Many people believe that exhibitions take little or no time to put together. A museum’s curator thinks of a show idea, perhaps a painting or a photography exhibition, and makes a few phone calls to collectors and the artist (if living) to “borrow” the exact pieces that they have in mind. Someone is sent to collect the artwork from the Lenders. You throw it on the walls of the gallery and add a few quickly written labels. And, BOOM! You have an exhibit ready for display to the world.
That’s NOT how this show happened.
In December 2018, artist Marco Pallotti visited the California Heritage Museum with a friend who was having an upcoming exhibit in the museum’s first floor gallery. She needed photographs for her outdoor banner. Marco kindly volunteered his services to shoot her show. He has been volunteering to shoot various museum projects ever since.
At some time during one of Marco’s visits to the museum, he mentioned he was working on a project that involved creating portraits of people working in Ocean Park businesses, and he was concentrating on the major shopping area, Main Street. After reviewing these colorful representations of the “faces of Ocean Park,” is was agreed upon by the staff that these images would make an excellent upcoming exhibition for the second floor galleries, and I began as a curator to start giving my opinions and feedback to the artist.
This presentation does not represent every business or even every type of business on Main Street or within the Ocean Park neighborhood. The show is a diary of Marco’s travels, mainly to local bars and to businesses that he felt comfortable intruding with his camera. He drank quite a bit during this time of creativity, so Main Street bars are well documented. The show is colorful, lively, and has Marco’s wicked sense of humor. Please enjoy.
In conjunction with Marco Pallotti’s show, the first floor gallery was scheduled to present a new high school program entitled “Young Women in the Arts”. To date, seven local Santa Monica and West Los Angeles schools have encouraged students to participate in Project #1, a portrait show. Both shows were delayed due to COVID-19 concerns. The California Heritage Museum has been closed to visitors since early March, 2020. The student exhibit has been postponed until the end of the year, or perhaps even later. With very short notice, nationally renown, Venice artist D. J. Hall, has agreed to exhibit her work in the first floor gallery.
Because sh*t (life) happens, at Marco’s suggestion, the
Heritage Museum has agreed to host its first “online” exhibition. Marco
Pallotti is currently showcasing his work as a part of the Heritage Museum’s website. His
exhibition is now tentatively scheduled to open in the museum's gallery space in October 2021.
Tobi Smith
Executive Director, California Heritage Museum
October 2020