Allies in Arts is proud to partner with Santa Monica Pride to curate an Art Walk for Pride 2021!
The Rainbow Road Art Walk, June 4-30, 2021, features 15 original artworks by LGBTQQIA2S artists.
Love Letters
The work is text based, messages of love and loss, cut into colored transparent film, and placed on borosilicate glass tubes (just larger than a fluorescent light bulb). The tubes are then slipped over bulbs in existing spaces to be found. Like a contemporary message in a bottle.
Chris Classen
I Stand With Trans Youth
I Love My Queer Family
Allies in Arts wanted to respond to current rises in transphobic legislation and rhetoric with interactive pieces visitors could pose with and photograph to show their support for trans youth and queer family. James Kinsley Daniel’s vision was to create a clean, simple backdrop with dimension and visual excitement.
James Kinsley Daniel
James Kinsley Daniel is a fabricator whose company Prop Drop n' Roll works with artists and production designers in film, television and photography. James is always excited to work with new materials, learn new techniques and especially loves any project that involves foam carving.
Queer Bodies / Queer Identities
QB / Qi is a personal exploration of body and mind. This body of work started as a way of creating identifiable imagery that more so reflected a vision of myself in my mind’s eye. Over many years, and numerous contributions later, we find a full breathe representing a community yearning for healing and liberation.
Photo by Emrey Ozcan
Katt Fox
Katt Fox is an artist born and raised in the Greater Los Angeles area. Their artistic practice is inspired by humans who bring light to dark spaces, be it bars and nightclubs. Katt Fox travels the country holding space for tender moments most notably in the back of a club peeling Polaroids, tossing single-use bulbs, and turning a darkly lit corner into the new-era Warhol Factory.
The ArtsNotParts Archive
ArtsNotParts was a collective street art movement made in response and defense of the trans community in 2017. Donald Trump's anti-trans bathroom bill was just passed inspiring Grey to co-conspire with fellow artists and establishments to collaborate and reclaim space in communities around the world by tagging streets, bathrooms, and infamously Trump Tower in NYC in defense of trans rights. Trump's reign is over but our fight is far from that for trans rights go far beyond bathroom politics. This archive symbolizes a step taken to reclaim public space and share collective love.
The Mothers of Pride Pearly Gateway
In many indigenous cultures queer beings were considered holy and to be gatekeepers in between this world and the rest. This piece is a play on that indigenous ideology and western religions iconography and how they resonate within self and our community. Where do our mothers go? Home.
Grey...
Grey... is a 24 year old gender fluid, AfroIndigenous curator, musician, and vigilante based in New York and Los Angeles. Her work is dedicated to raising the vibration of the planet through art and fellow artists.
Pride-a-Blooma
Pride-a-Blooma is a colorful multi-textural floral-based installation visually capturing the joyful energy of Pride. After the rain, the flowers bloom. May everyone's gardens be full of beautiful flowers of all kinds!
Haus of Dévlin
Giving new meaning to commonplace objects changes what we choose to value. The Haus of Dévlin seeks to transform ordinary everyday objects through the creation of mixed media art pieces. When well-known objects are presented differently, they take on a different layer of interpretation. The Haus of Dévlin draws inspiration from the ordinary, discarded and forgotten items, and the beauty of natural elements.
Where Will U Take You
This piece is a colorful reminder to allow yourself to explore the infinite possibilities that exist within yourself. Where will you go, who will you be if you allow yourself to be free?
Annie Hong aka "Hootnannie"
Annie Hong (aka Hootnannie) is a Visual Artist whose bold and colorful work has been featured throughout the US and South Korea. Their work is recognized by their vibrant eye-catching patterns and whimsical wordplay that instantly captures the viewer’s attention, hypnotizing them in a maze of colors. Often challenging contemporary art narratives and voicing underrepresented perspectives, Hootnannie’s work is inspired by their experience navigating the world as a queer, gender-nonconforming, first generation Asian American artist.
Together forever.
Supporting one another, spreading love and peace to the world. Together we’ll make a difference by celebrating with Pride and Joy around every corner.
Erick Luis
Born and raised in West Los Angeles I started drawing when I was very little in elementary, I just love taking interest in art especially drawing. I usually draw on my notebook in school with drawings and doodles of characters from shows and movies that I’m a big fan of. I always love to draw, sometimes it’s easy or challenging but the point is to have fun and get creative.
Rainbows of Resilience
A technicolor, large-scale digital illustration of a fantastical Pride parade scene with Santa Monica as its backdrop. It is a celebration of the resilience and ability to continue to find joy that the QTBIPOC communities of LA have displayed in the past year.
Parisa Parnian
Parisa Parnian is an Iranian-American multi-disciplinary visual artist, designer, storyteller and cook. As a Cultural and Culinary Uplifter, Parisa has been combining her extensive experience in lifestyle design, event curation, food and storytelling to delight the senses and warm the spirit.
