Next Round of Art of Recovery Projects Connect the Community and Brighten Santa Monica Streets

February 9, 2021 11:05 am

The City of Santa Monica’s Cultural Affairs Division’s next round of Art of Recovery projects will be implemented throughout Santa Monica in the coming weeks and months. A variety of projects by Los Angeles-based artists will be unveiled and will focus on celebrating Black History Month, commemorating lives lost to COVID-19, fostering connection and sharing the experiences of physical distancing over the last year, and giving life to imagined written choreographies from inside the walls of the California Rehabilitation Center.

Art of Recovery was launched in November of 2020 by Cultural Affairs as part of the City of Santa Monica’s Economic Recovery Task Force to harness the power of the arts in the City’s economic, community, and health recovery efforts by funding artistic works and creative projects that strengthen and connect Santa Monica.

Since then, local artists have been transforming some of the City’s most iconic landmarks and public spaces into vibrant works of art that focus on three main priorities: economic recovery, community connectedness & restorative justice, and public health & safety. Plain concrete safety barriers lining the al fresco dining and retail experience along Main Street were transformed into public galleries of art, storefronts along the Third Street Promenade were reimagined as holiday works of art, and the Santa Monica Pier’s iconic Merry-Go-Round windows were brought to life by the famous Bob Baker Marionette Theater and their puppets.