Glow Santa Monica 2013 | Image: Glow Facebook Page
On Saturday (Sept. 28), Glow Santa Monica—the all-night festival that re-imagines Santa Monica Beach as a playground for site-specific art—is back. The nocturnal event that has drawn crowds of up to 200,000 in recent years, has partnered with CalArts’ Community Arts Partnership (CAP) for performances in two locations stationed north of Santa Monica Pier. In total, three collaborative site-specific CAP projects will be created for GLOW by CalArts faculty, alumni, students and CAP youth participants.
A feature of the festival this year is artist and faculty member Karen Atkinson’s (Art MFA 84) sculptural work, GLOWbal, which is a 40-foot-long glow-in-the-dark projection screen coated with phosphorescent paint that holds the shape of projected images “like an echo repeats a sound.” The work was constructed for specially created content as well as audience participation.
At 7:30 pm, students from the CAP Summer Arts Program in Dance will perform BEAM, choreographed by CalArts faculty Marvin Tunney, interacting with Atkinson’s GLOWbal. In addition, the CalArts Interdisciplinary Improvisation Troupe will perform at the sculpture at 3 am, under the direction of faculty member Susan Allen (Music BFA 73). The ensemble includes Max Wanderman (Music BFA 13), Ryan Glass (Music BFA 14), Jaclyn Urlik (Music BFA 14), Colton Lytle (Music MFA 14), Michael Ho (Theater BFA 14), Stacia Hitt (Theater BFA 13), Adrian Brizuela (Theater BFA 14), Sharon Kim (Music MFA 14), Henry Webster (Music BFA 13) and Nahum Zdybel (Music BFA 14).
The CalArts Javanese gamelan, Gamelan Kyai Doro Dasih, will play two, hour-long concerts accompanied by dancers, titled Java: Land of Dreams, at 8:30 pm and midnight. The ensemble, which is under the direction of faculty member Djoko Walujo, performs on the north side of the pier on the beach.
The City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Manager Jessica Cusick contacted CAP Artistic Director Glenna Avila earlier this year to invite CAP to be their community partner. “It’s a real honor to be selected by Santa Monica to participate in the festival. They’re expecting 100,000-200,000 people,” said Avila. “Whenever do we get an audience like that? It’s huge.”
In addition to the aforementioned CAP-produced events, artist Steven Hull (Art BFA 95, MFA 97) will create a rotating stage featuring a marionette show based on the short story A Fragment from the Lives of the Conquistadors by Tony White. Performances will be held at 8, 9, and 10 pm, south of the Santa Monica Pier. The show features puppeteers Alex Evans and Eric de la Cruz, with music by Anna Huff (Music MFA 07) and Tanya Haden (Film/Video BFA 98). In addition, the sculptures will be accompanied by light works by Marilyn Lowey (Art MFA 10) and a sound piece by Butthole Surfers lead singer Gibby Haynes.
The festival is the brainchild of Glow Artistic Director and alumnus Marc Pally (Art MFA 78), who was interviewed about Glow by 24700 in 2010. He also appears below in a video of the 2010 Glow Santa Monica:
For the complete list of artists and for more information on performance locations, transportation and parking, visit Glow Santa Monica’s website.