#shine mural festival 2017

[longlistshort]

The Great Utterance – A Prayer to the Sun, by Cryptik, created for the 2017 SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

For the latest work by Cryptik, you can also check out his Instagram. For more on the SHINE Mural Festival, including other artist participants, head here.

[scenefromthesidewalk]

August 23, 2018

“INNER VISIONS”

by Mikael Brandup

“...I created the mural “Inner Visions” experimenting with the warm the cold, the sharp the soft, the light the dark. All merged together as a vibrant energetic explosion bringing my canvas style alive as a large scale mural.” —Mikael Brandup

Brandup spent his early years in Denmark filling notebooks with sketches and developing his graffiti on plywood panels in his backyard. With hundreds of graffiti walls painted in southwest Copenhagen the “explosive colors and geometric shapes” of his work today still reflects elements of his history creating complex combinations of forms and letters.  In 2017 the artist, now based in Los Angeles, visited St. Petersburg, Florida for the annual Shine Festival and created this representation of his artistic vision on the side of @DeepBlueFitness, between Arlington and First Ave N.  @mikaelbrandrup/  @shineonstpete/�� @ilovetheburg

[mallyvu]

Harvey Weinstein Is My Monster Too

By Salma Hayek

Dec. 12, 2017

Harvey Weinstein was a passionate cinephile, a risk taker, a patron of talent in film, a loving father and a monster. For years, he was my monster.

This fall, I was approached by reporters, through different sources, including my dear friend Ashley Judd, to speak about an episode in my life that, although painful, I thought I had made peace with.

I had brainwashed myself into thinking that it was over and that I had survived; I hid from the responsibility to speak out with the excuse that enough people were already involved in shining a light on my monster. I didn’t consider my voice important, nor did I think it would make a difference.

In reality, I was trying to save myself the challenge of explaining several things to my loved ones: Why, when I had casually mentioned that I had been bullied like many others by Harvey, I had excluded a couple of details. And why, for so many years, we have been cordial to a man who hurt me so deeply. I had been proud of my capacity for forgiveness, but the mere fact that I was ashamed to describe the details of what I had forgiven made me wonder if that chapter of my life had really been resolved.

When so many women came forward to describe what Harvey had done to them, I had to confront my cowardice and humbly accept that my story, as important as it was to me, was nothing but a drop in an ocean of sorrow and confusion. I felt that by now nobody would care about my pain — maybe this was an effect of the many times I was told, especially by Harvey, that I was nobody.

We are finally becoming conscious of a vice that has been socially accepted and has insulted and humiliated millions of girls like me, for in every woman there is a girl. I am inspired by those who had the courage to speak out, especially in a society that elected a president who has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by more than a dozen women and whom we have all heard make a statement about how a man in power can do anything he wants to women.

Well, not anymore.

In the 14 years that I stumbled from schoolgirl to Mexican soap star to an extra in a few American films to catching a couple of lucky breaks in “Desperado” and “Fools Rush In,” Harvey Weinstein had become the wizard of a new wave of cinema that took original content into the mainstream. At the same time, it was unimaginable for a Mexican actress to aspire to a place in Hollywood. And even though I had proven them wrong, I was still a nobody.

One of the forces that gave me the determination to pursue my career was the story of Frida Kahlo, who in the golden age of the Mexican muralists would do small intimate paintings that everybody looked down on. She had the courage to express herself while disregarding skepticism. My greatest ambition was to tell her story. It became my mission to portray the life of this extraordinary artist and to show my native Mexico in a way that combated stereotypes.

The Weinstein empire, which was then Miramax, had become synonymous with quality, sophistication and risk taking — a haven for artists who were complex and defiant. It was everything that Frida was to me and everything I aspired to be.

I had started a journey to produce the film with a different company, but I fought to get it back to take it to Harvey.

I knew him a little bit through my relationship with the director Robert Rodriguez and the producer Elizabeth Avellan, who was then his wife, with whom I had done several films and who had taken me under their wing. All I knew of Harvey at the time was that he had a remarkable intellect, he was a loyal friend and a family man.

Knowing what I know now, I wonder if it wasn’t my friendship with them — and Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney — that saved me from being raped.

The deal we made initially was that Harvey would pay for the rights of work I had already developed. As an actress, I would be paid the minimum Screen Actors Guild scale plus 10 percent. As a producer, I would receive a credit that would not yet be defined, but no payment, which was not that rare for a female producer in the ’90s. He also demanded a signed deal for me to do several other films with Miramax, which I thought would cement my status as a leading lady.

I did not care about the money; I was so excited to work with him and that company. In my naïveté, I thought my dream had come true. He had validated the last 14 years of my life. He had taken a chance on me — a nobody. He had said yes.

Little did I know it would become my turn to say no.

No to opening the door to him at all hours of the night, hotel after hotel, location after location, where he would show up unexpectedly, including one location where I was doing a movie he wasn’t even involved with.

No to me taking a shower with him.

No to letting him watch me take a shower.

No to letting him give me a massage.

No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage.

No to letting him give me oral sex.

No to my getting naked with another woman.

No, no, no, no, no …

And with every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage.

I don’t think he hated anything more than the word “no.” The absurdity of his demands went from getting a furious call in the middle of the night asking me to fire my agent for a fight he was having with him about a different movie with a different client to physically dragging me out of the opening gala of the Venice Film Festival, which was in honor of “Frida,” so I could hang out at his private party with him and some women I thought were models but I was told later were high-priced prostitutes.

The range of his persuasion tactics went from sweet-talking me to that one time when, in an attack of fury, he said the terrifying words, “I will kill you, don’t think I can’t.”

When he was finally convinced that I was not going to earn the movie the way he had expected, he told me he had offered my role and my script with my years of research to another actress.

In his eyes, I was not an artist. I wasn’t even a person. I was a thing: not a nobody, but a body.

At that point, I had to resort to using lawyers, not by pursuing a sexual harassment case, but by claiming “bad faith,” as I had worked so hard on a movie that he was not intending to make or sell back to me. I tried to get it out of his company.

