Ten Years of Art and Community: Join Destination: Art’s Anniversary Celebration By Writer and Contributor Emily McGinn
Destination: Art is celebrating 10 years, and you are invited to come enjoy the fun.
The event, which will take place on Nov. 16 from 12-4 p.m., will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony, food, wine and bourbon pulls, and plenty of art to explore. The walls of Destination: Art will feature their gallery artists’ “Made in the South Bay” exhibition, and the studio spaces for their 12 studio artists will be open for viewing.
Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in a quick draw, where artists will complete paintings live and people will be able to buy tickets to hopefully win their favorite art pieces once the quick draw is over.
The celebration will feature a silent auction offering more than 100 gifts, experiences, products and services. The auction will begin online on Oct. 31 and run through Nov. 7. There will also be live bidding at the event on Nov. 16.
Destination: Art is looking to continue their mission of providing a growing space for artists to express themselves, as well as to further their community outreach programs. The space features programs and studios for artists. Currently, Destination: Art now has 12 studio spaces actively being leased by artists for working on and displaying their work.
“[We want to] recognize the fact that we not only have survived, but we're flourishing, and we've expanded, and we survived COVID and took on more studio space,” says Robin Johns, vice president and gallery manager for Destination: Art. “We originally had seven studios when we first started. We now have 12 studios.”
However, Destination: Art serves as more than just a workspace and gallery space for artists — it is also a place of education and a way to bring art into the community. They host three community outreach programs: Friends of Destination Art, Art for Everyone and Creative Conversations.
For Friends of Destination Art, Destination: Art works with the Autism Society of Los Angeles to bring art classes to young adults with autism.
“It's not so much about the art project, as it is about community and inclusion and coming together for social interactions,” Johns says. “We are two and a half years into it now, and it is like a little family.”
Art for Everyone offers classes and workshops for people interested in art but who feel that they are not artistic or creative, and Creative Conversations offers a series of talks from artists in various fields. Creative Conversations are often unique, featuring artists from diverse fields such as toymaking.
“We had a landscape artist. We had someone who writes music for the movies. We have another person who owns coffee shops and wanted to talk about making the perfect cup of coffee as an art form,” Johns says. “We realize that art is everywhere. It surrounds us, in our world, in our lives. So all of us are artists in our own right.”
At the event coming up in November, guests will be able to see more of what Destination: Art is about, with artists on site to discuss their pieces. Destination: Art features a diverse array of styles and works on its walls and in its studios, ranging from colorful, playful, whimsical pieces to realism. Many studio artists there also dabble in multiple mediums, ranging from painting to textiles to jewelry.
“Artists will be here to share about their styles and their passions,” Johns says. “Artists will be able to engage with the people who attend, and everybody has a different style here, which is part of the other thing that makes us so unique.”
Destination: Art is hoping to continue to grow, both in its staff and resources and in its community outreach programs.
“This is an opportunity for those who have been our patrons to be a part of making this go to the next level. That's what we really want to do,” Johns says. “Along with everything that we're doing here, with classes and workshops and supporting all of our artists, the community outreach programs are really important. We are really making an impact on individuals and portions of our community that we've never touched before. We really want to expand it and continue that and have that thrive.”
You can check out more information about Destination: Art on their website. Also stay tuned for the silent auction link that will be posted on their website on Oct. 31.
Bio:
Emily McGinn is a journalist based in the Los Angeles area. She enjoys reporting on and writing about a variety of topics from lifestyle to news, especially in her areas of specialty, environmental science and political science.
