Downtown bringing back Broadway- GRAFFITI
For those if you who do not know, there is a movement to bring back downtown Los Angeles. Believe it or not Downtown Los Angeles had a BROADWAY much like New York back in the day of Vaudeville and early Hollywood. Many of the theaters of that era still stand but they have fallen on hard times. Many of them have been used as FILM SETS. I have been inside several and a few months ago all were open to the public to see and enjoy. The objective is not just to revitalize the area to its original splendor but according to “Bringing Back Broadway” an initiative of Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar, there is a ten year plan to revitalize Broadway between 2nd Street and Olympic. The plan is to be environmentally friendly and create a more pedestrian friendly atmosphere.
Some of the old Theaters are no longer theaters. Urban Outfitters renovated the Rialto Theater as a store though they have made the face very artistic in nature. Many of the other Theaters are being opened as spaces for art gallery and parties and live performance from dance, to music, to performance art, to actually theater programming.
The design history of the area of signage is being encouraged, especially neon. A grant has been given for Facade lighting. I hope that the city is encouraging sustainable ways to run the lighting. There is also a plan to have a Downtown Streetcar covering 4 miles.
Huizar has a plan called Clean Communities which looks fantastic, however, the top initiative is Graffiti Removal. I hope they made an assessment of whether the art is Graffiti or art, because the style of Los Angeles URBAN art is Graffiti and many of the murals downtown are works that would be shameful to lose. I personally am staying out of the politics of downtown. I am just making this information available for the artists in Downtown to be able to know and voice concern. They apparently plan to use a “Graffiti tracker program” to use photos and GPS to fight Graffiti. If you know artists please make sure they get permission to paint in downtown. I met a LONDON Graffiti artist who was actually looking for places he could get permission to do his work. I hope that the communities of downtown do not turn away urban artists from expressing their creativity in a legal manner, ie permissible murals reflecting the true spirit of Los Angeles urban art.
For more information about Bringing Back Broadway, find them on Twitter @dtla_broadway Instagram @bringingbackbroadway or Facebook /bringingbackbroadway
To learn about the theater renovations go to the website of the LOS ANGELES HISTORIC THEATRE FOUNDATION at lahtf.org. All in all there are about seven major Theater spaces downtown in that area. United Artists Theatre at ACE HOTEL, ORPHEUM, TOWER, GLOBE, PALACE, LOS ANGELES, and the MILLION DOLLAR THEATER. There is also the Regent Theatre at Fourth & main. Gallery Row. The State Theater. There is also the LOS ANGELES CENTER FOR DIGITAL ART (I am a digital artist).
There is also a Free weekly e-newsletter highlighting family friendly events and activities. To subscribe go to www.downtownlosangeles.macaronikid.com
Please feel free to scroll through the gallery of photos below from the Bringing Back Broadway event on January 31, 2015. I had a technical problem with my camera and thought I lost these photos.