John Hamilton Part 1
John Hamilton Part 2
30 Years Ago in Call
Someplace Paradise and/or Ghost Town
Free Venice Beachhead
archives selected articles 1980-81
Beachhead Archives 1982
Beachhead Archives 1983
Beachhead
Archives 1984
Lighthearted Beachhead
pieces
People of Venice (from Beachhead)
Windward Avenue Articles
from Beachhead
Art in the Beachhead
Venice institutions
from the Beachhead
Venice in Books A-C
Venice in Books D-K
Venice in Books L-P
Venice in Books Q-Z
Quotations about Venice
Venice in Magazines and other ephemeral
sources
1981 Resistance Celebration
Schedule
1981 Resistance Celebration
Articles
Birth of Venice:
old-timey magazines
1914-1916 Part 1
1914-1910 Part 4
1914-1916 Part 5
Destiny's Consent by
Laura Shepard
Townsend
Lions and Gondolas
Poem about Venice
Beachhead
Rana Ayzeren
Tales of the Blue Meanie
by Allan Cole
Another Chapter from
Tales of the Blue Meanie by Allan Cole
"Brick" Garrigues
The Spectre
Venice Historical Society
1969 Police Riots
Jack the Liar
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30 Years Ago in the
Free Venice Beachhead
From January 1981 #133
Blowing it on Windward?
a minority point of view by Rick Davidson
too often we separate
the creative process
from the created form
accepted we have
the viewing of art
in the emptiness
of the museum room
taking without question
as an art that is real
some finite object
representing as it does
the indefinable process
of creation
yes all to often
we miss the transformation
of thought
of desire
of love
of hope
of will
of time
without which there is no
art
The political-art process in Venice the 19 years that
I've lived here has been an ever changing one. Some call this change "forced
relocation" and the struggle to combat it. The political aspect of
this process has been the evictions of poor residents in order to make
room for a newer, wealthier class: the New Venetian. The art of this process
has been to plan the evictions so that those of us allowed to remain don't
feel the pain of eviction, don't feel the reality of eviction.
As many of us know, Venice was built at the turn of the
century. It had a wild, stormy, starry-eyed beginning, but with the combination
of the Crash of '29 and the discovery of oil in 1930, the bright new beach
colony was transformed into a poverty center on the Westside for the elderly,
minorities, artists, drop-outs of all sorts, and just plain poor folks.
The population explosion that hit Los Angeles after World War II by-passed
Venice because the beach was quarantined due to contamination from the
sewer plant to the south. Thus the strange mixture called Venice continued
to enjoy the beach.
It was not until the late 50s and early 60s that the
greedy eyes of speculators turned to Venice. What they saw was a gold
mine: the widest beach in LA; close proximity to LAX, but not too close;
close proximity to two freeways, but not too close; old buildings ready
to be torn down; and an out-cast population without representation in
the halls of government...a combination that made Venice the most speculative
land in California.
What to do with all those poor people living around the
gold mine was the problem. In fact, the question wasn't even "what,"
but "how." Everyone, everyone speculating that is, agreed that
poor people didn't have a right to live at the beach, but not everyone
agreed as to the best way to get rid of them. Then someone suggested that
they work with and through the City. What a great idea! so they were off
and running.
First came the City Code Enforcement Program. That worked
pretty good; 25% of the Ocean Front was destroyed. Next came a plan for
the City to "improve" the canals. This plan dovetailed with
the Community Plan the City was also designing as a blueprint of the change
from Venice of America to Miami Beach West. Of course the Community, through
its many organizations, fought back. The fight was not a winning one,
only a slowing of the onslaught of the "progress" that was destroying
the community. Still by the end of the 60s things looked bright for speculators
and City alike.
Yet, my calendar says it's 1980 and the City's plan for
a final solution has not been completed (some of us are still here.) No,
the City didn't get to finish its code enforcement program; nor did they
get their new canals. Along with these projects the Community also stopped
the plans for a freeway through Venice - three times running. Development
along the Ocean Front has been either stopped, slowed or modified.
