Wednesday August 7th is the Downey Symphony Orchestra’s annual “Pops in the Park” concert at Furman Park on Rives Ave south of Florence Ave. Music director Sharon Lavery plans an evening of classical favorites and movie scores that is always a crowd-pleasing experience.
Join us Sunday October 29th for the Die De Los Muertos Festival. Deadline for artwork submissions extended to Wednesday!
Join the “Pet Altar” Ofrenda at the Die De Los Muertos Festival, contact Pat Gil by Thursday October 26th
Submit your work to an exhibition presented by the Downey Arts Coalition in partnership with the City of Downey, the 10th Annual Downey Dia De Los Muertos Art Festival.
Artwork must be regarding theme of Dia De Los Muertos or Mexican Culture.
Where:
Downey Dia De Los Muertos Art Festival at Downey Civic Theater
8435 Firestone Blvd., Downey, CA
When:
Saturday, October 29, 2023 – 11:00am – 8:00pm
Parameters:
All Medias, Mixed Medias, All Sizes, Self-Contained
Entry Fee:
$5 Donation per selected art piece
Submission Deadline:
Saturday, October 21, 2023, Midnight
Artwork Submission:
Andrew Hernandez at andrewh@downeyarts.org
Student Art Submission:
Eloisa Ball at Ei@downeyarts.org
Art, Culture & Tradition
The Annual Downey Dia de Los Muertos Art Festival is back for its 5th year on Sunday, Oct 29th, 2017, downtown Downey, in and around the Downey Theatre, 8435 Firestone Blvd. The event is free, and so is the parking.
The festival opens at 11:00 am with introductions from the Mayor and City Council, and continues until 8:00 pm. During the opening, Tonatiuh Danza Azteca will perform a ceremonial Aztec dance, and the festivities commence.
This event recognizes the cultural significance of Dia de Los Muertos–Day of the Dead-an annual Mexican and Central American custom rooted in both Aztec and Catholic world views, that goes back hundreds of years. Dia de Los Muertos is when the spirits of the deceased return to earth, for one day, to hang out with the living.
The Downey Dia de Los Muertos Art Festival is an ever expanding footprint packed with attractions that cover three stages with continuous film, music and ballet folklorico entertainment. “Urban Art Alley” features “Found Art” (aka “Urban Art”), fine art, sculpture, altar displays, “make n’ take” arts and crafts, sugar-skull decorating, face painting and displays of both traditional altars and more unconventional “car altars.”
The Downey Arts Coalition has partnered with the festival for each of the past five years, to bring a wide variety of fine art celebrating the Day of the Dead to the lobby of the Downey Theatre. Curated by Carolina Del Toro, artists are featured both from the local community as well as Southern California and beyond.
The Downey Dia de Los Muertos Art Festival is generally recognized as one of the Southland’s most outstanding Dia de Los Muertos celebrations due, in part, to the indoor/outdoor setting and the quality and variety of entertainment, and also due to the overall presentation that includes color-coordinated booths and decorations, indoor restrooms, and folklorico dances in the 738 seat theatre.
The Downey Dia de Los Muertos Art Festival is produced by the City of Downey and the Downey Theatre. Festival sponsors include La Amapola Market, AppleCare Medical Group, Avenue Press, Downey Federal Credit Union, Downey Nissan, Modelo, and Rose Hills Memorial Park.
The Downey City Council approved a renewal of the Arts in Public Places funding that supports Stay Gallery’s downtown lease. The gallery provides an open, public community center for the arts in Downey, featuring exhibits of local artists, events for the Downey Unified School District, classes, and more. The Downey Arts Coalition will also be more involved in bringing programming to the gallery in the years to come.
To read more about the decision, visit The Downey Patriot:
The Avenue Theatre is about to be sold – at Monday’s City Council meeting (November 7, 2016) the City of Downey will vote whether to approve the sale of the property to Downey Restaurant Group.
Update: Council approved the sale 3-0 with Marquez absent and Vasquez abstaining.
Downey locals Adrian Amosa and Kirk Cartozian (a former mayor) partnered to form the company, and earlier this year opened the popular new Gaucho Grill restaurant at the Downey Promenade.
