Interview with PGLA's Executive Producer Liza Simone and PGLA's primary curators Kathryn Hargreaves and Tim Quinn of the Downtown Art Gallery Dangerous Curve.

Phantom Galleries LA:

What can PGLA offer to downtown?

LS: Downtown needs pedestrian friendly streets, amenities, and a population to support them. Retailers and residents are considering relocating downtown. We need to entice them to move in. Also, downtown needs a decent lifestyle, so people will want to stay and businesses here can thrive.

KH: Artists are great gentrifiers; we're great a making something look better. If you want to sell or rent a place, make sure you have good curb appeal. We're really good at creating curb appeal.

LS: Look at Tom Gilmore's properties at 4th and Main or those along Gallery Row. By having art in those windows, it helped transform those areas. They are now turning into vital, sustainable communities. The art created a sense of place and lifestyle. PGLA can make a similar impact throughout downtown.

How did this all begin?

LS: Marie Condron (a founder of www.NewDowntown.com) discovered the idea investigating revitalization tools. It inspired the people working on the Gallery Row Ad Hoc committee of the Downtown Neighborhood Council (DLANC). We were trying to improve downtown by turning Main and Spring Streets into a gallery district. Kathy, Tim, and I met while working on the Gallery Row unveiling event. Santonia Amberly and I procured the temporary windows, and I helped organize temporary galleries. Kathy and Tim helped jury the some 11 windows, and helped the artists install and deinstall. That is where we began to learn how to do this kind of program.

Phantom Galleries is an organization in San Jose?

LS: Yes. Cherri Lakey and Brian Elder started Phantom Galleries (www.PhantomGalleries.com) there. They were instrumental in the Gallery Row unveiling windows. It's such a great idea. I decided to make it happen here in LA. PGLA is related to Cherri and Brian's organization in name only. We wanted people to associate the name Phantom Galleries with the idea and to connect with other cities' similarly named programs. In San Jose it was used as a revitalization tool in Los Angeles we see it as a service that will benefit all communities. From Downtown to Beverly Hills.

How do you curate the windows?

LS: Dangerous Curve is PGLA's primary curator. We will include other curators soon. Each curator is identified in the windows, and the windows and the website have contact information for the artists, curators, and property owners. Arts-related organizations, independent curators, and galleries can apply to curate. We already have an organization from England interested in showcasing British artists.

What is in it for the artists to participate?

TQ: They get an opportunity to show [their] work in an alternative situation.

KH: These and other types of alternative spaces are interesting to some artists especially installation artists, because they can respond to the particular space.

LS: It's also an opportunity to connect with an untapped audience. Other cities have reported that artists sell their work out of the windows, as well as find employment.

KH: Window installations are starting to take off in town. The MOCA store in Santa Monica and Hollywood's Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibits (LACE) are also doing windows projects. We ourselves are finding that higher and higher quality artists are interested in the project.

What are the basic criteria by which you select artists and their works?

TQ: A high level of professionalism and originality. It should benefit the reputation of everyone involved to participate. We hope to have a reputation for showing excellent work. Our philosophy as curators is that we put the art first. We don't have any other considerations except for the quality of the work. We tend to like what one would call the International Style of Contemporary Art.

Can you describe that?

TQ: We're looking for what you might see in any contemporary art museum worldwide. So, we're not putting any restrictions on where people live, or whether they went to school or any particular school, whether they live in a certain neighborhood, or what their ethnicity or gender is. It's about what the work looks like and what the work portrays. Of course, the artist must be willing to participate, because PGLA not an easy thing to participate in. It requires a certain commitment. You have to take the project seriously. We try to give as much freedom to the artists as we can. We pick them based on past work, but then don't specify what we want in the windows. We discuss proposals with them, but pretty much let them decide how to use the space.

So what is in it for property owners?

LS: Prosperity. Vacant properties do not generate foot traffic for neighboring businesses, and make their areas look economically unstable. An area that looks abandoned tends to stay abandoned. We do not interfere with any income-generating activities. PGLA exhibits can block the views into windows if a space is under construction, or being used for storage, meetings, or filming. We are as low-impact and with as minimal a time commitment as possible. We have insurance. Success for us is helping a property lease or sell more quickly.

Are you focused on any specific areas?

LS: Our service is available to all of LA County. Currently, we are focused on Downtown LA, Hollywood, Pasadena, and Beverly Hills.

If you have a storefront available, or are interested in participating as a curator, please contact Liza Simone at (310) 701-7240 or LizaSimone@aol.com. If you are interested in participating as an artist, please contact Dangerous Curve at events@dangerouscurve.org.

Article in the Downtown News