He claimed that my name as an actress was not big enough and that I was incompetent as a producer, but to clear himself legally, as I understood it, he gave me a list of impossible tasks with a tight deadline:

1. Get a rewrite of the script, with no additional payment.

2. Raise $10 million to finance the film.

3. Attach an A-list director.

4. Cast four of the smaller roles with prominent actors.

Much to everyone’s amazement, not least my own, I delivered, thanks to a phalanx of angels who came to my rescue, including Edward Norton, who beautifully rewrote the script several times and appallingly never got credit, and my friend Margaret Perenchio, a first-time producer, who put up the money. The brilliant Julie Taymor agreed to direct, and from then on she became my rock. For the other roles, I recruited my friends Antonio Banderas, Edward Norton and my dear Ashley Judd. To this day, I don’t know how I convinced Geoffrey Rush, whom I barely knew at the time.

Now Harvey Weinstein was not only rejected but also about to do a movie he did not want to do.

Ironically, once we started filming, the sexual harassment stopped but the rage escalated. We paid the price for standing up to him nearly every day of shooting. Once, in an interview he said Julie and I were the biggest ball busters he had ever encountered, which we took as a compliment.

Halfway through shooting, Harvey turned up on set and complained about Frida’s “unibrow.” He insisted that I eliminate the limp and berated my performance. Then he asked everyone in the room to step out except for me. He told me that the only thing I had going for me was my sex appeal and that there was none of that in this movie. So he told me he was going to shut down the film because no one would want to see me in that role.

It was soul crushing because, I confess, lost in the fog of a sort of Stockholm syndrome, I wanted him to see me as an artist: not only as a capable actress but also as somebody who could identify a compelling story and had the vision to tell it in an original way.

I was hoping he would acknowledge me as a producer, who on top of delivering his list of demands shepherded the script and obtained the permits to use the paintings. I had negotiated with the Mexican government, and with whomever I had to, to get locations that had never been given to anyone in the past — including Frida Kahlo’s houses and the murals of Kahlo’s husband, Diego Rivera, among others.

But all of this seemed to have no value. The only thing he noticed was that I was not sexy in the movie. He made me doubt if I was any good as an actress, but he never succeeded in making me think that the film was not worth making.

He offered me one option to continue. He would let me finish the film if I agreed to do a sex scene with another woman. And he demanded full-frontal nudity.

He had been constantly asking for more skin, for more sex. Once before, Julie Taymor got him to settle for a tango ending in a kiss instead of the lovemaking scene he wanted us to shoot between the character Tina Modotti, played by Ashley Judd, and Frida.

But this time, it was clear to me he would never let me finish this movie without him having his fantasy one way or another. There was no room for negotiation.

I had to say yes. By now so many years of my life had gone into this film. We were about five weeks into shooting, and I had convinced so many talented people to participate. How could I let their magnificent work go to waste?

I had asked for so many favors, I felt an immense pressure to deliver and a deep sense of gratitude for all those who did believe in me and followed me into this madness. So I agreed to do the senseless scene.

I arrived on the set the day we were to shoot the scene that I believed would save the movie. And for the first and last time in my career, I had a nervous breakdown: My body began to shake uncontrollably, my breath was short and I began to cry and cry, unable to stop, as if I were throwing up tears.

Since those around me had no knowledge of my history of Harvey, they were very surprised by my struggle that morning. It was not because I would be naked with another woman. It was because I would be naked with her for Harvey Weinstein. But I could not tell them then.

My mind understood that I had to do it, but my body wouldn’t stop crying and convulsing. At that point, I started throwing up while a set frozen still waited to shoot. I had to take a tranquilizer, which eventually stopped the crying but made the vomiting worse. As you can imagine, this was not sexy, but it was the only way I could get through the scene.

By the time the filming of the movie was over, I was so emotionally distraught that I had to distance myself during the postproduction.

When Harvey saw the cut film, he said it was not good enough for a theatrical release and that he would send it straight to video.

This time Julie had to fight him without me and got him to agree to release the film in one movie theater in New York if we tested it to an audience and we scored at least an 80.

Less than 10 percent of films achieve that score on a first screening.

I didn’t go to the test. I anxiously awaited to receive the news. The film scored 85.

... Read the rest at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/13/opinion/contributors/salma-hayek-harvey-weinstein.html

[nehetisingsforhekate]

My Winter Solstice, Hekate and Helios

(Lots of UPG in this one folks. I make no bones about the fact that while my practice is definitely influenced by what we know of ancient Greece and Caria and Thrace, I am not a reconstructionist, and I remain inspired by my neo-Wiccan roots.)

In the Hymn to Demeter, we read that it was only Hekate who heard Kore’s abduction, and Helios who saw. The two of them are responsible for reuniting Demeter with the newly-crowned Goddess of the Underworld, Persephone. Some scholars have speculated that this is a reflection of some sort of lunar quality to Hekate, making Her a suitable pairing with Helios’ role as the Sun. Most likely this is because Helios is often conflated with Apollon, and Hekate with both Artemis and Selene. The Sun and the Moon know the fate of the Kore, and inform the Mother.

And that bond carries through over the ages. We see Kirke, the Witch-Goddess who sometimes is a granddaughter of Hekate, is commonly a descendant of Helios. Medea is also a child of Helios, as well as a priestess of Hekate. There are even versions wherein Helios and Hekate are married! And Helios is another of the major gods of the PGM, alongside Hekate, Selene, Artemis, and Hermes. And in the Argonautika, Medea swears by Helios and Hekate.

In the PGM, Helios is ton megiston theon, ‘the Greatest God,’ and Hekate is megiste, ‘the greatest.’ Helios is associated with to ieron pyr, ‘the sacred fire,’ a quality that characterizes the Chaldean Hekate.

It is Sophocles’ who has given us my favorite verse invoking the two, however, in a fragment from The Root Cutters, which dates to the 5th century BCE:

O Lord Helios and Sacred Fire The Spear of Hekate of the Crossroads Which She bears as She travels Olympus And dwells in the triple ways of the holy land She who is crowned with oak-leaves And the coils of wild serpents.

