Brighten Your Nights with Holiday Light Art

BOTANIC WONDERLAND, Quail Gardens Drive, photo courtesy SDGB

By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt. Photos by Maurice Hewitt 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but it’s been hard for me to get my ho-ho-ho on this holiday season. So I really appreciate the folks who have been brightening our nights with their lighthearted Christmas displays. 

Here’s some of what my husband and I saw on an early-evening drive-by around our Encinitas neighborhood. There’s probably light art in your neighborhood too; just ask friends for recommendations or check online. This year, it’s best to stay in your car, taking in the sights slowly and safely, though we did notice a few families standing quietly on the sidewalk, admiring the artistry for awhile. If you plan to do that, wear a mask. And wherever you go for enlightenment, here’s wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season.

Village Run West & East, off Gardendale Road, Encinitas.

Plenty of inventive displays to be found on this circling street! Here are two of our favorites—a block apart—on Village Run. The Nativity scene is just part of a large-scale installation, and what you see as two different views of a House of Blue Lights is in fact a constantly changing program of colors, patterns and tempos, so you may have to hang out and wait for the Blues. For musical accompaniment, tune your car radio to 88.3.

Gitano Street, off Chapalita Drive, Encinitas.

There’s a grand show of light art and community spirit on Gitano, with strings of colored lights linking imaginatively decorated homes on both sides of the street. Look for the animated dragon, spreading his Christmas wings, and go on to even more lights as you round the corner onto Olmeda Street.

 

BOTANIC WONDERLAND, Quail Gardens Drive.

For a really special evening, combine nature and art on a De-Light-Full stroll through San Diego Botanic Garden. Advance reservations and masks are required, but once you’ve got your tickets and arrive in the Garden, you can stay until closing time. The month-long light-up started December 2, but you can still visit Wonderland from now through December 23 and 26-30, from 5–8:30 p.m. (SDBG is closed December 24 and 25.) Tickets are $7-$18, with reservations available at https://www.sdbgarden.org/botanicwonderland.htm

 

 Photo by Rachel Cobb, Courtesy SDGB

 

Lonnie Burstein Hewitt is an award-winning author/lyricist/playwright who has written about arts and lifestyle for the La Jolla Light and other local media for over a dozen years. You can reach her at hew2@sbcglobal.net 

Kaori Fukuyama Light After Dark at Engage Gallery

 by Patricia Frischer

Kaori Fukuyama

Kaori Fukuyama Light After Dark at Engage Gallery: Walk through and panel discussion 

I was lucky enough to be part of the virtual walk through of Light After Dark with a video presentation about Kaori Fukuyama’s art and the building where the exhibition is housed.  There was a live guided tour where Melissa Walter remoting was able to ask the videographer to show us specific aspects of the exhibition during the walk through but there were 2 other tours with their own "puppeteers.". The panel discussion afterward was a more general discussion about the pandemic because the beginning question from Aaron Martlage from Border UX strategy, design, architecture and development agency, the presenter was, “What is your darkest moment in 2020 and how did that affect your process. The last question, “Where do you personally find the light?” The artists agreed on many of these observations.

Kaori Fukuyama –

•         At the beginning of the pandemic lockdown there was a lovely feeling of freedom with less pressure and no deadlines.
•         Kaori needs solitude to connect to herself. But then a feeling of the prolonged unknown future took over.  She was affected by the negative feelings from lots of hard luck stories she heard.
•         Although she is working more, she is more aware of the need to make meaningful work.
•         Looking at light itself, lights her up.

Melissa Walter -

•         There are no distractions in isolation.
•         She too, questions the role of art and wants to be able to concentrate on her role to promote anti-racism.
•         Connection is a catalyst for ideas, and online talks and art tours have broadened her view.
•         She is looking forward to developing a new language which focuses on the human experience.
•         Birthing something out of nothing gives her great light and joy.  

 Bhavna Mehta –

•         Not being close to those who need us is sobering.
•         Art is a coping mechanism which is a privilege and a burden. On good days it is empowering, but there are lots of bad days.
•        To figure out the future, one needs silence and time. James Baldwin said, “The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers.”   
•         We must take advantage of what we have experienced but move forward into the light.

 Katie Ruiz –

•         There is lots of loss, from COVID but also from mental health issues as well.
•         In her journals she is noticing how she has reacted to tough times and exploring how art can make others feel better.
•         She was able to finished some long overdue projects, have time to grow, but short-term making masks made her feel useful.   
•         She is lit up by how artists support artists and how much the public supported artist with commissions and purchases.

 Christian Garcia-Olivo – 

•        Although the pandemic causes a huge loss of opportunities it was a reminder of how important art is.
•         There is lots of negative energy but he uses his art to let out those emotions.
•         The challenge is to come to terms with not knowing.
•         One of his goals is to work with a larger community in the future.
•         The moment of discovery is when the light is emitted.

 

Collectors during the Pandemic

by Patricia Frischer

In a set of interviews by Artsy: 19 Collectors on the Art They Bought in 2020 you can get a good cross section from around the world of how art collectors are reacting to the pandemic.

It was heartening to see that this group of collectors is either still collecting, collecting more, or collecting a bit less but investing directly to help artists.

Collectors are doing more virtual studio tours. They are looking outside of their geographical area. They are attending more art fairs as they can see them all instead of having to pick and choose which to attend physically.  They want personal connections.

Staying at home means they have time to look at, re-hang and access their own collections. This is therapeutic for them. They are researching more and filling gaps in their collections.  They are looking at how the artists are reacting to the pandemic…smaller and more introspective works are appreciated. 

As they are continuing to support large institutions, some are particularly supporting programs that support acquisitions by artist in order to help the artist survive. Inclusivity and diversity are terms that are used often when thinking about what donations to make. They are lending works for shows with those types of themes more and more. Some with big hearts and large properties are even opening studio space for artist or programs impacted by the pandemic.