchez. This was part of the City of Los Angeles’ “1% for the Arts” funding, negotiated by Joe Buscaino’s Council 15 office. It is on the east wall of the Lilyan Fierman Walkway.
Born in Mexico City, Luis Sanchez is a fine art painter, sculptor, and muralist who painted two of our DOT boxes. Luis notes, “When looking at the history of our historic theatre, its incredible design and history, I wanted to show a tale of past, present, music, dance, movement, celebration of the arts, as well as the diverse culture of San Pedro. I also used some of the applied design elements from the interior of the Warner Grand.”
LA SERNA DE OJO
Sirens Community Mural
402 West 7th Street (parking lot side)
To make the arts more accessible to everyone, we believe an essential part of our mission is promoting public art. When we were given the chance to paint our second mural, the San Pedro Waterfront Arts conducted a mural workshop with a dozen community members, led by Teaching Artist Virginia Broersma.
On June 18, 2017, in the former Machine Studio on 6th Street in San Pedro, the Arts District, in collaboration with Sirens Java & Tea, launched a novel community mural project called Adventures in Public Art. The six-week workshop was designed to give participants a common foundation in the elements of art, color theory, principles of design, analysis of art elements, and the creation of artworks that reflect complex ideas and expressive content. This highly collaborative method of creating public art was completed with the help of over 25 volunteers and the 12 core workshop students.
This mural has a Snapchat Augmented Reality activation, built by Otis Teaching Artist Raul Moreno, with images created by the POLAHS CTE students and funded by a grant from the NEA.
LA PINCOYA EN EL NORTE
by Revival Murals
LAMI, Berth 73, Building G (on the Harbor Blvd. side of West Harbor)
This mural was painted in December 2023 by the Revival Murals team of Alonsa Guevara and James Razko on the Los Angeles Maritime Institute’s shop wall.
Guevara, the Chilean half of Revival Murals, explains, “La Pincoya is a mythological character from the Pueblo Chilote (south of Chile). We think it is interesting to introduce her to this part of the Pacific Ocean. ‘La Pincoya en El Norte’ (in the North), in my opinion, it’s a metaphor for migration and unification of two far-away but similar maritime cultures.”
The 72’ x 15’ LAMI mural is the third community engagement mural in our Adventures in Public Art program and included two community painting days, with over 60 locals helping paint it. Generous contributions from the Port of Los Angeles Community Grant Program, a grant from the LA County Creative Recovery Program, and numerous private donations funded it. This mural also has a Snapchat Augmented Reality activation.
To register for the First Thursday ArtWalk guided tour on November 6, visit sanpedrowaterfrontartsdistrict.com. spt
Linda Grimes is the executive director of the San Pedro Waterfront Arts District and can be reached at 55lindagrimes@gmail.com.
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