Today, for many Pagans, Winter Solstice is a time to honor the Sun (or the Son!) But the Greeks didn’t really see it that way. The association of this particular astronomical event with the Sun comes, in part with the Romans, and the God Sol from the cult of Mithras. Like many Roman deities, Sol, usually called Sol Invictus (The Invincible Sun), was conflated with a Greek God, in this case,  Helios. The festival of Sol Invictus was celebrated on the Winter Solstice.

While the Greeks had festivals in the winter, particularly for Poseidon, Zeus and Hera, the Winter Solstice didn’t figure much. Their calendar was largely based on the lunar cycle, so solar events like the solstices weren’t featured.

Even so, personally, I take the winter solstice as an opportunity to honor Helios, and to recognize that many ways in which He interacts with Hekate. Rather than looking at the neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year as part of a mythological cycle, I, in my personal praxis, have taken the Sabbats to be described by keywords and themes. For that, I look at the Winter Solstice as having the keyword, ‘Promise’ and a theme of warmth and coming sunlight.

For me, the Promise of the Winter Solstice is one of the year ahead, that life will return, and that warmth will come into our lives anew. In my personal life, that Promise is deeply entwined with my relationship with Hekate and Helios. Hekate, as Soteira and Zoophoros, is the Anima Mundi manifesting Life in the world, and further enlivened by the attention of Helios. I celebrate this perspective of life, and the Gods which contribute.

A rite to celebrate Hekate and Helios at the Winter Solstice:

Prepare for the rite by showering and dressing in clean clothes. I like to braid and bind my hair up (those rare times it is long enough to do so!), and then before starting the ritual proper unbind it and then ritually anoint myself. Decorate the altar with a glass bowl of water, candles, yellow, red, and orange items. Suitable offerings are spicy foods, yellow foods, sweets, and rich wines or spirits. Traditional Greek offerings would be things like barley, garlic, olive oil, and wine.

Establish sacred space according to your tradition.

Invocation: Khaire Hekate! Soteira! Kleidoukhos! Radiant-haired Goddess unto whom I have sworn my oaths! To you I lift my voice, Bright Goddess of the Heaven, Earth, and Sea! To you I offer my service, Bestower of Virtue! To you I make this rite, Glorious All-Giver! Zoogonos, you are! Anima Mundi, you are! Geneteira, you are! Hekate, Hekate, Hekate! Hear my voice, and bless this sacred rite! Khaire Helios! Megiston theon! All-Seeing! Bright Father who witnesses all things! To you I lift my voice, Golden Faced Titan of the Heavenly Hosts! To you I offer this service, You who Gladdens Mortals! To you I make this rite, Lord of the Seasons! Father of Ages, you are! Guide of Prosperous Deeds, you are! Sword of Hekate, you are! Helios! Helios! Helios! Hear my voice, and bless this sacred rite!

Then ask the Gods to bless those in attendance and the offerings being given today. I usually ad lib this to make it seem less rehearsed.

We gather on the longest night, when darkness lays close on the land, and the Moon hangs small in the sky. Cold seeps into our homes, and into our bones. But your promise, Hekate and Helios, stands true. Your light warms us from within, and so we brighten our homes in your honor. For your promises shine within our hearts, and we offer our thanks for this blessing.

May the gifts which we pour forth upon the altar be a token of our gratitude, and may this small rite be blessed by you today!

Each attendant then pours a libation of water or wine into the bowl while offering their own thanks, either silently or aloud, and the others take a moment for meditation and prayer.

Any food offerings are then served on a plate to the Gods. The remainder is given to the attendees for feasting.

Thus do we honor the Gods for all the gifts they have and will give. We pray that it has been received well, and ask now that you speak clearly to your devotees.

A moment of prayer, spent meditating upon the candlelight.

Each person takes a candle and pours the melted wax into the bowl in turn, and taking a moment to allow the wax to cool, take the wax carefully in hand to read for divination.

Discuss the divinations as needed.

Great Gods, Hekate and Helios, you have attended our rite, and our thanks have been offered and we have been blessed by your presence.

Thanks to you, O Gods who saw the fate of the Kore, You who spoke the truth to Demeter in Her time of need.

Close out the ritual according to your tradition.

 Sources:

Theoi.com http://www.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/2017/12/hekate-and-the-month-of-december/ https://hekatecovenant.com/resources/about-hekate/hekate-helios-hekate-liminal-rites/

Bremmer, Jan. Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations, Edinburgh, 2010. Currie, Bruno. Homer’s Allusive Art, Oxford, 2016. Faraone, Christopher A. and Dirk Obbink. Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion, Oxford, 1997. Fox, Hugh. The Mytholoical Foundations of the Epic Genre: the Solar Voyage as the Hero’s Journey, E. Mellen, 1989. Pachoumi, Eleni. The Concepts of the Divine in the Greek Magical Papyri.

Images:

Huber, Josef Karl. “Helios in his Sun Chariot,” mural in Heidelberg, photo taken 2013 by Radoslaw Droschdschewski. Via wikicommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heidelberg_Hauptbahnhof_-_Sgraffito.JPG

[rosepoints]

da satinalia 2017 // day two

★ DAY TWO || DECEMBER 19 || AWAKENINGS @dasatinalia

ahhh, the bitter taste of regret. on the second day, everything is a good opportunity to make amends, to reconcile and find redemption, perhaps, or to forgive an old enemy. how would your favorite character handle the ghosts of christmas past? how would they find inner peace and comfort?

Satinalia is a new celebration, Solas thinks. A different permutation of what used to be.

There was still a celebration around this time of year. The crystalline spires of Arlathan would be slightly altered to mimic the patterns of snowflakes, and snow would be coaxed out of the skies even in warmer climates. Although, Solas amends mentally, the elves in the warmer climates stopped the snow summoning after a couple of hours so that they could go on the beaches in their thin, fluttering silk robes. He wryly smiles as he remembers some of the… More exposed. Beaches. He also spent a few celebrations on said beaches as well.

