Talking about the arts in our community is definitely a passion of mine. This week has been a remarkable week for East County arts, and every time that I see remarkable art, the artists at work and get a chance to talk to them about the art, it enriches my life in so many ways. Although it might not be art that I do myself, I pull from the creativeness of all of the artist I meet and absorb it like a sponge.
Talking about the arts in our community is definitely a passion of mine. This week has been a remarkable week for East County arts, and every time that I see remarkable art, the artists at work and get a chance to talk to them about the art, it enriches my life in so many ways. Although it might not be art that I do myself, I pull from the creativeness of all of the artist I meet and absorb it like a sponge. I like to believe that this makes me a better writer, an art form of its own genre, and as an artist in other areas it gets my artistic juices flowing and my head is filled with the many projects that are floating around in there just waiting to be created. But there are a couple of things in this issue that I want to talk more about.
First is the remarkable donation and upcoming reception at the Heritage of the Americas Museum by multi talented artist Ray “Padre” Johnson. I had the privilege to go ahead of time and look at this 25-piece exhibit “The Global Human Family,” originally slated to go on permanent exhibit at the United Nations. I have always called this museum a hidden treasure and its collection is comparable to many of the fine art museums I have travelled to throughout the world. This exhibit makes that belief even stronger. And Jones, I believe, has agreed with my feelings about this legacy left buy Bernard “Bud” Lueck’s vision. It is my understanding that he fell in love with Bud’s work, and his centerpiece of this exhibit has been displayed at the museum for years. He even attended the museum’s grand opening.
His book, “Journeys with the Global Family. Insights Through Portraits & Prose,” which is available at the museum and the grand reception on Oct. 6, is absolutely beautiful in word and illustration. It tells his 14-year journey visiting nations all over the world and his personal interactions with each and every one of them. Hearing his experiences and his enlightening wisdom of the global commonness of our humanity shows his deep love for cultural anthropology. With his art to go along with his poetic way of writing, is one I plan to keep. It is a reminder that we as a world share the most important thing in life together, and that is our humanity. Please take time to see this exhibit. I cannot imagine anyone not being enlightened, educated and inspired.
Moving on, it was a wonderful night for the Alley Cat Art Walk. I have heard about this event since I began working here and it has taken four years for this block of artists in downtown El Cajon to get it back. It was a phenomenal night, especially for a first start of the event. I do not believe I have seen the business on this block so excited about any event that has gone on here. And they should be as the focus is solely on these small businesses that are here and have already stood the test of time with their work. We need to keep it that way. It is my hope that the City of El Cajon, The El Cajon Downtown Business Partners and community leaders will work together to ensure that this event continues. I would love to see this happen more often, and after hearing about First Fridays, I believe that is a goal to work towards. That would dedicate one evening a month to these businesses and be another large draw to El Cajon. With the new hotel coming up soon, there are a lot of possibilities in events like this that happen frequently and will cater to not only the locals, but El Cajon’s visitors as well. So implore those that are involved to stay involved in making this happen. And for those who are not, jump on the bandwagon and make this happen. El Cajon is filled with many wonderful events and this, on a regular basis, would do more in helping the local small businesses in downtown than any other event that the city puts on.
