2015 Cartwheel Art/Cartwheel Art Tours in Review
This year was an amazing year for art, and for those of us at Cartwheel Art! We kicked off the year with a special exhibition booth at the 2015 LA Art Fair, “Dark Progressivism: Metropolis Rising,” curated by Rodrigo Ribera D’Ebre and Lisa Derrick, and featuring14 artists, including Chaz Bojorquez, Defer, Big Sleeps, Prime, Abel Alejandre, Rafael Reyes, Gary Wong and Cryptik. Opening night Blink 182’s Travis Barker dropped by–he collects Chaz’s work and produced the most recent release by Rafael Reyes’ band, Prayers.
As LA Art Show media partners, Cartwheel Art Tours provided a docent tour of the Littletopia section, along with other highlights of the fair, in addition to leading guests on a special bus tour to the Arts District with a custom itinerary, created as a tie-in for the panel discussion, “The Development of an Art Scene and the Art of Development” that was part of the programming provided by Cartwheel Art for the LA Art Show. We also created tours for the Art District Alliance, as a component of the partnership Cartwheel Art had with the LA Art Show for artists exhibiting at LA Art Show in the Chinese section.
Some of the LA Art Show tour group guests with artist Tristan Eaton who painted a mural during our visit.
The Arts District Alliance tour group during in the south end of the Arts District tour with Cartwheel Art Tours.
We also showcased Dark Progressivism with Cartwheel Art booth featuring Prime at the LA Street Art Fair in October, again curated by D’Ebre and Derrick, and we were media sponsors for the inaugural event held at Siren Studios (and yes, we are media sponsors for Dark Progressivism, the documentary about Los Angeles and art, which will be released in 2016, and Lisa Derrick is one of the film’s associate producers).
Cindy Schwarzstein, Prime and Lisa Derrick at Street Art Fair
Rodrigo Ribera d’Ebre also wrote for us, covering everything from a prison arts program to Beyond Graffiti 2 at A + D Museum, Gajin Fajita’s Pacific Rim: State of Mind exhibition at LA Louvre, Verve and Vitality at Long Beach Museum of Art, and The Intro at Exclave Gallery. Lauren Over covered Subliminal Projects with Agents, Provocateurs: Subversive Skateboard Graphics and Artworks. We also provided media support for Coachella Music and Art Festival along with Trashed by Global Inheritance, and Blue Water Music Festival.
Shrine’s Big Horn Palace at Coachella showing one of the rams by Joel Dean Stockdill. Photo by Cindy Schwarzstein.
Jesse Hazelip at “Manifest Justice,” March 2015
Our guest writers covered Pow Wow Hawaii mural festival, and The Power of 3 at Flower Pepper Gallery and we got special insider photos and stories from Banksy’s Dismaland, along with a graffiti primer from Steve Grody, and an interview with Nicholas Ganzaka Kinom, and of course we covered Miami Art Week, where we were media partners with SCOPE Miami Beach. (Note: stay tuned for all of our contributors recap’s fcoming soon).
In the DTLA Arts District and surrounding neighborhoods, we covered the groundbreaking of the new 6th Street aquaduct, curated a major look at Downtown Los Angeles at Angel City Brewery for the Heritage Festival with an exhibition featuring over 65 artists and provided media support for numerous shows and events at A + D Museum, MAMA Gallery including James Georgopoulos for There is No End exhibition. Also, Art Share L.A. including their historic Ode to the 6th Street Bridge exhibition, Guerilla Atelier with Knowledge Benett, Wilding Cran Gallery, District Gallery with Zenka’s Presence, and Carlton Davis’ exhibition, along with Harmony Murphy Gallery and Ibid Gallery and the opening of Corey Helford Gallery with Ron English’s NeoNature: We are the New They and of course the DTLA Art Walk.
Some of the over 65 artists exhibiting in the Angel City Brewery Heritage Festival Art Show, curated by Cartwheel Art.
Ron English, Corey Helford Gallery, Boyle Heights
Contributor Eric Minh Swenson launched his “EMS: Nude Survey” series in Orange County, and provided photo coverage for numerous events including Kenny Scharf’s Born Again at Honor Fraser Gallery. Anthony Ausgang held a major solo show and Wini Brewer held both a solo show and a show featuring emerging women artists, both curated by Cartwheel Art editor Lisa Derrick, who herself was included in the Gabba Gallery’s “Curate This” and “Oh My Guad” at Fachapatoto in Boyle Heights. We experienced the power of art to affect social change at the mega-pop-up “Manifest Justice,” and explored Iranian American art with Advocartsy. We reveled in Paul K and Scott Hove’s shows at La Luz de Jesus, along with the gallery’s annual Laluzapalooza and Coaster Show, celebrated 20 years of Juxtapoz and a Robert Williams retrospective at Barnsdall (plus Hearsay at MOAH in Lancaster which featured Robert Williams)–and said farewell to Beyond Eden, while Greg Escalante opened a new gallery on Chung King Road, joining Coagula, Chinatown Studio, Charlie James Gallery and the Good Luck Gallery on one of the most gallery-packed streets in the city.