Parisa's focus is on the colorful intersections of ancestral traditions meeting the very modern and often subversive world that she inhabits. She recently launched her own spice blend called PÉRXICAN- which is a celebration of cultural fluidity and the marriage of Persian + Mexican flavors.
In 2016 Parisa left her 20 year career in the fashion industry to found both Savage Muse, a radically inclusive design studio, and Savage Taste, a multi-faceted food, culture + community building hub.
Her Persian Supper + Salon series was featured in Eater LA and gave wings to what is now Parisa’s latest projects that involve everything from hosting cooking shows such as for Tastemade TV, where she combines Persian cooking with her intersectional storytelling; to her “Make Tahdig Not War” t-shirt campaign that is uniting Iranians and allies across the globe around their love of Persian food and peace.
Until we can gather again around a table and break bread, Parisa will continue to focus on bringing delightful online culinary and cultural events, collectable art + designs, and her candid stories to you from the digital realm.
Celebrate
Built by LA design team Bagavagabonds and with design and artwork by Grey... and Grayson*, Celebrate, is a sculpture in Central Plaza at the Santa Monica Pier. 4ft letters spelling out LGBTQIA+ encapsulates the Pier's promise: to keep this iconic landmark a welcoming place for all to celebrate.
Grey... & Grayson Prnce
Grey... is a 24 year old gender fluid, AfroIndigenous curator, musician, and vigilante based in New York and Los Angeles. Her work is dedicated to raising the vibration of the planet through art and fellow artists. Grayson Prnce is a 23 year old trans musician, producer, and multimedia artist based in LA. Growing up working on theater sets - they have been creating with foam, fabric, paint, and wood for over 10 years. They look to inspire minds to think outside the box with the art the create.
www.instagram.com/rugratsinparis
www.instagram.com/graysonprnce
Protest and Pageantry
Inspired by trans performers turned activists, Protest and Pageantry is both a memorial and celebration. This work aims to provide a space where the viewer can celebrate iconic trans, POC performers such as Marsha P. Johnson, Sir Lady Java, Sylvia Rivera, as well pay tribute to the numerous trans lives lost to violence. This work is a collaboration by Queer artists UnderNewMGMT and ShakesTheArtist
UnderNewMGMT
UnderNewMGMT is a Queer, WOC owned and operated floral studio in Los Angeles.
Their work aims to provide visibility & fair labor practices to all folx involved.
Mixing art and florals, the work is loud, challenges standards and above all values community over competition.
E(we) are all Crazy Beautiful!
The installation features 21 of my SHEEP MOONSTERS. Behind the series, is the idea that e(we) are all different. E(we) are all queer. It's because of our differences that we are connected. Because of our differences, e(we) are all crazy beautiful.
Ricky Sencion
I'm a self taught artist and native Angeleno. I started my career in 1998. In 2013, it took a sharp turn when I read a quote in an Alexander Mcqueen biography. He referred to himself, not as a black sheep, but as a pink SHEƎP. The series is my expression of joy.
A Very Gay Mural
When Jenson and Nic were told the Santa Monica Pier was finally ready to come out, they were, naturally, very excited. The Pier practically begged to “make it a whole thing, but not tell anyone it was my idea” and so the idea was birthed that Very Gay Paint would give the city of Santa Monica the coming out story they didn’t want and never asked for with their very own Very Gay Mural.
Jenson Titus and Nic Scheppard
Nicholas Scheppard and Jenson Titus are Los Angeles based comedians who, through the use of ancient gay wizardry, began turning walls gay with paint in 2020.
Chosen Family
Chosen Families: Kinships formed with the purpose of mutual support & love. Too often people in the LGBTQ+ community face rejection & abandonment from their biological families - chosen family can serve as an important method of survival as well as creating loving bonds.
The idea of floating dance floors over the LA skyline came originally from the sentiment that “chosen families uplift one another.” Dancefloors have always been a space for queer people to let loose and be themselves.
We wanted to transport our traditionally 2D work into a 3D, interactive space that encourages the public to take photos with their chosen families and loved ones. This installation was done in partnership with 3DAR Trick Art Museum. 3DAR Trick Art Museum is the first venue in the US to combine 3D art and augmented reality technology for an interactive experience. Located right on 3rd Street Promenade, they exist to engage the public through interactive art exhibits.
Jeromy Velasco x Yaicecream
Jeromy is a queer illustrator born & raised in Los Angeles. Working in mediums ranging from animated Illustration, jewelry design, & silkscreen printing, you can see the reflection of his environment in his artwork. 90s cartoons, kitsch, gaudy fashion, & nightlife are just some of his inspirations.
Yai is a self taught queer artist & designer originally from Madrid, has spent 10 years in Phoenix, and now based in Los Angeles. Known for her fun cartoonish characters, vibrant colors, & geometric shapes, Yai has been bringing her characters and art to life through large scale murals, paintings, and most recently designing her own apparel line.