The Downtown Art Walk is a self-guided tour that showcases the many art exhibition venues in Downtown Los Angeles – commercial art galleries, museums, and non-profit arts venues.

A FREE Art Walk shuttle moves visitors around the Gallery Row portion of the Downtown Art Walk from 6-10 pm. Pickups and stops are available on demand – just wave to the vehicle to stop or alert the driver to exit. The shuttle is a vintage retrofitted 1940s school bus, and is hosted by Kim Cooper and Richard Schave of Esotouric, who curate it as moving performance venues. The shuttle is called The Hippodrome.

Participating Galleries

Continental Gallery
The Museum of Contemporary Art
Gallery at REDCAT
7+FIG Art Space
Gallery 1927 at the Fine Arts Building
Los Angeles Central Library
PYO Gallery LA
FIDM Museum & Galleries
Japanese American National Museum
LA Artcore Center
Art Slave
Morono Kiang Gallery
bank
Museum of Neon Art
Crewest
LAMP Community Art Project
Pharmaka Art
Los Angeles Center for Digital Art

El Nopal Press
Bert Green Fine Art
Julie Rico Gallery
The Latino Museum
Phyllis Stein Art
Todd/Browning Gallery
Niche.LA Video Art
Deborah Martin Gallery
Phantom Galleries LA
Crack Gallery
Mundo Maya/Galeria Mijares
The Spring Street Gallery
compact|space
Fifty/24 Gallery
The Last Laugh
Arty
Downtown Art Center Gallery
Infusion Gallery
G727
The Hive Gallery
USC Windows
Gary Leonard
The Landing Party

France has had a Minister of Culture for over 50 years through both conservative and liberal democracies. The position was created to keep French culture thriving. I feel French and Americans agree that the arts are a valuable piece of our cultures. By creating this position, President Obama will be further acknowledging the importance of art in our society. That will be a benefit to everyone.

Your home should nourish you and help you achieve your goals in life.

The purpose of a home should not merely be to shelter you, but also to nourish you and help you achieve your goals in life. For this to become a reality, the space in your home needs to answer your demand for positive energy and flow. Many people fail to create positive energy in their homes, and as a result often find that their homes actually serve to counteract their goals. A home of any type or size can become a trap of negative thinking, weakened creativity, and imbalance. At the same time, a home of any type or size can greatly benefit from the principles of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui home planning takes your own personal character into account and creates a layout pattern that will brighten and support your sense of comfort and well-being. It will allow you to realize the true purpose of the different aspects of your home. For example, Feng Shui can make a living or dining room more open and welcoming to guests, while bringing your own personal spaces, such as bedroom or bath, into closer alignment with your own personal needs. In this sense, Feng Shui can be said to amplify the many functions your home is expected to perform.

Feng Shui for Business Space

The ancient Chinese art of creating an environment of balance and prosperity
A place of work is generally the place of high demands and high pressure. The success of a business rides directly on sustained productivity, focus, flexibility, and progressive thinking. These are some of the very elements that Feng Shui can provide or improve in a business space. Feng Shui principles can help identify the use and flow of space most conducive to a positive working atmosphere, which, studies have shown, provides global long-term benefits to both employer and employee. In addition, Feng Shui principles can radically influence the way that customers move through- and interact with -retail space, offering a degree of control that is essential to financial success.

For more info please contact Master Yau.

The photos in this show are mostly pictures of California. Various landscapes and beach locations have been selected for display. I met the owners Scott and Craig Lurie at the Beverly Hills Art show a few months back and they invited me to present my work in their galleries. I collaborated with the Sunset Strip gallery to decide on which pieces to use and we worked to incorporated different formats and print sizes that work best in the space.

A lot of prep work and organization goes into preparing for an opening. I have worked with a publicist to send out press releases, as well as invitations to potential buyers, art critics and media outlets. Jason, the gallery manager has been putting the physical part of the show together. What to hang and where to hang it may seem easy but there really is an art to it. Because of the non-traditional sizes of many of these works, much thought and effort goes into displaying each piece just right.

I feel the Lurie Gallery is a great place to show my work. They have a real understanding of what I am doing and their staff is very knowledgeable and has been great to work with. I am looking forward to a great time, with some good wine, food and friends.

What resulted is an awe-inspiring collection of panoramic photos that capture the spirit of the race like never before. Shot entirely by Pojzman, the book is being called, “thought-provoking” (RAAM) and is sure to inspire not only cycling buffs but photography admirers and collectors as well.