What could he do? He was young once.

Once.

Solas sighs heavily as he leans back in his high-backed chair. The murals that he has painted stretch up far above, and he smiles as he gazes at the painstaking detail that he spent so long on. Perhaps this will be another legacy to live on whether it be in here or in the Fade.

In Elvhenan, some elves liked to raise the tallest of evergreen trees and infuse them with magic throughout their growth so that they would sparkle and shine with inherent light on winter’s day. With snow weighing down on their incandescent boughs, Solas would wrap a cloak of magic around his body and wait for unsuspecting elves to walk over. Then, he would surprise them with a small puff of smoke or change the color of their clothes or hair (only temporarily) or some other mischief of similar like.

Some years, he would spend the entire celebration in the form of a giant wolf and flounder through large snowdrifts as holiday music played. He twists his fingers together and chuckles slightly as he remembers the time Sylaise attached unremovable bells to a collar that Ghilan’nain made for him. He remembers snarling and rolling around in the snow, trying to get the wretched collar off. Even quiet and stoic Dirthamen laughed as the great general, Fen’Harel, was unable to escape the belled collar.

Solas shakes his head, trying to escape from the memories that filled him with so much melancholy, but no matter what he did, old memories failed to stop haunting him. The sound of Mythal’s laughter, the scent of Sylaise’s winter-flower holiday perfume, even Elgar’nan’s ridiculous red hat all remained bright and unfading in his mind’s eye. It seemed to taunt him. This Satinalia could never compare, not when the entire world felt dead to his fingers. The Veil, his own handiwork, made sure of that.

He sighs heavily and leans forward to place his elbows on his desk. He props his head up with his hands and stares down at the old oak wood of the desk. When did he first put this desk in Skyhold? Didn’t June make him this desk once as a winter holiday gift? Or was that a gift for something else entirely? He thanks his lucky stars that Lavellan has not yet found the garish orange gift that Falon’Din gave him once at some inane autumnal festival. He stuffed that one far far below the Undercroft so that no one could ever find it. He also suspects that Falon’Din foisted the “gift” off on him so that he wouldn’t have to deal with it.

Solas leans back against his chair and glances up at the tall, vaulted ceiling. Ravens flap above as they deposit messages for Leliana, but the usual people milling around in the library are strangely absent. Suddenly, the door to the rotunda slams in, and the Inquisitor herself bounds in with Dorian in tow.

“This really isn’t necessary,” Dorian grumbles as Lavellan drags him along by the wrist. His voice has none of the usual acidic sarcasm in it though. “I am perfectly capable of walking by myself, thank you very much.”

“It’s the holiday season!” Lavellan crows with delight. She turns her bright and happy gaze onto him and calls out, “We are having a celebration!” Her nose and cheeks are bright red from the wintry air, but her expression remains brilliant as ever. Even Mythal’s branches inscribed on her face cannot dampen her excitement. It’s actually rather charming and endearing. She lets go of Dorian’s wrist, and he shakes his wrist with mock concern.

“I’m afraid you’re not getting out of this, Solas,” he advises. “She dragged me down from the second floor even though I was going to go already. They have mulled wine, and I intend to judge this southern iteration of it for myself.”

“I,” Solas starts hesitantly. He doesn’t know if he should. He already knows that Satinalia cannot compare to what it used to be in the old days.

But before he can say another word, Lavellan strides over to his desk and reaches out to hold his hand. Her fingers intertwine with his, but she does not tug or demand. Instead, she waits, patient and enduring, and a small smile curves its way across her lips. It’s such a stark contrast to her bubbling laughter when she came in, but it is still very much her. Frankly, he would say that the kind of extroverted joy that was on her face was a rare one to see. “Please, emma lath,” she says gently. “You may sit and brood on another day, but not this one. Today is a day to live and let go.”

Solas stares up at her and relents. And as he stands up, he continues to hold her hand, clinging on tight to the connection between them. The anchor suddenly flares and warms them both with sparks of mana, and he huffs a small laugh. He reaches out to caress her cheek, and his own magic skids against hers. Beautiful and new and wonderfully familiar.

“Please,” Dorian suddenly scoffs. He clears his throat and says loudly, “You may kiss and be disgusting with your love under some sprig of mistletoe at the actual party itself. Please don’t do it here. Now. In front of my face.”

Lavellan glances back and laughs, “You may go on ahead, Dorian, and have your mulled wine.”

“Thank you,” Dorian sniffs. He pauses and gives Solas a once-over. “Don’t take too long though,” he says. The way he says it makes him seem like some stuffy governess. “It would be a shame to miss most of the party, and most of all, me.” He flounces out of the rotunda, and Lavellan laughs once more, warm and bubbling and delightful.

“Shall we go then?” Solas asks. Lavellan nods and tugs Solas closer to her side as they follow Dorian out of the rotunda. And as Solas walks farther and farther away from his room and the looming murals that stretch upwards, he feels like he’s walking away from the ghosts of memories and holidays long past. It is a strange feeling. But it is more peaceful and comforting than he expects.

