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~wave~

santa monica arts and culture

Dive deep into Santa Monica’s vibrant arts and culture and discover the diverse local artists, performers, writers, and designers who are making an international impact. Tune into local community centers producing activities contributing to Santa Monica residents' cultural interests and global initiatives from environmental activism to civil rights initiatives.


Featuring projects curated and produced by Santa Monica Cultural Affairs, 18th Street Art Center, Bergamont Art Station, Santa Monica Community College, Santa Monica Artist Studios, Annenberg Beach House, Echo Park Film Center, The Brand Art Gallery, The Santa Monica Pier, Desert X and other landmark arts institutions in southern California as well as residents local to Santa Monica.


2 Seasons 

Directed and Produced by Madeleine Gallagher for CityTV Channel 16 Santa Monica

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~wave~ S1 Ep1: Human | Nature

~ wave ~  "human | nature" explores the creative process of Luchita Hurtado, Luis Alfaro and Kelly Berg.


Luchita Hurtado is a painter from Santa Monica and has produced work since the 1940s. This segment focuses on her recent retrospective exhibition at the Annenberg Community Beach House and her current work that concerns the environment.


Luis Alfaro is an internationally celebrated playwright, director, curator, producer, educator and community organizer. As a Resident Artist for the Annenberg Beach House, he began writing a new play called 'Mother of the Row' that explores the complex characters of skid row through the influence of Bertolt Brecht's 'Mother Courage'.


Kelly Berg's first exhibition, Unknown Horizon, at Craig Krull Gallery is influenced by extreme weather, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and geology inspired by her explorations of the Meramec Caverns in Missouri and the Kilauea Caldera in Hawai'i. She employs acrylic, metal mesh, plaster, inks, scratchboard and other mixed media in a process she equates with geological layering and excavations, representing the fleeting moments of intense energy, the slow growth of stalactites, and the scratching away of time.

~ wave ~ S1 Ep2: bodies

~ wave ~ Santa Monica Arts and Culture episode "bodies" features new works created in Santa Monica by artists using the human body as a site to disrupt expectations and push boundaries through performance, music, art, and literature. Hybrid performance ensemble String Theory shows us the process of transforming public spaces such as Reed Park into immersive aural environments with architectural harp installations, original music and dance.


Choreographer Jay Carlon demonstrates his process in real time, alongside musician/composer Alex Wand, who shows us the unique instrument he used on the Santa Monica Beach to create live music with sand.


Artist/Curators Astria Suparak and Brett Kashmere bring arts and sports together at 18th Street Arts Center for the launch of the Sports Issue of the artist-run publication INCITE Journal of Experimental Media. Astria and Brett discuss the work they included in the journal and exhibition, unpack some of the complexities of body politics in sports and question what it means to be a winner.

~ wave ~  S1 Ep3: The Santa Monica Pier

Explore the new vision of Santa Monica's concert series "Twilight on the Pier"; pick up some history and get a peek at some new local and global musical artists. Features Playwright, Author, and Pier Historian Jim Harris, Pier Executive Director Negin Singh, and local music and performance art group Sister Mantos.

~ wave ~ S1 Ep 4:  “IndieCade”

Catch City TV's fourth "wave" episode which drops you into the middle of the international independent gaming festival, IndieCade, called by the LA Times the “the video game industry's Sundance.” IndieCade was hosted this year by the Santa Monica College Center for Media and Design

~wave~ S1 Ep 5: Memento Mori

CityTV's 5th "wave" episode “Memento Mori” explores the rich cultural traditions of Dia de los Muertos and Halloween as celebrated by Santa Monica residents, juxtaposed with Annenberg Beach House Writer-in-Residence Catherine Coan, who explores humor to engage in motifs of mortality.

~wave~ S1 Ep 6: Camera Obscura

If you love cameras, making films and learning about film history, catch CityTV’s sixth “wave” episode. Now in its 120th year, The Camera Obscura is one of Santa Monica’s historic gems. It began as a curiosity and is a key site in pre-cinematic history. Its building is also home to the Camera Obscura Art Lab; a bustling hive of cultural activity, with an Artist Residency program, community events and more. This episode features resident filmmakers, Echo Park Film Collective, cultural producer Naomi Okuyama, and Media Archaeologist and UCLA Professor Erkki Huhtamo who share with us the joy of looking! You can catch up on every episode of ~wave~

~wave~ S1 Ep 7: Being Seen

Artists and activists bring to light the body politics of “being seen” in this upcoming “wave” special for Women’s History Month. Featuring internationally recognized artists from our local community including Mary Kelly, Kim Schoenstadt, Micol Hebron, Noga Yechieli Wind, Joshua Rivas, Lili Bernard, Lisa Diane Wedgeworth and activists Maya Paley and Ima Matul.

~wave~ S1 Ep 8: Art and Activism

“Art and Activism,” CityTV’s eighth episode of “wave,” spotlights artists who use visual art, performance and creative community projects to inspire change.


Peace Activist Jerry Rubin and Artist Marissa Rubin offer insight into preserving important public works of art in Santa Monica. These works include Paul Conrad’s Chain Reaction (Civic Center) and Jane Golden’s “Muir Woods” mural (Lincoln and Ocean Park).


Local internationally celebrated artist Mary Kelly gives a public tour of her new works at the Desert X Biennial, returning us to the Cold War intervention of Women Strike for Peace, a group formed in 1961 to protest against nuclear weapons testing in the Mojave Desert. Kelly’s repurposed bus shelters employ slogans from the WSP, cartographies of military expansion in the California desert, and a Doomsday Clock. 


Artist Ron Finley, otherwise known as the Gangsta Gardener, shares how he uses gardening to empower communities and gives a sneak-peak into an upcoming exhibition he is organizing titled “Urban Weaponry; Weapons of Mass Creation” featuring shovels created by artists in different mediums from stained glass to paint.

~wave~ S1 Ep 9: Creative Community

“Creative Community” is wave's season finale! We're celebrating the collaborations and contributions of arts leaders here in Santa Monica, showcasing the rich community of artists that choose to make Santa Monica their home. Featuring two major Arts Month events—The Santa Monica Arts Foundation’s Art Leadership Awards and The Santa Monica Airport ArtWalk—Creative Community spotlights people making important contributions to the arts not only here in Santa Monica, but regionally and internationally as well.

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