When one thinks of Venice Beach, California images of men and women pumping iron comes to mind, but there is so much more to this sunny California beach. Apart from the plentiful people looking to show off their well toned bodies, Venice beach attracts many other characters to its soft sands. The boardwalk is crowded with street performers and vendors aiming to please the tourists. Rollerbladers, skaters, bikers and dog walkers all vie for their own room to move. Store fronts welcome all inside to purchase the cheapest of sunglasses and sandals; sounds like any other beach on the west coast, doesn’t it.
But Venice is so much more. Unlike the gentrified Santa Monica, Venice is a town originally devoted to the artist. Any bare wall won’t stay bare for long. Intricate designs done in spray-paint cover bricks and concrete, creating atheistically pleasing creations of defiance. It’s more than just tagging it’s art; art that digs deep within the earth and pulls out the worst and the best of the world we live in. But the hard work of these law breakers won’t stay for long, just long enough for its message to be seen then it will be blasted away; but you better believe they’ll paint a new message as soon as the sun goes down.
Some homes are private art museums, and studios that every Saturday will present its contents to those who wish to see it; it’s not hard to find them all, you just need to know where to look. One in particular is recognized by the concrete wall that divides it from its neighbor, but here’s the twist the wall isn’t bare. On either side of the wall art has exploded like a war, beautiful pictures pushing the other side to try harder, think deeper, and create more than thought possible.
Venice is the home of the eclectic, and the artist; those that try to change their world through the visual arts. The Venice sign hangs above its boulevard, a road that connects to the iconic Sunset Boulevard. From there you can go all over L.A. and its surrounding towns. Those of which include the beautiful town of Culver where the trees on either side of the road reach out high above the asphalt to caress one another in the gentle and intoxicating breeze from the sea, Santa Monica and its famous Pier jutting out into the singing ocean, and Hollywood and its many beautiful places and faces.