[bluelucy]

Last September I painted a Red Bull cooler for the 2016 Shine Mural Festival's Creative Block exhibit. It was bright yellow, called Highlighter and done in my free form doodle style. After the exhibit, the cooler was placed at Jannus Live. Months later, I was contacted by interior designers Studio M, who were working on a new restaurant project called Badfins on Clearwater Beach, FL. They mentioned co-owner Eric had seen my work at Jannus Live and wanted me to create new works similar throughout the restaurant. A year later, Badfins opens. This has been an awesome project that has allowed me to do what I do. I love the fact that the connections made were through Shine and what it strives to do for our culture and community. Congrats and thanks to Badfins and Studio M, and looking forward to 2017 Shine, which happens October 5-14 this year! #ChadMize x #bebad x #shineonstpete (at Badfins Food + Brew)

[artanddesignmatters]

Mural under the Lake Worth Beach, FL bridge painted in 2017 during the Canvas Art Festival. The Kapu Collective was founded by Hawaiian born artist Hula (Sean Yoro) alongside twin brother Kapu in 2012. With the help from a talented array of creatives, the team produces impactful artwork and design inspired directly from nature and environmental issues. Title: “Uhane” which means spirit in Hawaiian Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the Art & Design Matters Florida Art Crawl | Shining a light on subjects that matter #ArtandDesignMatters #kapucollective #streetart #paintedcities #seanyoro #gabeoro #muralpaintings #publicart #admartinpublicspaces #artinpublicspaces #visitlakeworthbeach #visitflorida #admFloridaArtCrawl #art #artist #muralartist #the_hula #mural #muralart #culturetrip #culturetravel #culturetraveler #admsupportsthearts #artenthusiast #urbanart #muralism #yorobrothers #artistry #artcrawl   (at Lake Worth Beach) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9hlFoZnYJc/?igshid=17ci9me6f5hov

[theconservativebrief]

Taking a ferry to Ikea, gallery hopping for the free wine, settling into to an orb of apathy as you stare into the abyss on your subway ride home — these are all authentic New York experiences, and all far from what I’m doing right now. Right now, I’m partaking in an authentic New York Airbnb Experience, which is something entirely different.

Experiences is Airbnb’s most significant effort to become an end-to-end travel seller. The platform displays a slick grid of options like classes, walking tours, and hikes all led by locals. Not only is the company showing you where to stay, now they are showing you what to do.

This, along with Homes and Restaurants (which is born from a partnership with reservation-making app Resy), all fall under Airbnb’s “Trips” umbrella, a product which launched in 2016. Experiences in New York City range from photoshoots in iconic parks to graffiti walking tours to a session with a vintage personal shopper. You know, things New Yorkers do.

Airbnb’s company motto once was “Live Like a Local,” so booking a class called “Create Your Own Pottery” seemed a bit strange

This expansion of offerings is not to fill a hole in the market, but an opportunity for Airbnb to provide a more centralized platform for tours, something that hasn’t been done yet. It also could be a way for the company to diversify revenue as they face more and more regulatory headaches with thousands of listings being pulled from the site.

Today, I am throwing pots with Ernesto. I picked this Experience because unlike the aforementioned options, it was something I wouldn’t be embarrassed to do. Joining me are two other locals along with two tourists, and although the class was lovely, it doesn’t feel like a natural extension of the Airbnb brand I frequently patronize.

Airbnb’s company motto once was “Live Like a Local,” so booking a class called “Create Your Own Pottery” seemed a bit strange, even though it was just a few blocks from my home.

According to Airbnb’s own reports, the company’s step into services has been largely successful. CEO Brian Chesky said in January Airbnb Experiences is growing much faster than Airbnb Homes did and receives 1.5 million bookings on an annualized basis and about 1,200 host applications per week. In February, the company released a report saying bookings increased 2,500 percent over the last year and they plan to offer Experiences in 1,000 cities by the end of the year.

A craft brew Airbnb Experience in Vancouver. Airbnb

But others sources paint a different picture: that the company’s biggest project launched since its genesis is floundering. A Wall Street Journal article highlighted a host who listed a night sky photography class on the platform but promptly quit after averaging only one customer a month. According to a pymnts.com article, Airbnb has lost more than $100 million pursuing the project. My own Experience host said Airbnb gives many free passes away to his class, perhaps another sign the service isn’t in demand.

But the company is still charging forward. In January Airbnb sank another $5 million in the program, seeking to add 200 more US cities to the roster. The company predicts it will make $200 million in Experiences revenue in 2018, despite the fact that it only made $10 million in 2017. Just this month, the company announced that a second Los Angeles office will serve as the Experiences hub.

This shift into the world of guided tours doesn’t quite align with the goal of most Airbnb users: to have sincere brushes with local culture. It’s a goal that Airbnb has been good at cultivating. So what encouraged the travel industry’s shining star to produce something not so innovative?

It wasn’t because of demand. Tours are already popular, and there’s no shortage of providers. They also aren’t that cheesy anymore, as travelers are demanding authentic-feeling experiences. Booking.com found 62 percent of people want to experience new cultures, 51 percent want to taste local delicacies, and one-third of travelers embrace meeting new people.

Many of the tours listed on TripAdvisor include “small group” in the title, emphasizing the opportunity for more peer-to-peer interaction. According to a recent survey by TripAdvisor, cultural and themed tour bookings (think a graffiti golf cart tour in Miami or a haunted pub tour in Seattle) in the United States jumped 32 percent for domestic travelers and 62 percent for global travelers from 2017 to 2018. Food tours have also shown tremendous growth, with the amount of booked tours in the US growing 59 percent.

So although the traditional, sterile tour may not jive with Airbnb’s motto, this new kind of tour could.

The company predicts it will make $200 million in Experiences revenue in 2018, despite the fact that it only made $10 million in 2017

Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt says people are also increasingly looking for niche tours that align with their existing interests but still allow them to experience another culture — a cooking class, an architecture tour, a historical neighborhood walk. And they’re spending money to do it; Harteveldt says that 60 percent or more of the average person’s travel budget is spent on tours, activities, and restaurants.

But the preference for the one-size-fits all double-decker tour has somewhat faded. “It’s formulaic and only focuses on the obvious,” he says. “It can be convenient and helpful, but what Airbnb can do is allow travelers to go further into the detail of interests that they are already passionate about.”

He adds that the inclusion of classes on the platform makes Experiences a competitor to not only tour sites, but event and class sites like Eventbrite or Meetup. When you browse Atlanta’s Experiences, you see mural walking tours alongside a fitness class called The Ultimate Twerkout and a beekeeping class called The Mystique of Bees: Beekeeping 101. My Experience host Ernest said that 60 percent of those who take his class are not tourists.

