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Island picnic

Last week I meet with a couple of lawyers on an island just on the other side of the 110 freeway in downtown.   Zac, one of the lawyers, and I have been working together for several months.  We were joined by Derek, a bankruptcy lawyer in his firm.  Derek and I have talked previously about [...]

Party at Main and Alameda

Artist, writer and curator Janet Owen Driggs is a guest contributor to the Islands of LA blog.

Until recently the intersection opposite Philippe’s didn’t have a proper traffic island and crossing the street was a take-your-life-in-your-hands experience. Now though there’s a sizable island at the triangular space where Main and Alameda converge. Landscaped with young trees, [...]

BBQ hangout on an island

Last week on 12/23, Zomzy called me up, “Hey, do you want to do a bbq on the island?”  I met Zomzy on 9/16, at an Islands of LA activity held on a large island in Glassel Park, which is across the street from where he lives and has a studio/gallery.
The next day, I rode [...]

Observations of an island

Yesterday, Rosa Garza-Mourino (Antioch University) and I took a tour of islands in the downtown area. I knew she had experience in developing inclusive methods and interdisciplinary tools to approach, explore and interact with urban communities in both Mexico City and Los Angeles. I wanted to introduce her to traffic islands experiences, perceive her responses [...]

New Signs: Notice, Public Thinking + Islands of LA Seal her

Islands of LA installed 2 new signs on 9/17/08, exactly one year after the project began, as part of the 1 year anniversary.  The installation was preceeded and followed with several discussion/activities at a traffic island in Glassell Park. 

The sign, Public Thinking, helps residents identify traffic islands that are likely to be public fora.  [...]

Islands of LA – 1 Year Anniversary!

On September 16, 2008 at 7pm, Islands of LA will celebrate its 1 year anniversary with some discussion/activities on a traffic island and an installation of a new art-traffic sign.  After I saw a few words about the project,  Zac Katz, a lawyer with Munger, Tolles & Olson that is providing pro-bono legal advice on [...]

The Art Crowd Event

Islands of LA has been invited to a discussion on Saturday, July 19th from 9:30am – noon at The Art Crowd in Irvine. This will be a small, informal breakfast event where I will present images and have some discussions related to the project. The event is at Phyllis’ house and [...]

71 year old man takes a rest on an island while vendors sell flowers

Earlier today, around 6pm, I met Juan, a vendor at an island in the Islands of LA Nat’l Park. What do you think of the island? “Nada mas estoy descansando.”
The 71 year old man was taking a brief rest. He had been walking along Cesar Chavez selling large pillows and sold 2 [...]

Firefighters use traffic island to raise money

Did anybody see the firemen on the traffic island on Glendale Blvd in Echo Park last week? They were their on Monday 4/14 for the IAFF’s (International Association of Firefighters) Fill-The-Boot Campaign. The truck was parked in the Arco gas station on Berkeley and Glendale and the firemen would stand on the island [...]