But times they-are-a-changing; many friends have been
forced to leave Venice; many of our funny looking homes have been torn
down to make room for new condos; and cars with impatient drivers have
replaced neighbors who used to walk and talk around the community.
1980: speculators are now zeroing in on Windward Avenue
(just a little behind schedule.) A major element of the City's plan is
the development of a Windward Mall. Windward Avenue is to be closed to
auto traffic from Ocean Front Walk to the traffic circle. Pacific is designed
to tunnel under the Mall. The Mall itself is to become the focal point
of Miami Beach West. The City, having learned form its past mistakes,
doesn't want to take up the Mall issue directly. We only see it coming
project by project. The Ace Gallery transforms the ol' Bank of America
into an art center. Next local merchants begin their move to "clean
up" the Ocean Front Walk. The City wants to move the bus center to
Venice Blvd. And now speculator/artist Robert Graham enters the scene
with his project to build himself a studio; plus a few other little extras,
such as subterranean parking, commercial shops on the 1st floor, more
parking on the 2nd, and artist studios on the 3rd. Of the 55,600 square
feet, Mr. Graham needs 6000 square feet for his own studio. The project
will only cost 1.4 million according to Mr. Graham. As an architect, it
looks more like 2 to 3 million to me. Whatever the cost, Mr. Graham agrees
that the project will have to pay for itself, so that the rents will reflect
that reality. What will such rents to to surrounding rent space?
Now some people say that this project is not part of
the City's Windward Mall plans. Yes, no, yes, no, the arguments go on
and on. Unfortunately, when truth comes to light many more of us will
not be around to say, "I told you so."
There have been many Town Council meetings on this project
and you may still find some old leaflets that lay out the pro and con
arguments. That's all history now. At the last meeting, after the various
arguments were presented in a good democratic fashion, a vote was taken
which was binding on the Town Council (as far as arguing before the Coastal
Commission). The body voted to support the project with the changes suggested
by the Coastal Committee of the Town Council.
The significance of this process around the Windward
project, i.e., the many meetings, arguments and voting is a true life
contradiction, a typical double-edged sword. On the one hand, the radical
approach, fight the project all the way, and even the middle of the road
approach, subsidized housing must be included in the project, lost to
the co-opted approach of supporting the project with only minor changes.
While this is a loss from my personal/political point of view (I was on
the losing side), it is a plus for the concept of the Town Council. A
true Town Council has within it all the various and contradictory points
of view of a community. The past few years the Venice Town Council has
gained the image of being more a :left" organization than a "town
council." The vote on the Windward project clearly shows that the
Council is not a "left" organization, but offers a democratic
forum for left, right and center points of view.
The basic philosophy of the Town Council has always been
to protect the Venice Community which includes the low - and -moderate
income residents. In speaking out for the rights of Venice's poverty community,
the Town Council puts itself in an adversary role with speculators, city
planners, and elected officials. In fact, the Council should stand up
against anyone who is threatening the less fortunate residents of Venice.
Who and what is threatening Venice is becoming a fuzzy
question. The transition for ol' Venice to Miami Beach West is creating
some hard political problems for the Council. As the New Venetians move
into town, the character of the Town Council will naturally begin to reflect
the attitudes and values of the Newcomers.
In 1973 when Councilwoman Pat Russell created the Town
Council, the Free Venice organization was in the process of reaching out
to the community for more activists. Since the principles of democracy
and the right of self-determination were the basis of both organizations,
Free Venice decided to put itself on the shelf and become active within
the Town Council. I don't know if the time is right to take Free Venice
off the shelf, but I do feel that there needs to be a radical grouping
within the Council, a left minority if you will.
Viewing the Council in terms of left, middle and right
is not a divisive way of thinking about the group. I see it as a positive
acknowledgment of reality. If we are to survive the 80s our thinking and
actions will have to be based on a clear understanding of reality. Free
Venice!
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Venice
Summer Festival
full-page ad from the June
1984 issue - see a very
enlarged version of this
intricate piece of work
PDF 1.23 MB
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