The Avenue is one of the historical icons of Downtown Downey. Built in 1922, originally as a vaudeville stage with a fly system, it was renovated as the Avenue in 1949 to be a first run movie house. The stage also served as a dance studio for choreographer Doris Niles. It’s last official operation as a 2nd run movie house ended in 2003.
The City of Downey purchased the property in 2008 with the goal of developing the property for housing and mixed-use. Requests for proposals were submitted to the development community to find an appropriate project for the site. National Community Renaissance (the developer of The View apartment complex on 2nd Street) had an earlier proposal, but the project never got off the ground.
With a sale price of $750,000, the Restaurant Group is purchasing the property and the building, which is in decrepit condition and deemed unsafe in its current form. The proposal is for adaptive reuse of the building, within the same 10,000 foot structure and footprint. The complex has a proposed name of Alegria at the Avenue Theatre, which relates it to one of the Restaurant Group’s related properties, Alegria Cocina Latina restaurant in downtown Long Beach.
Two storefronts will be created, one fronting Downey Avenue, which will keep and restore the existing cinema marquee. A second restaurant will open up to Third Street at the north end of the former auditorium, with potential for outdoor seating as well. The majority of the masonry that defines the red brick building will be kept intact and restored (No word on what will become of the massive bee hives that inhabit the roof).
The proposal and terms of the sale are available at the city’s website under City Council Agendas, for this Monday. Within the agreement is a brief description of the proposed Conditional Use Permit that would need to be approved by the Planning Commission (which is not guaranteed). It describes live entertainment, dancing, performance dancers used with live entertainment, including those used in dancing styles of flamenco, merengue, salsa, rumba, samba, tango and others (Alegria in Long Beach is also known for it’s flamenco), amplified music, private rental for special events, valet parking, rooftop entertainment, hours of operation through 2:00 a.m., patio dining on the sidewalk along 3rd Street and Downey Avenue, removal of two city trees on 3rd Street, and ABC (liquor) licenses type 47 or 48.
Also interesting to note from the proposed agreement, in exchange for the developer preserving and restoring the historical features of the building, the city will waive the Art in Public Places requirement, which sets aside 1% of the cost of the project for publicly displayed artwork (or contributing to the city’s public art fund).
The Avenue has been a point of contention in the community. In 2009 a small group of community activists launched a “Save the Avenue” campaign, along with an online petition, when projects were first discussed for the building. Along with the conservation of a historic landmark, it was the group’s contention that downtown Downey was missing a hub for arts and culture, which the Avenue could potentially play a role. Wish-list uses included a performing arts center, a smaller 99-seat theatre, a cinema for indie film, and art gallery space.
A bit of DAC history: the renewed interest in the arts at that time, also fueled by articles in the Downey Patriot by theatre critic Lawrence Christon, impacted the formation of the Downey Arts Coalition in 2010. Nothing became of the petition, but in 2011 the city approved money from the Art in Public Places fund to paint a mural over the boarded up front of the Avenue, in an effort to recall the vibrant life the theatre once had.
If you can’t get enough history of the Avenue Theatre, see below.
Visit the Cinema Treasures page for the Avenue Theatre.
Visit George Manzanilla’s Flickr album of interior photos of the Avenue Theatre after it was shut down.
See the trailer for “Midnight Movie” that filmed at the Avenue Theatre after it was closed (viewer discretion advised).
This Sunday, DAC’s own Carolina Del Toro has curated a new show of work around “the Day of the Dead” for the Dia De Los Metros festival at the Downey Theatre. Come upstairs and enjoy the art exhibit in the lobby of the theatre.
Full press release follows:
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On October 2nd, 2016, the Downey Arts Coalition and the City of Downey present a celebration of Art, Film, Space and Downey’s 60th Anniversary. “Stardust Art Festival” takes place 12PM to 6PM at the Downey Civic Theatre, with free movies provided by GlennFest Film Festival including Ice Age: Collision Course, the astronaut documentary The Last Man on the Moon, and the anime concert film Joe Hisaishi in Budokan: Studio Ghibli 25 Years. The Aerospace Legacy Foundation presents a panel discussion about Downey’s role in aerospace history, “Journey to the Stars and Beyond.” There will be artist booths on the plaza, live music, food trucks, and “Cosmic,” a special curated art exhibit in the theatre lobby.
