Four years ago, my friend James Panozzo decided L.A.’s Miracle Mile, a stretch of Wilshire Blvd. packed with galleries, music venues, and museums, needed an event to bring everyone together and celebrate the art scene in the area. With no money, no experience and no idea what he was doing, he pulled it off and the awesome cultural experience known as TarFest was born.
This Friday it kicks off again with a juried art exhibit, followed by music, film and fun family events throughout the weekend. Click here to see the schedule.
A check of the works this year reveals only one piece of dog art, Mimi Drop’s Sun Room Sofa Fabric (above). Don’t adjust your monitor. This is how the piece looks.
Last year there were two dog works:
Ramona Otto’s Lucky Dog, which anchored the center of the room with its eye-catching lucky charms.
And Pacific Dog Day, by me, Moira McLaughlin:
This is an image of Mike Schmidlin, my friend Katie’s brother, and his dog Milo. Katie commissioned it when she heard news that Milo’s days were coming to an end. Mike received it almost a week after Milo died in his arms and was really moved by the surprise tribute to his best friend.
I based it on several photos I had taken in 1998 at Mike’s Pig Roast Camp Out, an orgy (not really) of former wrestlers making leis, drinking beer and roasting an entire pig.
Here are some more snapshots of the crazy weekend that TarFest’s James Panozzo was a part of too.
James with my dreamy red surfboard.
Katie, James, Kris and Hugh at our campsite.
To the right is the edge of a cliff, not great when you wander out at night looking for the bathroom in the pitch black. Luckily we all survived.
I made an editorial decision to include the pig so you could get the full effect. Apologies to any vegetarians.
This was feeding time. The pig wasn’t finished and the natives were getting restless. Eventually the guys just hacked into it with knives. Katie and I ate potato chips for dinner.
Say hi if you see me at TarFest. And say hi to James too. Aside from having great taste in art, astounding willpower, and endless charm and energy, he’s always super-friendly. It’s a great combination to make something happen in this town. Congratulations, James, for pulling it off again!
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