Robert Williams, at “Hearsay,” MOAH
Cartwheel Art Tours provided immersive art tours for a variety of groups and organizations during the year that included event programming as tie-ins for LA Weekly’s Artopia, Angel City Brewery’s Avocado and Heritage Festivals, The Industry’s Hopscotch Opera, The Gabba Gallery’s “Wishlist 3” exhibition, Gallery 38’s Cornbread exhibition, and others. In addition Cartwheel Art Tours provided fundraising opportunities for non-profit groups and organizations like Art Share LA, Community Art Project (CAP), and Temple Israel of Hollywood (TIOH), among others. Other tours provided educational opportunities for universities such as Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) from Germany, a private birthday party group for children to learn about graffiti with a hands on workshop, and others, along with tours featuring team-building experiences and group activities such as those for Talenthouse, T-Mobile, Google and more.
Ankore for the opera Hopscotch, at Angel City Brewery Alameda wall
Some of the tour guests during LA Weekly’s Artopia Tour listening to Steve Grody, historian and author of Graffiti LA.
Temple of Israel (TIOH) tour group with artist Angelina Christina, who spoke to the group about her work during the tour.
Community Art Project (CAP) tour group with artist AS Ashley, who provided a studio visit. Photo by Tom Lamb.
Tour group for students and faculty of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) from Germany with artist NUKE of UTI Crew.
Private street art/graffiti birthday tour group of children after the graffiti workshop with NUKE and Blosm.
Talenthouse group tour with Cartwheel Art Tours.
Some of the Obscura Society LA tour group with Cartwheel Art Tours, during studio visit with artist Heath Satow.
Private group tour with Cartwheel Art Tours during studio visit with artist Nicholas Bonamy.
Private group tour for Art Share LA as a fundraiser, viewing murals with Cartwheel Art Tours.
From the opening night of Orange Sunshine and the Mystic Artist, with artists and significant others .
Founder Cindy Schwarzstein also expanded Cartwheel Art Tours into Orange County, and other unique art communities, neighborhoods, and destinations,i ncluding the Gabba Arts District with The Gabba Gallery Alley project while also continuing to be the go-to in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District for tours as featured in Travel & Leisure Magazine. Cartwheel Art Tours, also began a monthly partnership with Obscura Society LA of Atlas Obscura, where they are creating custom itineraries and leading the groups on tours in both LA and Cindy’s hometown of Laguna Beach, which are expanding further in 2016. Individual collectors and collector groups, also were involved with Cartwheel Art Tours, where we provided an opportunity for buying opportunities with artists directly at their studios
Media partnerships and sponsorships included Exodus Events with La Bulla and El Velorio, along with events for Above the Streets, a gala fundraiser honoring Kent Twitchell at Art Share L.A., Temporary Space, and Artopia by LA Weekly, the exhibition of Orange Sunshine and the Mystic Artists at Coastline Community College. The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) exhibition Somewhere Over El Arco Iris, and their Call to Artists for Dia Los Muertos, also received our support.
Media support was also provided in Laguna Beach with Expressions Session 4, Ten: Orange County and Sons of Skywalker exhibition at Artists Republic in addition to the Ryman Arts Back to School juried exhibition at SaltFine Art Gallery/RAWsalt, where Cindy Schwarzstein was one of the jurors. We also provided media and outreach and support for The Creatives Project from Atlanta GA, and #IAMTHEMANY campaign by ACT/ART in partnership with The White House, OUTSIDEIN at Art Center College of Design and for On the Walls exhibition at Huntington Beach Art Center.
We also provided services and consultation to numerous clients with additional media support, event planning and programming, along with matching artists to brands, and published our 2nd annual Los Angeles Arts District Map & Guide.
Looking forward to an even more wonderful 2016! January is gonna be huge and it just gets better!
Part of the art show as a fundraiser for Homeboy Industries, curated by Lisa Derrick.
Rodrigo Ribera d’Ebre and Steve Grody at the book signing during LA Weekly’s Artopia at The Container Yard.