Esoteric Survey

Earlier this month I stopped off at the Fulton Mall again.  I was on the way back from the Stan Bitters: Modern Primitive show at Heath in San Francisco. It's sad that in San Francisco they're honoring Stan's work and in his hometown of Fresno, the city is leaving it in a state of disrepair and are actually working to rip it out. On March 28th a coalition associated with the 1000 Friends of Fresno filed a lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court. The coalition, called the Downtown Fresno Coalition, challenges the City Council’s certification of an Environmental Impact Report on the proposed Fulton Mall Reconstruction Project. Read about the lawsuit filed to stop the destruction of the mall, here.  The court date is set for October and in the words of Stan Bitters.... The litigation has only begun and we need your continued help raising funds to see us through the legal process. Donate here
Another dry Bitters fountain. 
The Falkenstein sculptures are still missing.  More on th…

"Stan Bitters: Modern Primitive"at Heath San Francisco in their Boiler Room Gallery
The space is called the Boiler Room, for obvious reasons.  The installation was beautiful.
Stan's work  is usually installed outdoors, so seeing it in a gallery setting like this was special.


The show is primarily work from the last five years, with the exception of this 1965 piece.



The opening was a major success.
"Stan Bitters: Modern Primitive" runs through June 30.  Don't miss it!
I was also able to visit the Heath Creative Studio again.
My friend Tung Chiang is  the Creative Lead and Studio Director at Heath. They are working on some great new designs!

The hen started it's life as a bud vase (the form on the right). 

Modernica hosted another great Downtown Modernism vintage flea market this past weekend.
 The event was held at the Modernica factory and warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles.   Source: Downtown Modernism
This Spanish Colonial Revival building can be seen in the vintage rendering above. There are some great original buildings on the site.
They really do this event right, including the good food trucks.
Then there were just some good trucks.
Eames and Grossman at The Modern Era booth
Vivika and Otto Hieno at the Michael Hickman booth
The Ten10 booth was dedicated to Saving the Fulton Mall.  Through the generosity of Stan Bitters and Ten10, the proceeds from the sale of all these works by Stan are being donated to efforts to stop the demolition of the historic Fulton Mall in Fresno. I got my shirt.
Towards the end of the day, the booth was looking thin.  A good chuck of change was raised. You can do your part by donatinghere.
More information on the ridiculous plan to demolish the Fulton Mall can be f…

Stan Bitters quote from back in the day. It still holds true.  Time is running out to show your support for modern art, architecture, and historic preservation. The City's plan is not only a waste of tax dollars, but is also based on outdated planning principles. Please donate to put a stop to the destruction of The Fulton Mall in Downtown Fresno.The 1000 Friends of Fresno is filing a lawsuit against the City of Fresno. For this to happen, they need to raise $25,000. They are more than halfway to their goal, but they need your help.Donatehere. Stan is leading the charge to save The Fulton Mall.  He says... "If we don't act fast, the mall is kaput."
Source: Environmental Ceramics
If he were still around, Peter Voulkos would be opening up a can of whoop-ass on the City of Fresno.
Big A, Peter Voulkos  Under the City's preferred option,17 of the 20 existing sculptures would be relocated. There will be asphalt here instead of this sculpture.
Claire Falkenstein would not be …

On February 27 the Fresno City Council voted to tear out Fulton Mall in favor of putting traffic back in this historical landmark of modernist arts and design.  The Mall is listed in the California Register of Historical Resources and designated as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This means that all efforts to maintain it should be done with respect for its original design. To put a stop to the destruction of the Fulton Mall, The 1000 Friends of Fresno is filing a lawsuit against the City of Fresno. They need help in securing funding for this litigation. For all this to happen, we need to raise $25,000. This would cover all the legal fees and other costs that may arise from this litigation.Show your support for modern architecture and art by donating to this great cause!  There is the added bonus of getting to be part of a lawsuit to punish these small-minded Fresno politicians for making this stupid decision.  Donatehere. More background information c…

Jean Balmer, Marg Loring lantern and Stan Bitters

Like I've mentioned before, the City of Fresno is trying to to convert this amazing pedestrian mall into a generic anywhere USA  street by ripping out art and allowing cars back on Fulton St. Now it looks like they have Federal funds to do it.
The city recently announced a $15.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a project that could fund  opening the mall back up to cars.  However, the plans being reviewed by the Fulton Mall Project Steering Committee also  includes two other alternatives, including one that would pave a new street while retaining the mall's exceptional outdoor sculpture  garden and Option 3 would actually improve the existing corridor in its current pedestrian-oriented layout.  Additional information on the plans can be found can here.  
It'spuzzling why the U.S. Department of Transportationwould be willing to fund an anti-smart growth plan that favors the automobile at the expense of public art and public space.  It doesn't seem co…