Pour La Beaute du Geste (For The Beauty of It) is available for sale through the RAAM website.

Written by Jean Marc Velez

Layout by Eric Colin electrongraphique@free.fr

Photography by Olivier Pojzman

In 2008, an 8-man relay team from Norway, the Byggkjøp / BMC Cycling Team set a new RAAM speed record by crossing America in less than 5 ½ days with an average speed exceeding 23 mph. In 2005, Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France with an average speed of 25.9 mph, completing 21 stages covering 2,242 miles over a 23-day period. RAAM contestants, Byggkjøp / BMC Cycling Team rode 3,014 miles in a single stage in 5 ½ days. So RAAM isn’t only tough – it’s fast too!

It wasn’t until the age of 37 before Jean Marc Velez of Le Chesnais, France discovered his passion for ultra-endurance cycling. In 1999, Velez cycled in the internationally acclaimed Paris-Brest-Paris and the ultra-bug bit hard.

Next up was the Raid Provence Extreme and the XXAlps and then in 2005 he competed in the Furnace Creek 508. He had developed a love to travel, learn and discover through his body and bicycle and sought to explore more of North America and qualified for RAAM by competing in the Heart of the South 500. While he was not always successful in his competitions, he was always determined. His enthusiasm and passion for ultra-endurance brought him to San Diego in June of 2006 where he rolled his wheel up to the starting line of RAAM.

The morning was cool, a fog consumed the harbor which seemed to encapsulate the energy and intensity. Then the Star Bangled Banner rang out and from beneath the serene setting emerged the riders racing for Atlantic City. Jean Marc Velez was one of posse and he rode not only with determination but with great pride because he rode shoulder to shoulder with the world’s greatest ultra-endurance cyclists.

Yet in the days and nights that ensued a few challenges arose for Velez and his team. Issues compounded by his and their relative inexperience; the fog seemed to cling his campaign, obscuring his chances of success. As Velez tried to find the beacon that would help him through it all, he thought, “what would RAAM be if not for the obstacles”, and he carried on riding the best he could.

He made it through the desert and up Wolf Creek Pass before crashing his bicycle between Cuchara Pass and Trinidad, Colorado. A crash which forced him to abandon the race. His scorecard was stamped with a “DNF”.

But like those before him Velez chose not to view the attempt as a defeat but as a learning experience. This was an opinion which was fortunately shared by his main sponsor PMC Partners, who was pleased that he simply made his first attempt at RAAM. The experience had taught Jean Marc many things and one of those matters was a deeper respect for the challenges of RAAM.

He continued training, made vast changes and again in 2007 he rolled his bicycle up to the start line. He saw the familiar faces of ’06 and this time he felt more assured, more like he belonged, that he had truly earned the honor to contest the Race Across America. He was more determined than ever and but he told himself, that if he didn’t reach the boardwalk this year he would not return.

But RAAM shows no favoritism, just because you want it, it doesn’t just lay down for you, you have to conquer it to get to the other side. Challenges and obstacles were hitting Velez like children attacking a piñata, he lost 4 of his crew members and morale was low with the rest of them, yet he kept turning his pedals over, one rotation at a time. He concentrated on that; one rotation, and then the next… His perseverance paid off.

After 11 and 2/3rd days in a race that he thought would never end, 8 years after the bug bit, Jean Marc Velez became an official RAAM finisher.

His determination and ability to overcome monumental problems was not lost on PMC and they renewed their sponsorship through 2009. These lessons of RAAM were not lost on Velez either and he decided to focus on training for 2008. Recently, he competed in the Race Around Slovenia and continues to train daily. He is working to build a unified and knowledgeable crew for his return in 2009.

It is often said that you have to be good to be lucky and Velez’ persistence seems to have granted him good fortune as his sponsor PMC has embraced RAAM right along with him. They filmed both his rides in 06 and 07 and used the film to study human behavior and have now developed a corporate philosophy specifically resulting from Jean Marc Velez and his crew’s experience in RAAM. A positive approach, founded with deep commitment and accomplished with talent.

PMC uses RAAM as a metaphor where the finishing cyclist is the goal and the crew is the client seeking efficient performance. The extreme situations, the adjustments, the behavior changes which RAAM puts the team through recreates the conditions of the corporate competition.

Jean Marc Velez, now prepares for RAAM 2009 with American PMC consultants, the company opening up a branch in California.

To share his passion for adventure, a coffee table style book, “For the Beauty of It“, showcase an illuminating collection of award winning photography of race and landscape images shot entirely by Olivier Pojzman.