History of the ArtWalk Global Artist
Sue Pollack and Mary Perez.
15 Global Artist
In December 2014, Ventura artist Sue Pollack was traveling in Cuba with friends including Bill Hendricks, a professor at Ventura College. While there she had the opportunity to meet two very special men, one of whom would become Ventura ArtWalk's first Global Artist.
Pedro Pulido is a world-renown stone carver. He had spent nine months in Ventura at Art City Studios as an Artist in Residence in 1997. One of his beautiful pieces, “Embargo,” stands today in Art City. Sue also connected with Victor Pina Tabio who had worked with Ventura filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano in Cuba in the 1980s when Lorenzo was filming “Los Zafiros, (The Sapphires) Music from the Edge of Time.” Victor is also a noted lecturer on writer Ernest Hemingway.
Over dinner with these new friends, Sue had the idea of bringing them to Ventura. Upon returning home she shared these ideas with Mary Perez and Kevin Clerici, fellow ArtWalk chairs, and Ventura’s Global Artist program was created.
The collaboration culminated with a mural on Main Street in Ventura created by Ventura muralist MB Hanrahan and Cuban artist Pedro Pulido, a vibrant symbol of cross-cultural collaboration.
2016 Global Artist
Our 2016 Global Artist was suggested by Vita Art Center owner Mary Perez. Esteemed artist Rolando Siguenza, from Oaxaca, Mexico, arrived in September and spent his first few weeks working with local artists MB Hanrahan and Uriel Leon creating a large-scale mural on Ventura Avenue across from the Bell Arts Factory. Rolando’s work was truly a gift to Ventura’s Westside. Our goal for ArtWalk 2016 was to not only attract more visitors to Ventura but to refine the event with the ultimate goal of engaging visitors in our diverse arts community.
2017 Global Artist
Mary, Sue and Kevin knew they wanted a woman for this year’s Global Artist. They discussed artists from Vietnam, Korea and the Middle East. Then Sue came across a story about a 29-year-old female artist living in Kabul, Afghanistan. Shamsia Hassani is best known for her graffiti/murals on the streets of Kabul. Mary and Sue researched Shamsia and found that she lived in Los Angeles last year as the Artist in Residence for UCLA’s Hammer Museum and created a mural on South Adams Street in Los Angeles. Shamsia’s work has been featured in galleries around the world from New York City to Italy. The more we researched, the more we felt Shamsia had to be our 2017 Global Artist. Our challenge was contacting her. She was finally reached through an art gallery in New York City.
Shamsia uses colorful graffiti to cover up the negative reminders of the war. She has a degree from Kabul University where she now is an associate professor of sculpture. She also established a collective of contemporary artists called “Rosht.”
In December 2014, Ventura artist Sue Pollack was traveling in Cuba with friends including Bill Hendricks, a professor at Ventura College. While there she had the opportunity to meet two very special men, one of whom would become Ventura ArtWalk's first Global Artist.
Pedro Pulido is a world-renown stone carver. He had spent nine months in Ventura at Art City Studios as an Artist in Residence in 1997. One of his beautiful pieces, “Embargo,” stands today in Art City. Sue also connected with Victor Pina Tabio who had worked with Ventura filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano in Cuba in the 1980s when Lorenzo was filming “Los Zafiros, (The Sapphires) Music from the Edge of Time.” Victor is also a noted lecturer on writer Ernest Hemingway.
Over dinner with these new friends, Sue had the idea of bringing them to Ventura. Upon returning home she shared these ideas with Mary Perez and Kevin Clerici, fellow ArtWalk chairs, and Ventura’s Global Artist program was created.
The collaboration culminated with a mural on Main Street in Ventura created by Ventura muralist MB Hanrahan and Cuban artist Pedro Pulido, a vibrant symbol of cross-cultural collaboration.
2016 Global Artist
Our 2016 Global Artist was suggested by Vita Art Center owner Mary Perez. Esteemed artist Rolando Siguenza, from Oaxaca, Mexico, arrived in September and spent his first few weeks working with local artists MB Hanrahan and Uriel Leon creating a large-scale mural on Ventura Avenue across from the Bell Arts Factory. Rolando’s work was truly a gift to Ventura’s Westside. Our goal for ArtWalk 2016 was to not only attract more visitors to Ventura but to refine the event with the ultimate goal of engaging visitors in our diverse arts community.
2017 Global Artist
Mary, Sue and Kevin knew they wanted a woman for this year’s Global Artist. They discussed artists from Vietnam, Korea and the Middle East. Then Sue came across a story about a 29-year-old female artist living in Kabul, Afghanistan. Shamsia Hassani is best known for her graffiti/murals on the streets of Kabul. Mary and Sue researched Shamsia and found that she lived in Los Angeles last year as the Artist in Residence for UCLA’s Hammer Museum and created a mural on South Adams Street in Los Angeles. Shamsia’s work has been featured in galleries around the world from New York City to Italy. The more we researched, the more we felt Shamsia had to be our 2017 Global Artist. Our challenge was contacting her. She was finally reached through an art gallery in New York City.
Shamsia uses colorful graffiti to cover up the negative reminders of the war. She has a degree from Kabul University where she now is an associate professor of sculpture. She also established a collective of contemporary artists called “Rosht.”