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Saturday, May 28, 2011

Portraits of Hope Revisited: Ice at Santa Monica

This past November my family and I were in Southern California for a work related conference. We stopped in Santa Monica on the way back up to San Luis Obispo - surprise: "Summer of Color" was now part of "Ice at Santa Monica."

"Ice at Santa Monica" is an annual outdoor ice skating rink set up every November-January in downtown Santa Monica at 5th Street and Arizona Avenue.

We were in Santa Monica for a final dental appointment with our kids' dentist. Appointment was at 10am. The rink wouldn't be open until noon, so when we stopped by it was very quiet.

Ironically, it was much sunnier on a November morning than a typical Spring and early Summer morning. Much of the Los Angeles area experiences thick coastal fog commonly known as "June Gloom."

Aside from the Chamber of Commerce weather, what really impressed me was the bright and colorful art decorating the sides of the ice rink.

They were not what's typically considered Christmas (red and green) or Hanukkah (blue and white) colors. But they were certainly beautiful.

These bright color panels were part of the Summer of 2010 "Portraits of Hope" display on the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Stations.

For five months, 31 miles of Los Angeles County beaches were transformed to a collective work of art.

According to their website, it was "the largest public art project in the U.S., and also one of the largest civic efforts in the world."

Here's a link to their website and to a blog post from this time last year. 

When our family lived in Los Angeles, we had an annual tradition of ice skating at Pershing Square's "Downtown on Ice" every December 23rd. If we were still in the area, I'd make a point to head over to Santa Monica as well, just to enjoy the artwork. 

Many thanks to everyone involved with Portraits of Hope. Last summer's display was incredible, and it was great to see it out in public one more time last November.  



View Ice at Santa Monica - in a larger map

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2 comments:

richard310 said...

ice = nice

Anonymous said...

I wonder if they'll have these bright colors and prints up again this next year?