“IT’S THE VILLAGE LIFE:” THE ATWATER CASITAS ARTISTS’ COMMUNITY
“All Armenians are trying to get back to the Village life. It’s inside them trying to come out” says artist Sevag Vrej of his experience working out of Casitas Studios, a newly renovated industrial building with a high concentration of Armenian artists in Atwater Village, or “the Village”. Sevag was the first artist to move into the structure about two and a half years ago. At that time the space was cavernous and scattered with remnant furniture and miscellaneous supplies from its previous occupant, a pharmaceutical company. Today the building is about 90% built-out with office and studio space occupied primarily by artists, although roughly 20% is rented by satellite companies and non-artists. With its cement floors, lack of official signage, and re-used pharmaceutical furniture, the building maintains its industrial past alongside a hip element brought to life by its current creative occupants.
Located in Atwater Village, California, Casitas Studios is conveniently situated between the cities of Glendale and downtown Los Angeles, the major recreational attractions of Griffith Park and Dodger Stadium, and just minutes from the entertainment industry in Silver Lake. Atwater Village is an old residential community begun in 1912 for the successful working class. It became a blue collar neighborhood of primarily Hispanics and Filipinos and was ignored until recently by developers and prosperous urbanites because it had been over taken by street gangs. In fact, it is home to some of the oldest gangs in Los Angeles, a point which is quite evident from their names – Rascals, ToonerVille Rifa, and Frogtown. Although improvements are apparent everywhere, including the highly anticipated Northeast satellite campus of Los Angeles City College in the old Van de Kamps building, the gangs are still busy tagging the neighborhood with signs of rivalries that occasionally end in tragedy. Bordered on the west by the Los Angeles River, that quintessentially urban body of water with its banks of cement, and on the east by railroad tracks, the Village has a definite gritty urban feel. But it is precisely this combination of ethnic community, hoodlum menace, and metropolitan lifestyle, mixed with the excitement of urban renovation that makes Casitas Studios an inspiring place to work for its resident artists.
But beyond its interesting ambience, what is particularly unique about Casitas Studios is that about two-thirds of the space is occupied by Armenian artists. As many of our readers know, when you place Armenians in close proximity to each other, the result is a lot of interaction. And when those Armenians are artists, the result is creative stimulation and networking multiplied. As a bonus, what often emerges from their contact is the pleasant discovery of common friends and even relatives. It is in essence a microcosm of an Armenian village where everyone specializes in a particular skill, is somehow connected, and shares a common culture. Although they may hail from many different parts of the world – Armenia, Argentina, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon – the resident “Armos” nevertheless feel a deep ancestral link that makes working together seamless. Of course there are also non-Armenians that are part of this community, some of whom have been adopted as honorary Hyes, like graphic designer Nathan “Nishan” Wong, who generously serves as the building’s ad-hoc IT consultant.
All three of these artists recently collaborated on a large project, the completion of an unfinished film, Angels, Devils, and Men (ADM), which Roger came upon while searching for investors for his biggest endeavor, the development and production of East of Byzantium, a motion picture about Vartan Mamagonian. ADM was a huge undertaking because while all the scenes had been shot, the writer and director, Lindsay Shonteff, died suddenly without leaving much of a script or storyboard outlining his complete concept of the movie. So Roger, Sevag, and Sako were left trying to create a story out of the various filmed sequences. Using their sense of creativity, in an effort to enhance the plot and its flow, they decided to supplement the picture with animation. Roger and Sevag served as Associate Producers and Sako as Creative Director. Sevag edited both the film and the trailers and Sako designed the logo, website, and animation. They also hired mutual friend and musician, Barrett Yeretsian, to compose the music for the soundtrack, though he does not have an office in Casitas Studios. ADM will soon be making the rounds of the international film festivals and our artists are optimistic that it will find a cult audience. So be on the lookout for it in the art houses and on DVD.
Local readers may be familiar with Casitas Studios by way of an open house held in March 2007, which also highlighted Vahe Berberian’s Milagros, small colorful images painted on metal, a format inspired by an old Spanish tradition. A hip event with food and music, the opening was attended by an eclectic crowd of over two thousand, including Serj Tankian, lead singer for System of a Down (SOAD), and successfully showcased the enormous talent of each artist. The occasion also allowed the occupants to get to know one another as well as each other’s clients. Interestingly, Sako landed a large project from the March happening when a friend he already knew hired him after actually seeing his work that night.
Casitas Studios even houses a husband and wife team, Talene Gureghian, owner of ALSO, a graphic design firm, and Andrew Hall, photographer. Family connections extend across the hall as well, since Talene and Sevag are cousins. Also a graduate of PAC, Talene recently completed a major project, a catalogue for Lexus automobiles, for which Andrew did the photography and Sako the retouching.
Reposted from the Critics’ ForumAll Rights Reserved: Critics’ Forum, 2008. Exclusive to the Armenian Reporter. Jean Murachanian is a Ph.D. candidate in Art History at UCLA. You can reach her or any of the other contributors to Critics' Forum at comments@criticsforum.org. This and all other articles published in this series are available online at www.criticsforum.org. To sign up for a weekly electronic version of new articles, go to www.criticsforum.org/join. Critics’ Forum is a group created to discuss issues relating to Armenian art and culture in the Diaspora.