According to Daniel Guttentag, a hospitality and tourism professor at Charleston College, the tour market is also quite fragmented. There is TripAdvisor’s Viator, Fat Tire Tours, and Peek, along with other local guides who don’t use aggregating platforms. Guttentag says this lack of consolidation may have motivated Airbnb to step into the space and provide a more encompassing platform where experienced and novice guides could exist together.

Aside from capitalizing on already popular travel practices, Airbnb was perhaps fueled by its recent run-in with regulatory issues. In most cities, short-term rentals have always been illegal, but because so few people were doing them, there was no push for renters to report their listings to the government. Now, lawmakers are proposing bills that would force renters to register their listing in order for the government can monitor if they are following the rules.

Paris, Airbnb’s biggest market, is aggressively reining in renters, requiring listings on Airbnb to register with the government, and holding Airbnb, not the landlords, fiscally responsible for the renters who don’t. In May, Barcelona forced the site to delete over 2,500 listings that weren’t operating with city-approved licenses. Regulations in San Francisco cut the city’s listings by almost half, and a similar policy in New York could have the same effect.

“It’s a hedge against future regulations that might restrict growth in the lodging element” —Daniel Guttentag

Despite regulations in major tourism cities, Guttentag disagrees with “any notion that Airbnb will be regulated out of existence,” but each side will have to adjust. Now, policy makers will have to adapt to the “new reality that these services have created in communities.” Meanwhile Airbnb is expanding. “It’s a hedge against future regulations that might restrict growth in the lodging element,” Guttentag says.

Not everyone can afford to rent out their apartment or house, but the barrier to entry for hosting an experience is much lower. And while a user is less likely to book a stay where they already live, if they’re looking for a local class or say, a session with a personal shopper, Airbnb might just be the place they find it. With Experiences, Airbnb expands both the pool of potential hosts and the pool of potential users, without any of the regulatory headache.

The addition of services that duck regulatory issues is a common tactic of disruptive innovations. Uber’s offshoot app UberEATS was a way for the company to diversify income in the face of being partially or fully banned in a handful of regions including parts of Oregon, London, and the countries of Italy and Denmark. For Airbnb hosts whose home listing was taken down, Experiences could offer another revenue stream.

As Airbnb expands its hospitality services, the industry they disrupted is feeling pressure to adapt as well. According to a report by Skift, more than 50 percent of luxury consumers in the US are more interested in connecting with local people and culture than they were just three years ago. And 60 percent of luxury travelers said they want travel experiences that their friends may not have thought of. Even those using luxury amenities want personal, local experiences.

To satiate those needs, luxury hotels are offering more services that emphasize personalization. Last month, Hilton announced a partnership with Foursquare to create a new feature on it’s existing app which will show you recommendations from local Hilton employees along with the vault of reviews that Foursquare already owns. The Marriott invested in PlacePass, an activity booking service which provides “behind-the-scenes” tours and classes with local crafters and artists.

Casa Bonay, a four-star hotel in Barcelona, is hosting a slew of events including film festivals, album listening parties, and rooftop viewings to make the locals come to them. They also built a coffee shop, co-working space, lounge, and restaurant where both Barcelona natives and guests are welcome.

A Matcha tea ceremony Experience in Vancouver. Airbnb

It’s not only hotels. The New York Times recently partnered with Urban Adventures to offer a series of tours based on the Times’s popular 36 Hours series. The tours webpage says it invites travelers to “interact with locals, get hands-on experience, and enjoy exclusive access to places with a local guide.”

Travel review site TripAdvisor just announced plans to roll out a new social feature where users can scroll through a feed of travel content created by publications, influencers, and friends. The app looks like a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook, but only features travel content.

Users can curate the content on their feed by typing a city name into the app, which will result in the app filtering out any posts that are not about that city. The app also allows users to save places, and transfers those places to an easily accessible map that you can also share with friends. For anyone who has ever been asked for recommendations from a trip they took two years ago, this is an extremely appealing feature.

But despite the evolution of their competitors, Airbnb does retain customer trust, which is crucial in such a fragmented market. Right now, there is no activity or tours platform that people swear by. If Airbnb is able to funnel its loyal community of both hosts and users into supplementary revenue streams that aren’t as heavily regulated, then this investment will certainly have been worth it.

As I’m struggling to throw anything identifiable on this wheel, the man to the right of me has no trouble at all making the perfect ashtray. I ask if he’s ever done this before and he says “no,” then volleys the question back, as if he can’t already tell by my pile of sludge that this is new to me, too.

He and the woman to my left were both visiting from Costa Rica and Los Angeles, respectively. The other two were a local couple, in from the city to celebrate a birthday. Our wheels line the walls and face inward toward a large table in the middle of the room piled high with bowls and cups and vases.

Ernesto hops from wheel to wheel, breaking the focused silence with “what do you do,” and “how long will you be here,” sort of small talk. It doesn’t take long for him to tell us he is also a Home host, and says with new regulations looming, the option to be an Experience host was especially enticing. He talks about how the government regulations are bad for cities and how travelers won’t have affordable accommodation options, all while he’s helping us shape something that kind of looks like a pot.

He’s everything Airbnb wants a host to be: a young artist who is passionate about government regulations that would affect him and, of course, the company. This isn’t an authentic New York experience, but it is the experience Airbnb wants you to have.

Original Source -> Can guided tours save Airbnb?

via The Conservative Brief

[streetartusa]

Axel Void & L.E.O. in St.Petersbourg, FL

Axel Void & L.E.O. in St.Petersbourg, FL

“Harmony” is the title of the stunning mural Axel Void and L.E.O. painted in St. Petersburg (Florida) for the third edition of the SHINE festival which took place in October 2017. The concept of this wall is an attempt to understand human behavior and its relationship to power.

About The Mural

This mural is based on a juxtaposition of two images. The one in the background is an interpretation…

[longlistshort]

This mural was created by Jose Mertz for the 2017 edition of the SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

For more work by the artist, also check out his Instagram.

[jtgiroux]

Final documentation of my contribution via READ Movement for SHINE Mural Festival 2017 . What a great honor and pleasure to contribute to such a rad project.  Till next year . . . 

