On our way to somewhere else, we must have lost the memo that informed us that San Pedro is a hub for contemporary art. Indeed, it is such an artistic community that local boosters are urging the harbor commission to provide seed funding for a biennial world-scale arts festival. All those naysayers who think San Pedro is a just a place that cranes, ships, and containers go to die may have it all wrong. That thinking is so linear: those structures stand as emblems of the modern world and the constructs of global capitalism, man.
The waterfront offers both beaches and sprawling, industrial warehouses against the backdrop of huge container ships and cranes -- all appealing, post-modern settings for contemporary, cutting-edge artists… The idea behind the arts festival is to bring tourists to L.A. who aren’t fat square-staters who don’t spend much money while perusing the costume shops on Hollywood Boulevard. No, these “cultural” tourists are seeking something more sublime, like an arts festival... In San Pedro.
· Will San Pedro Waterfront be the New Art Hot Spot? [Daily Breeze]