BloomfestLA

MANY THANKS to everyone who participated in this year’s BloomfestLA!  Please share your experiences — past and present — by posting photos on our BloomfestLA Flickr group – click HERE to join. Tag your photos “BloomfestLA” and they will be included in a slide show.

ENTER the 2011 BLOOMFESTLA PHOTO CONTEST!

Submit your favorite 2011 BloomfestLA photos at www.Flickr.com/groups/BloomfestLA — be sure to tag these as “2011 BloomfestLA Photo Contest” — which automatically enters you to win cool prizes, including hotel stays (for example, Ace Hotel in Palm Springs has provided one night’s lodging in a garden suite plus a bucket of beer, courtesy of L.A. Canvas), dinner certificates, and more from our festival partners and local businesses.

To be considered for this year’s contest, all photos must be submitted on this BloomfestLA Flickr group page by Friday, August 5, 2011.

RULES & REGULATIONS

1) The photo must be taken during BloomfestLA (past or present) and uploaded at www.Flickr.com/groups/BloomfestLA and tagged as “2011 BloomfestLA Photo Contest.”

2) Each member can submit up to 10 photos.

3) Each member must indicate where and when the photo was taken, and under which category that the photo should be considered:

–BEST MOTION SHOT
–BEST CROWD SHOT
–BEST FOOD SHOT
–BEST BAND SHOT
–BEST NEIGHBORHOOD SHOT
–BEST HIPSTERS SHOT
–BEST EXHIBITORS or SPONSORS SHOT (booth and/or products)
–BEST ART SHOT
–BEST OVERALL SHOT

4) This contest is open to professional and non-professional photographers.

5) The photo must be your own and not something you found on the Internet.

6) BloomfestLA will select the finalists on Monday, August 8, 2011 and post top entries on its website at www.bloomfestla.com. Public comments will be accepted to assist the judges in choosing the winners.

7) All photographs will remain copyrighted to the photographer. However, by entering the contest, you hereby grant a royalty-free license to BloomfestLA (an entity that includes its organizer LARABA and producing partners EVFA and CauseConnect) for promotional use only, which includes the ability to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display your photographs in association with BloomfestLA through print and electronic media. By submitting work, you also accept that BloomfestLA can crop and alter your images, if needed, to make them suitable for print, display, and/or projection.

The winners will be announced by BloomfestLA on its website by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 15, 2011. The winner will be notified by a BloomfestLA representative through the contact methods available in the winner’s Flickr profile. Please make sure your Flickr profile is up-to-date so we can contact you!

QUESTIONS? Send an email to marketing@bloomfestla.com or click HERE.

We’re looking forward to having you in the Downtown Arts District! Here’s a couple of quick hints on how to get here.

Find your way to Alameda St. near Little Tokyo and just south of Union Station. Take 2nd St. EAST towards the Los Angeles River until the road ends at Santa Fe Ave. Turn right, and another immediate right to find yourself on 3rd St., driving west. The first public parking lot will be on your left at 960 E. 3rd St., which is a five-acre dirt lot for a flat $5 (cash only – no ins and outs – park and enter at your own risk ).

If you want to park somewhere fancier than our neighborhood dirt lot (thanks to Legendary Development Group for use during BloomfestLA!), continue west on 3rd St., turn right (north) on Garey St., cross 2nd St., and on your left, and down Garey towards 1st St., on your right, are two other parking lots (fees vary). In addition, if you are driving west from the 5 or 101 freeways (i.e., from the Eastside), exit 4th St., and after crossing the bridge, turn right at the stoplight on Merrick St., which curves left and turns into Traction Ave. There, you will find a public parking lot on your left near Green Hydro and across from Novel Cafe (811 Traction Ave.).

Here’s our festival layout just in case you don’t have a hard copy on hand. Click on the image below to be led to our online festival guide!

Have a happy day, dress COOL, and be prepared to have fun!

Help spread the word about BloomfestLA! Let the world know you’re coming, and you want them to come, too. Click HERE to grab an image to post in your blog, on your Facebook page, or in your emails to others.

Join us on Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 2-10 PM!

Click HERE for a sneak peek NOW of our 2011 BloomfestLA festival guides! Pick up your advance copies at Cafe Metropol, Angel City Brewing, Novel Cafe, and other participating local businesses.

If you are an exhibitor, a vendor, or a sponsor who applied for a booth, note that our APPROVED list is now live on our website at www.bloomfestla.com/experience/booths. Booth assignments and instructions such as set-up and break-down times, parking, and more will be emailed to the contacts on file no later than Monday, July 18. Be sure that you have already paid, as there is a waiting list, and unpaid reservations are subject to cancellation. Questions? Send an email to marketing@bloomfestla.com ASAP.

