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| Stroll through art in Princeton By Stacy Trevenon [stacy@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 4:23 PM PDT Building on the success of the first Princeton Art Walk by the Sea, a group of organizers, artists and community-minded residents will host the second art walk on Saturday. It is scheduled from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, in homes, garages, alleys, streets, warehouses and offices of the seaside enclave of Princeton. All the venues are sites where local artists and artisans work or gather. The range of art includes live music, dance, art installations, video projections, light painting, collage, a welding demonstration, glass pouring and spoken-word. While each venue will offer programs listing events and participants, visitors are encouraged to drop by and stroll through the town to see the exhibits and demonstrations. “People are free to wander and discover,” said Princeton resident, Review photographer and event founder Lars Howlett. Some events are scheduled and others spontaneous, he said. “It’s not meant to be a formal tour. There’s no guide. There’s no group walk. It’s more like, choose your own adventure.” Howlett was inspired to begin the art walks when he moved to Princeton a year ago and was struck by the artistic diversity he saw there. He met “different people who live and work in the area, and discovered a variety of different skills.” Howlett had been part of arts communities in San Francisco, Portland (Maine,) and Valparaiso, Chile, while living in those locales. He said he thought there was potential in putting local artists together, he said. “It was fun to have a night where different people could show their talents, and an opportunity for different artists to collaborate.” The first Princeton art walk was held May 2, with a gallery, Moroccan tea lounge, jazz club winery and plaza. In time a group of six to 10 people, calling themselves Las Ramblas, joined to organize what they hope will be similar events every couple of months. The tone of the walks will be relaxed and spontaneous, with new artists joining as the date comes closer. “We’re all about collaboration and sharing ideas,” said Robert Beamer, office manager of ISKME, the Institute for the Study of Knowledge and Management in Education located at 323 Harvard Ave. in Princeton. ISKME will be the site of Saturday’s 7 p.m. opening ceremony with drumming, a labyrinth designed by Howlett, and a multimedia exhibit by Coastside artists. Participants also include: **Princeton Welding, at 231 Harvard, with a welding demonstration; **Glass artist Ann Hollingsworth, doing glass pouring without a kiln. It involves pouring hot glass “kind of like honey” to make strings of glass; **Outland Java at 187 Airport St., where there will be video projections of work by Kelly Street Gallery photographers, coffee tasting, original acoustic folk and Latin music by Mike McCall and a photographic installation by Howlett; **Clandestino gallery at 117 Harvard Ave., which is Howlett’s garage transformed into an art gallery for the evening. “One of the aspects of this event is transforming spaces,” Howlett said. “The idea here is not permanent change. It’s to make an experience.” **The LeBaron Lounge, which will be the site of live music and dance performances, an exhibit by collage artist Michael Denning, the closing ceremony and an after-party. For information on Las Ramblas and the event, visit groups.google.com/group/ramblas. |