Photo credit Edel Mohr

[scenefromthesidewalk]

May 4, 2017

“EL INDIO”

by ArtKungFu

Eater.com along with many food truck fans were concerned when Houston Food Park closed for much of 2016, but sighed with relief when they discovered it was just undergoing a major overhaul for the Superbowl. It doesn’t hurt its popularity that this venue is right at one of the major hubs for Houston’s HUE Mural Festival, begun in 2015. Located in the heavily Mexican American Second Ward, Texas native Angel Quesada who says he has been influenced by Mexican artists like Rufino Tamayo and Adolfo Best-Maugard, painted this striking mural at the corner of the food truck park on St Emanuel and Leeland Streets. With 25 years experience making art, Quesada’s fascination with the power of color and metaphor both shine through in “El Indio,” a work he also refers to as Guardian of the 2nd Barrio.  @artkungfu  

[worldwideflan]

Just a small selection of a larger piece by Zulu Painter in St. Pete, FL.  A mural created at last year’s Shine Mural Festival which kicks off again in October.  Can’t wait!

captured in st. pete, fl

September 2017

website

facebook

instagram @worldwideflan

[creative-salem]

Salem Screams for Ice Cream! A Salem Main Streets Happening

Salem Screams for Ice Cream!

Salem’s Ice Scream Bowl is back! It’s time to sample some of the best ice cream in the North Shore from some of the many ice cream shops the area has to offer. Salem’s Ice Scream Bowl event will be held on Tuesday, August 8 on the Salem Common from 6:00-7:30 p.m., rain or shine. A Heritage Days favorite, this annual event is a chance to taste some classic flavors and new combinations from the area’s premier ice cream shops. The Ice Scream Bowl is a Salem Main Streets Happening.

A few of the homegrown local businesses serving samples at the event will include Captain Dusty’s,

Salem Main Streets Ice Scream Bowl A Heritage Days Salem Event Photo John Andrews/Creative Salem

Maria’s Sweet Somethings, and Melt Ice Cream. Salem’s Ice Scream Bowl is a fun event for both children and adults to cool down from the heat and enjoy tasty ice cream. North Shore 104.9 will be in attendance with fun games and takeaways.

The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for children. Tickets are purchased on site on the day of the event. A spoon and napkins will be supplied with the purchase of a ticket.

The Ice Scream Bowl is going green this year! All of our materials are recyclable or compostable in an effort to reduce the impact of this popular event. Special thanks to SalemRecycles for helping to cover the increased costs of materials, as well as their expert advice in making this a more environmentally-friendly event.

Proceeds go to support Salem Main Streets, a nonprofit organization focusing on the continued revitalization of downtown Salem as a vibrant year-round retail, dining, and cultural destination. Salem Main Streets organizes the Salem Farmers’ Market, Salem Arts Festival, and many other events in downtown Salem, as well as offering direct business support to downtown businesses. The Ice Scream Bowl is coordinated in partnership between Salem Main Streets and the City of Salem as part of Salem Heritage Days.

For any other questions or comments regarding this event, please contact Kylie Sullivan at Salem Main Streets at (978) 744-0004 x115 or email at kylie@salemmainstreets.org.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section]

Want to learn more about Salem Main Streets

Click through

.eacs-interactive-promo #eacs-interactive-promo-4667 figure { background-color: #3085a3; } .eacs-interactive-promo #eacs-interactive-promo-4667 figure p { color: #fff; }

Heritage Days 2017

More Information Here

.eacs-interactive-promo #eacs-interactive-promo-2815 figure { background-color: #3085a3; } .eacs-interactive-promo #eacs-interactive-promo-2815 figure p { color: #fff; }

2017 Salem Willows Fireman’s Muster

August 5, 2017

Salem Photo Gallery – Mary Jane Lee Park Ribbon Cutting

August 5, 2017

The City of Salem, in partnership with the Point Neighborhood Association and the North Shore Community Development Coalition, hosted the re-opening celebration of Mary Jane Lee Park, at the corner of Palmer and Prince streets. Wednesday’s celebration included a variety of family-friendly activities and programs. Improvements include upgraded play equipment, new rubber play surfacing, an […]

Bridgin’ Gaps festival hits the Salem Willows Aug. 5th and 6th

August 3, 2017

The Bridgin’ Gaps festival is an entertaining and educational platform for the local community to gather and celebrate the arts and the work of local organizations that are making an impact in the community. Performances range from local and non local recording artists, live bands, visual artists, dance groups, poets and other performance styles along […]

SATV presents 4th of July Salem 2017

August 2, 2017

Tuesday, July 4, 2017 at the Salem Maritime Historic Site on Derby Wharf thousands came together to celebrate independence day on historic Derby Wharf at the Salem Maritime National Park. Live musical performances by the Hillyer Festival Orchestra with special guests, fireworks, promenade and more. Make sure and add the 4th of July in 2018 […]

El Punto: A Forgotten Neighborhood

July 30, 2017

Mural pictured above by @donrimx/ All photos by Robyn Giannopolo Creative Salem will be starting to showcase a series of contributor stories featuring Salem residents and how local art and creativity touch their day to day lives. We start with this wonderful story from a local resident and how the new murals being created in […]

