Art Towns California: Communities Celebrating Creativity: Festivals, Galleries, Museums, Dining & Lodging - Softcover

John Villani

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0881506966 ISBN 13: 9780881506969

Publisher: Countryman Press, 2008

Synopsis

If your preferences in casual travel tend to lead off the beaten path, veering toward places offering vibrant art galleries, exciting art festivals, innovative theatre companies, art-filled coffee bars, and nightclubs showcasing local music talent, Art Towns California is the Golden State travel guidebook you've been waiting for.

From the pristine shores of Lake Tahoe to the secluded beaches of Encinitas, this latest title from the author of The 100 Best Art Towns in America examines the culture of creativity flourishing in 27 communities. Concise profiles give travelers a sense of historical perspective as well as an up-to-date overview of each Art Town's outstanding creative, cultural, and artistic assets. Each community profile includes indexed details about art venues, events, dining and accommodations.

An ideal resource for travelers whose journeys are enhanced through experiencing the creative spirit of a place, Art Towns California can also be used by artists and art lovers seeking to discover dynamic, friendly and supportive creativity centers whose quality of life is embellished through their connection to the arts. Whether your travel agenda involves a quest for small town Shangri-la or more simply is about enjoying an unusually entertaining weekend immersed in local culture, Art Towns California is a resource you'll enjoy using.

About this title

From the Author

Whenever I'm in a new place, be it an urban neighborhood like Mexico City's hip Condessa, or in a far more remote spot such as the sculpture haven of Joseph in northeast Oregon, my favorite way to inform myself about the realities and aspirations of that place is by visiting local art galleries, art festivals, and art museums. Artists, I've found (and indeed most everyone involved in the business and presentation of art) have an incredibly insightful way of synthesizing the many levels of dialogue swirling around them in the process of arriving at a negotiated truth that defines their time and place.

Of course if your search for truth is thankfully completed or perhaps its not yet begun then the arts are informative vehicles for prying open the realm of possibilities that could inform one's life process.

Art Towns California takes a look at 27 communities where the arts either have risen to prominence in defining an Art Town's identity, or appear poised to do so in the next few years. It's my hope that travelers elect to visit these intriguing places and connect for themselves with the local arts sector. perhaps they'll decide to do for themselves what so many of the Art Towns California artists have already done: vote with their feet and start a new life in one of these great places.

About the Author

John Villani writes about creative communities and creativity-driven individuals. His work has appeared in Art in America, Vanity Fair, The Christian Science Monitor, Art News, Urban Land, Southern Living, U.S. News & World Report, Native Peoples, Sunset, Country Home, Southern Accents, and Southwest Art.

A resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, he's been a featured speak er at numerous conferences addressing issues in the arts, community development, and downtown revitalization. He's held art sector positions such as visual arts critic for the Arizona Republic newspaper, and Communications Director of the Institute of American Indian Arts, a tribal college and contemporary art museum.

His travels take him across the USA, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska in a continuing effort to discover new places to include in future editions of "The 100 Best Art Towns in America" & "Art Towns California" and to also visit with the painters, artistic directors, poets, glass blowers, music directors, sculptors, actors, fine craftspeople, writers, musicians, dancers, jewelers, and ceramists whose commitment to their communities and careers provide the foundation of civic engagement distinguishing Art Towns from their far less interesting neighbors.

When he's not careening through airport terminals John Villani advises arts organizations, downtown redevelopment entities, and tourism boards in evaluating the attributes of places establishing the presence of artists in their civic life.

Through his travels to Art Towns and engagement with the working artists in communities from Maine to Maui, John Villani brings the informed perspectives of a dedicated traveler and experienced journalist to his writing.

Discovering how innovation in the form of arts-focused creativity combines with the resources and expertise of public entities as well as non-profit organizations and progressively-minded commercial entrepreneurs is another of the underlying themes in Art Towns California. These local-tailored, innovative and collaborative efforts have resulted in new ways of thinking about the arts' power to effect far-reaching transformations redefining communities and reshaping their civic fabric as they join the ranks of America's Best Art Towns.

About this edition

• Publisher: Countryman Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0881506966
• ISBN 13: 9780881506969
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272