ART
FOR DOWNEY'S SAKE
An
Interview with Roy Anthony Shabla
Tell me about
yourself as an artist.
I am a painter and a
poet. I paint large abstract paintings in the tradition of the
American Abstract Expressionists. My artwork is held in both public
and private collections. I write lyric poetry and non-narrative
narrative poetry and language poetry. I currently have four poetry
books and three books of prose in print. I also have a cd of spoken
word with music and a dvd of poetry films and I create multi-media
happenings alone or in collaboration in Downey and beyond. I am also
enamored with printmaking and work with prints in various media.
Did you settle in
Downey for the art scene?
I am laughing right
now. I was raised in Downey and there was no art scene in those
days. There were a few events like concerts in the park,
arts-and-crafts in the park... but I don't remember any actual
culture. I remember a scandal with the Downey Museum of Art where an
exhibit of nudes was closed because of public outcry. I thought I
lived in the most provincial of towns ~and maybe I still do! My
mother regularly took me to museums ~especially art museums~ and the
idea of my hometown closing an exhibit of diaphanous, abstract nude
figures was an embarrassment. You really couldn't see any of the
good stuff but, nevertheless, it was banned. My professional
biographies still state I am from the “Los Angeles area”!!!
But Downey is like
quicksand, you never really get out. When I started college, I lived
in other cities. And when I dropped out of college, I lived in
Europe for a couple years. Those were very productive times,
creatively, and I miss them. I miss the culture of those years. But
personal matters brought me back to Downey and here I am.
Several years ago, I
attempted to connect with local artists. I posted on craigslist, I
put fliers at the Downey City Library, I explored transitional areas
around Downey... with very limited results. Even though I had
season tickets with my mother to the Hollywood Bowl and then, when it
premiered, the Los Angeles Opera, I felt alienated from the Downey
Symphony and the Civic Light Opera. I wasn't looking in my hometown
for what old people had created; I was looking for kids like me who
were right now scraping out some new sort of art... and I couldn't
find it.
Since that time, the
internet and social media have changed the world. After lecturing a
dear friend and collaborator in Portland, Oregon about art culture
and his artwork, I told myself I needed to listen to my own words.
And I found the newly-formed Downey Arts Coalition via google. It
has been a distraction ever since.
What do you think of
the art scene in Downey now?
It is true that things
are happening here. Some wonderful things are happening. But the
community of artists and the community at large and the City
government are not working together in any reasonable way to support
the arts. That aspect is disheartening.
While the Downey Arts
Coalition has a few hundred “soft members”, the same handful of
core members show to the arts events. Many DAC board members do not
show up for DAC events. And that is consistent with the Downey
Museum of Art and the Stay Gallery ~ the people running the shows
don't seem to have any interest or support for the arts. Neither the
members of the board of the Downey Museum nor the Stay Gallery showed
to the last free lecture on modern art, VIEW FROM THE EDGE, given by
a world-class artist we are privileged to have speak for us. This,
by the way, is a Downey Museum of Art function and yet, no one from
the museum was able to attend. No one from the Downey City Council
has ever attended the free lecture series and the venue is next door
the council chambers and City Hall.
While the Mayor of
Downey complained that local artists did not step-up to paint the
public utility boxes, the Downey City Council removed the Committee
for Art in Public Places (removing the avenue for public arts
petitioning) and then painted over the utility box I spent three
weeks turning into a piece of art. (A documentary on my utility box
artwork, WE ARE NOW, is posted to my website, roytube.com) And the
Downey City Council has done nothing to return the Downey Museum of
Art, after many years without a site, to its home nor get it into
another home. Despite regular petitioning. These are not steps in a
positive direction.
There are now several
arts groups and a city-funded art gallery (Stay Gallery) in Downey.
Yes, things are beginning to happen. But I feel that for this
movement in the arts to survive, two things are needed. One,
education. And two, arts-community alliances.
Many of the people
running the arts groups have no arts education whatsoever. There are
board members of several groups making decisions who have never been
to an art museum. So I started the VIEW FROM THE EDGE free monthly
lectures on modern art. World-class lecturers on various aspects of
modern art have donated their time to lecture for free in Downey.
Attendance has been poor.
I also put together a
community art fair, STATE OF THE ART, to introduce the different arts
groups to each other and to the community. But apathy prevailed.
Our local art gallery, Stay Gallery, was a no-show. The only art
store in Downey, Neil's, refused to participate. Other arts groups
in Downey would not even respond. It was a lovely day for those who
attended (live music, poetry readings, art vendors, crafts for
kids...) but once again, attendance was poor.
I realize I sound
negative about the arts culture in the City of Downey. It is the
current trend to be a cheerleader for everything Downey but that is
neither honest nor realistic. And thus far, sugar-coated
cheerleading has not produced a positive result. Affirmations are a
lie. If this arts renaissance is to survive, we must all work
together and support each other. I have been working to make this
happen.
What
is working
in the local arts scene is surprising, however. I started two
different poetry groups in Downey and each is thriving with little
crossover. I manage only one group now,
the green salon, but
the other is also going strong. No one expected the only monthly
fine arts events in Downey, especially from the Downey Arts
Coalition, would be poetry series' and yet, there it is. (Please
note: the Downey Arts Coalition also produces the Movie Club, a free
monthly screening of movie-lover type movies ~which, incidentally,
has also had poor attendance despite its excellent and enthusiastic
curation.)
The play reading
series, Urban Acts, also worked well. Live readings of the work of
local playwrights were well attended and good evenings. One reading
was in conjunction with a graffiti show I curated, AMERICA IS AN
ILLUSION.
It will be interesting
to see how the arts scene in Downey evolves over the next few years.
I curated free public arts events in Downey and elsewhere in the past
and am currently curating
the green salon, THE VIEW FROM THE
EDGE (both the lectures and a tv night), and have tried to initiate
Downey artist studio tours, fine art exhibitions, avant garde outdoor
events... but enthusiasm doesn't equal participation. The best
single day of art in the recent history of this city is MAKE MUSIC
DOWNEY. We need more of that kind of thing.
In the future, I am
hoping to see in Downey the production of good quality avant garde
theater and music. I am hoping to see the art museum find a home.
And I am hoping we attract other art galleries ~especially fine art
galleries~ so we can begin a monthly artwalk with our community
gallery. But a bright future is not something that happens without
work. It takes a committed local government and community and a
spark of creativity!