Heritage Days 2017 kicks off on August 1st – 2 weeks of community programming

July 29, 2017

  PDF VERSION HERE  More details and information on the Heritage Days Facebook Page The Peabody Essex Museum is always free to Salem residents. Shelter to Showpiece House Tour – 11 AM –August 1-13 -Come tour the historic houses at the Peabody Essex Museum and experience three centuries of Salem. (Tour free with museum admission […]

jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $("#eacs-post-carousel-2113 .x-recent-posts").slick({ autoplay: true, infinite: false, slidesToShow: 3, slidesToScroll: 1, arrows: true, dots: false, pauseOnHover: true, draggable: true, responsive: [ { breakpoint: 1024, settings: { slidesToShow: 3, slidesToScroll: 1 } }, { breakpoint: 768, settings: { slidesToShow: 1, slidesToScroll: 1 } } ] }); }); #eacs-post-carousel-2113 .eacs-post-carousel .x-recent-posts a { margin: 10px; } #eacs-post-carousel-2113 .eacs-post-carousel.slide-border-enabled .x-recent-posts a { border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); } #eacs-post-carousel-2113 .eacs-post-carousel .slick-prev::before, #eacs-post-carousel-2113 .eacs-post-carousel .slick-next::before { color: #fff; } #eacs-post-carousel-2113 .eacs-post-carousel .slick-dots li button::before { color: #333; } #eacs-post-carousel-2113 .eacs-post-carousel .slick-dots li.slick-active button::before { color: #333; } #eacs-post-carousel-2113 .eacs-post-carousel .slick-prev, #eacs-post-carousel-2113 .eacs-post-carousel .slick-next { background-color: #333; }

Salem Screams for Ice Cream! A Salem Main Streets Happening was originally published on Creative Salem

[coastbikes]

SHINE St. Petersburg Mural Festival Announces 2017 Dates, Artists

Bringing new murals and vibrant special events to our City of the Arts, the SHINE St. Petersburg Mural Festival has announced it will return for its third year.

READ MORE...

artist above: Michael Reeder

[noel29palnp]

10 Great Summer Festivals in Vancouver

A wonderful way to explore different parts of the city while embracing different cultures is attending festivals. They not only offer entertainment but are also a great way to meet people who share the same interests as you!

Check out these 10 festivals happening this summer in Vancouver, and get ready to have a blast!

1.- Anime Revolution

See your favourite characters come to life at Anime Revolution, Vancouver’s biggest anime celebration. Featuring a series of events, you’ll be immersed in Japan’s pop and animation culture while meeting special guests and participating in fun activities. Get your tickets here before they run out! 

WHEN: August 4 to 6, 2017

WHERE: Vancouver Convention Centre

 2.- Honda Celebration of Light

Blue, red, green…a colorful festival that matches the fireworks! On top of being British Columbia’s largest live event, it’s recognized as the longest running offshore fireworks festival in the world. The astonishing lights and colours will definitely amaze you. Book your spot here to gaze at the fireworks. 

WHEN: July 29 / August 2 / August 5, 2017

WHERE: At different locations! Check here to choose your spot

 3.- International Jazz Festival

Heads up Jazz lovers, it’s your time to shine! This musical genre emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, and now we get to celebrate it. Get your music fix and let yourself into another world with artists such as Rumba Calzada, Joe Williamson, and Raincity Blue.

By the way, the coastal jazz iPhone App is now available. Ready, set, download!

WHEN: From June 22 to July 2, 2017

WHERE: All around the city. Check here to know which artists to see 

 4.- FVDED in the Park

Outdoor concerts are a must-do in the summer. This year, you’ll have the chance to dance to the songs of The Chainsmokers, the well-known Wiz Khalifa, DJ Dillon Francis and many other wonderful artists all at FVDED In The Park. Feel good, feel free, and feel alive! See you there!

WHEN: July 7 and 8, 2017

WHERE: Holland Park, 13428 Old Yale Rd, Surrey

 5.- The 4th Thai Festival

Travel to Southeast Asia without leaving Vancouver! Embrace the culture of Thailand at the 4th Thai Festival in the city, with traditional foods, music, dances, arts, performances and more. This festival promises to teach you something new while keeping you entertained all day long!

WHEN: July 22 and 23, 2017

WHERE: North Plaza – Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby St.

 6.- Watch & Learn

Don’t miss out on this showcase of Vancouver’s artists! It is a unique occasion to improve your knowledge on Canadian culture and arts. Interact with amazing local artists, makers, performers, designers, and creatives. A lot of activities are on the program such as live mural paintings, musical performances, and curated art shows. We are pretty sure you will love it!

You can buy a Day Pass for $7 or a Weekend Pass for $10 here.

WHEN: August 19 to 20, 2017 from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM

WHERE: Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza, 650 Hamilton St, Vancouver

 7.- A Foodie Bike Tour

Eating and burning calories at the same time, what a crazy wonderful idea! Vancouver’s annual Food Bike Tours are a superb way to discover the city; rich with festivals, amazing markets, local restaurants, chocolatiers, historical buildings, and breweries.

We already imagine you biking from one delicious destination to another. Purchase your new tasting experience here. 

WHEN: August 19, 2017, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

WHERE: All around the city

 8.- Summer Arts Festival

This year the Summer Arts Festival brings outdoor painting competitions, over 20 artisans, children’s art workshops, musical performances, entertainment, exhibitions and demos of Vancouver’s Sketch Club, and more! Feed your artistic side and take a unique art piece home from the Artisan Market. Why not a glass blower, a natural soap bar, first nation’s jewelry or a handcrafted pair of socks? The finest artist and designer items are waiting for you. Admission is free!

WHEN: July 8, 2017, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

WHERE: 6584 Deer Lake Ave, Burnaby

 9.- Carnaval del Sol

Vamos! The biggest Latin festival in the Pacific Northwest is almost here. Embrace the heat of Latin American culture for 2 days. How? With live music, art, dance, sports, and poetry in celebration of this rich culture will make you believe you are on the other side of the continent!

WHEN: July 8 and 9, 2017 from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM

WHERE: 88 Pacific Blvd, Vancouver

 10.- Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival

Top dramatic performances are happening at Bard on the Beach, the Canadian West Coast’s leading non-profit Shakespeare Festival. The BMO Centre will become the stage for Shakespeare plays, associated dramas and a number of special events.

This year’s festival features plays such as “Much Ado About Nothing”, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, “Shylock”, and more.

For information on tickets and performances, click here.

WHEN: June 1 to September 23, 2017

WHERE: The BMO Centre, 1695 Whyte Ave, Vancouver

 Written By Gabriela Garcia and Marine Gas.

The post 10 Great Summer Festivals in Vancouver appeared first on ILAC.

from Blog – ILAC http://www.ilac.com/10-great-summer-festivals-in-vancouver/