Bloom’s Series: Portraits of the General Store by Toni Wells: Ten years ago, while working behind the counter of Bloom’s General Store, artist and American Hotel resident Toni Wells began asking local patrons if she could shoot their portraits against the iconic red brick storefront. Taken quickly in an unadorned snapshot style, her images flatter their subjects with the allure of blood-red vibrancy and a corresponding duality of dingy honesty. They provide a glimpse of some of the locals who have been part of this L.A. neighborhood and are a link to the early days of the Arts District. The exhibit offers today’s residents a poignant group portrait of a small part of the previous generation. Curated by Gary Callahan. Made possible by SCI-Arc Art & Architecture Supply Store. Presented by Melissa Richardson Banks (aka @DowntownMuse). On view during BloomfestLA near Traction & Hewitt General Store – www.toniwells.com

Downtown Legends: Selected for their extraordinary artistic merit and their significant contributions to the community, five local artists — Lili Lakich, Andre Miripolsky, Robert Reynolds, Rick Robinson, and Michael Salerno — have works on display. On view at Art Share Los Angeles through August 4 at 801 E. 4th Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90013 – www.artsharela.org

Burning Man Portraits by Owen A. Kelly: Nearly 40 large-format black-and-white photographic prints taken in a nomadic studio at Black Rock Desert, Nevada during Burning Man events from 2008 to 2010. On view at Angel City Brewing through August 14 at 216 S. Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 - www.owenakelly.com

Street Brewed: Contemporary Street Art: Over 25 internationally known artists — many included in MOCAs current “Art in the Streets” are premiering original works produced on 10’x12’ wood panels in this inaugural presentation of the coolest new Downtown Los Angeles art space. On view at Angel City Brewing through August 14 at 216 S. Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 – www.angelcitybrewing.com and www.jetsetgraffiti.com

It was five years ago today that Joel Bloom passed away. In some ways, it seems like the last time he threw me out of his store (“get outta here, doofus!”) was just yesterday. In other ways, it feels like decades. The spirit of community activism that he inspired lives on … While no one can ever be expected to replace him as our unofficial mayor, the area still seems to attract colorful, spirited, quirky characters who would have appealed to Joel. May a thousand blossoms Bloom!

~ Jonathan Jerald

Please help us thank our latest community supporters of BloomfestLA! All are new to the Downtown Arts District, and will be participating in this year’s event, too. On Saturday, July 23, be sure to stop by and get a slice or two of pie at  The Pie Hole, listen to live jazz at NOLA’s, and buy a bottled water at Traction & Hewitt (proceeds help support our neighborhood beautification projects!).

The Pie Hole: Family owned and operated, proprietors Sean Brennan, Matthew Heffner, and Matt’s mom Rebecca Grasley share generations of pie served with a generous smile. Offering sweet and savory pies cooked fresh daily starting August 2011, The Pie Hole combines a passion for excellent pie and great coffee together in a community-oriented space. 714 Traction Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90013; www.thepieholela.com

Traction & Hewitt General Store: Occupying the former Bloom’s General Store, Vivian Um and Arsen Khachatrian offer everyday household and grocery items such as grab-and-go lunches, pet food, custom merchandise such as Bloom’s General Store t-shirts and more. 716 Traction Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90013; (213) 281-7603; www.tractionandhewitt.com

NOLA’s Taste of New Orleans: Formally launching with a grand opening party during BloomfestLA, Cabrini Schnyder partners with Jason Ha to bring “food for every soul” to the Downtown Arts District. Serving Sunday brunch and offering nightly live jazz. 734 E. 3rd St. Los Angeles, CA 90013; (213) 680-3003; www.nolasla.com

We’re proud that BloomfestLA is supported by Downtown Arts District businesses and organizations! To date, in addition to LARABA, supporters include Wurstküche, Cafe Metropol, Angel City Brewing, NOLA’s Taste of New Orleans, Traction & Hewitt General Store, Arts District Healing Center, LADADspace, Legendary Investment Group, Novel Cafe, CauseConnect, EVFA, MacDonald Media, View from a Loft, The Pie Hole, Mass Commute | The Frugal World, Minor Thread + Vint, The Evans Group | The Factory Label, Keep A Breast Foundation, Art Share Los Angeles, Zip Fusion, K-Town BBQ, Arts District BID, MATTEO Home, Project Butterfly, HiDef Entertainment, District Millworks, Mosaic, Kettle Black, and I Love Woo, along with our nearby neighbors American Apparel, Yxta Cocina Mexicana, L.A. Conservation Corps, and Raw Materials. Not on this list? Call (213) 446-3467 TODAY to be included in our printed BloomfestLA festival guides, which are being designed now and will go to print on Monday! For more information, email marketing@bloomfestla.com.

QUESTION: What’s gray, green and orange and twice the size of a city bus? ANSWER: The 2011 BloomfestLA billboard at Olympic & Main in Downtown Los Angeles … right in front of the California Market Center! Yep, courtesy of MacDonald Media and our neighborhood pal and artist Rick Robinson, we have a HUGE billboard promoting this year’s festival right in front of the California Market Center! So, if you wanna see it, drive south on Main towards Olympic, and it will be on your right (or the west side of the street). You WON’T miss it … LOL — even if you’re stuck in traffic behind a bus!