Downey Arts Coalition in partnership with the Downey Symphonic Society, Aerospace Legacy Foundation, Glennfest Film Festival, and the City of Downey present:
“Stardust Art Festival”
Sunday, October 2
Downey Theatre and Ken Miller Plaza
Art Walk noon to 6:00 p.m.
vendors, music, food trucks, refreshments for sale
Opening of Art Exhibit “Cosmic” in Theatre Lobby
12:30 p.m. film Ice Age: Collision Course in the Downey Civic Theatre
2:30 p.m. panel presentation: “Journey to the Stars and Beyond” by Aerospace Legacy Foundation
4:00 p.m. film Last Man on the Moon (documentary on Gene Cernan and Apollo Program)
6:00 p.m. film Joe Hisaishi in Budokan: Studio Ghibli 25 Years (concert film by the composer for anime master Hayao Miyazaki)
introduced by Sharon Lavery, Music Director, Downey Symphony Orchestra
Artists
We’re proud to host a number of artists from Downey and beyond:
About the Films
The Last Man on the Moon (4PM) is an impressively crafted, affectionate portrait of astronaut Gene Cernan and, by extension, the program that concluded with Cernan’s 1972 Apollo 17 landing. Conveyed in first person through the razor-sharp recollections of the now 81-year-old Texas rancher, the film traces Cernan’s career trajectory, going back to his days in San Diego as a hot-shot naval aviator, blending terrific archival footage with contemporary perspectives to quietly poetic effect. More information and trailers at www.thelastmanonthemoon.com.
Ice Age: Collision Course (12:30PM – PG) is the fifth movie in the popular series from Blue Sky Studios. Manny the mammoth starts to worry when his daughter Peaches announces her engagement. Still unlucky in love, Sid the sloth volunteers to plan the couple’s wedding. To Manny’s dismay, nothing can stop the upcoming nuptials, except maybe the end of the world. When Scrat accidentally launches himself into outer space, he sets off a chain reaction that sends an asteroid hurtling toward Earth. Now, the entire herd must leave home to explore new lands and save itself from Scrat’s cosmic blunder. Website.
Joe Hisaishi in Bodukon: Studio Ghibli 25 Years (6PM) Joe Hisaishi, one of the greatest composers of Japanese film music to date, conducts the New Japan Philharmonic (World Dream) Orchestra among a host of other musicians, including marching bands and choirs, numbering over a thousand musicians on stage, performing in the Nippon Budokan venue in Japan. This concert celebrates 25 years of collaboration between Joe Hisaishi and Hayao Miyazaki and is a jubilee of the music that Hisaishi has composed for an assortment of the Miyazaki films, some of them re-arranged here and there for concert performance. Selections from the films are projected onto the enormous screen that looms over the orchestra to go along with the music. The selections are from “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind,” “Princess Mononoke,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea”, “Laputa: Castle in the Sky,” “Porco Rosso”, “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “Spirited Away,” and “My Neighbor Totoro.” (Review source: Yu-Ten Lee via Amazon.com)
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This event is FREE and open to the public. Handicap accessible. For more information contact Downey Arts Coalition at contact@www.downeyarts.org or call (562) 419-ARTS (2787)
Call to Artists! Join us in our next group art exhibition: Cosmic coming to the Downey Civic Theatre October 2nd to the 25th. Downey Arts Coalition presents the show in collaboration with the Downey Symphony Orchestra’s fall concert.
The theme is, “The universe, sun, moon, outer space, celestial bodies, space travel, terrestrial landscapes and space exploration.” Downey has a special connection to space, as the home of the Apollo, creators of the Apollo capsules, and the place where the Space Shuttle was designed and many of the parts built.
All medias, mixed media, all sizes, self-contained. No fee to submit, each selected piece is subject to a participation fee of $5. Deadline is Monday, September 19th.
Take us on a journey into the stars and the vast reaches of space to worlds outside our understanding. Mankind’s imagination was realized as we went beyond our fears with space exploration, gazing upon the wonder beyond our home into the celestial beauty of the cosmos.
Selected artists will be featured in the Symphony concert program and be publicly recognized from the stage, as well as have the opportunity to purchase discounted tickets to the evening’s performance.
For consideration, email andrewh@www.downeyarts.org, Jpeg images of the artwork, and list the title, size, medium and a sentence about the relation to the theme.