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But this Giveaway is still open, so go enter until noon 5/31.....
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It was a colorful day at the beach!
Godson had yet another extra day off school, thanks to budget cuts and slashed teacher's salaries, so we hit the Santa Monica Pier on Friday for a little sand and sun action. But we got so much more.
The Lifeguard Towers usually look like this....
Now, to our happy surprise, the Lifeguard Towers have been transformed....
With various corporate sponsors too so it didn't cost our poor, struggling city any money...
This one was sponsored by Skinny Cow Ice Cream....
Just looking at them and the program behind the paintings made us happy!
It's all part of-- Summer of Color is the largest public art project in the U.S. For five months beginning in May, the LA County lifeguard towers – on 31 miles of Southern California beach -- will be transformed into a collective work of art thanks to the efforts of nearly 6,000 children in schools, hospitals, and social service programs – and more than 2,500 adult volunteers – who have participated in the initiative’s program activities, which included the painting of the panels now installed on the walls and roof tops of the towers.
For six months preceding the installation, Portraits of Hope engaged children and adults from 118 school, hospital, youth, and social service programs in civic leadership and creative therapy sessions. The Braille Institute, Special Olympics, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitative Center, and Program for Torture Victims are among the many organizations that have participated.
To meet the individual needs of children and adults with disabilities, Portraits of Hope developed specialized painting brushes and techniques including telescope paint brushes for those in wheel chairs or attached to IVs, the shoe brush ™ for individuals unable to manipulate a brush with their hands, and fruit-flavored mouth brushes for kids and adults with limited movement in their limbs. For persons visually impaired, Portraits of Hope utilized special textured paints. For more info and photos CLICK HERE.
Unknown Mami hosts a great Sunday theme inviting YOU to get out and take pictures of your city and/or Sunday to share with the rest of blogland. Click HERE to see Unknown Mami's Sunday in her City today.
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor - Joanna Jenkins
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Love the paint jobs! The fish are awesome.
ReplyDelete:)
Happy weekend.
I love color. For years, cities and communities have squelched art of that type. I am glad they are coming around. I gives off such happy vibes.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to have the lifeguards standing watch from such bright, creative perches. They're easy to
ReplyDeletespot this way!
My poetry book - Life's Journey by Carmen Henesy - is out on Amazon
( Poems about the things that have been important to me in my journey through life, some humorous, some sad, some that may have meaning to you as well )
http://www.amazon.com/Lifes-Journey-1-Carmen-Henesy/dp/1451547366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274652997&sr=1-1
What delightful life guard towers - a good way to beautify the beach!
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you thank you Joanna. You have made my day.
ReplyDeleteI have never told you of my secret love for the West Coast of California. I first went there with my husband in 2000 and then in 2002, and I fell in love. I don't know why. We were staying at Hermosa Beach and my favorite spot for breakfast "The Backburner Café". I want to be there now.
Great link! Beautiful images of hope.
Have a super Sunday. xxx
Great pictures....and such a great idea! Love Santa Monica....wish I was enjoying the beach this weekend. But this will have to do! Happy Sunday!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly brighten up the beach! Our beaches are grim at the moment......winter looms.
ReplyDeleteNow those towers look MUCH better!
ReplyDeleteNever been to Santa Monica - now I'd like to!
Happy SIMC greetings from Casablanca, Morocco!
BLOGitsePHOTOS
Ah - Sunny Southern California!
ReplyDeleteIt's all I can do to not get in the truck and drive out there right now, and live on the beach and soak it all up!
Greetings from the Gulf Coast! Your beaches are beautiful and I love the art on the lifeguard towers. Happy stuff. :)
ReplyDeletevery jazzy!!! you are drawn to colour l feel...
ReplyDeletehave a great weekend..
saz x
What a great idea! They look so colorful and cute.
ReplyDeleteSo cool! One day I will visit that part of the world..... :-)
ReplyDeletethose are so cool. especially if you read the fine print abou the children...and so cool that they made special brushes as well...
ReplyDeletehope you are having a great weekend jj!
I love the new paint work. The towers look great.
ReplyDeleteI am loving those newly-painted towers! (but not loving the teeny tiny font that follows them, quite so much).
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful holiday weekend, friend!!!
Beautiful! And I love the way this project involved kids with disabilites.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous project for the city and the kids who worked on this! I love them...so colorful and full of life. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHugs
SueAnn
What a fantastic program! And no public money involved. See, it can happen! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJJ: Those are some great colors to add whimsy to the beach.
ReplyDeleteJoanna, this is an awesome post. Love the pictures. When we lived in South Park near Balboa Park in San Diego, South Park and North Park initiated a fun project and one artist was assigned a green electric box or communications box on the various sidewalks and they went to town. They painted. Each box then became a work of art as well as "hiding" the not too pretty metal boxes. I don't see many of those out here we live now though, mostly fields of corn being planted. We don't even have sidewalks where we live. Some newer parts of town with new housing projects have sidewalks. Anyway, I so like the program you describe utilizing talent in the community and all of it volunteer. Hooray for Portraits of Hope. A community coming together and including all.
ReplyDeleteI love the project and especially love hearing the efforts made to make participation accessible to those with all kinds of needs. Thanks for telling us about this.
ReplyDeleteThose certainly are colorful and fun!
ReplyDeleteThat is an AWESOME project.
ReplyDeleteLovely pics - thanks for sharing!
That is so friggin' cool. It put a huge smile on my face.
ReplyDeleteI love the new lifeguard look!
ReplyDeleteOh how cool is that!! I swear all week I have been reliving memories with you...Santa Monica beach...wow how many sunny summer days I spent there! I love what they have done with the lifegaurd stands! Oh....I soooo miss the beach..Glad you had an extra day with the kiddo!!
ReplyDeleteHugs, Sarah
I went there several times while I was in california for about 6 months. I think that is such a wonderful idea and wow do they look great!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful sunny week!
Those life guard towers are awesome. So excited that they were painted by companies. They made the beach look awesome!
ReplyDeleteHope you have just the best holiday weekend possible. You deserve it.
ReplyDeleteand the towers look phenomenal, what an impression to make , to leave , this art of hope. fabulous.
Made me think of Baywatch looking at those lifeguard station!
ReplyDeleteThat is so awesome!! I hope they do that for us in Long Beach!!! Hopefully they will do both sides of the pier... our poor lil side is always left in the cold!!
ReplyDeleteWow! Those lifeguard stands are awesome. What a great idea.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that companies still have a sense of investing in the community during this economic slump.
ReplyDeleteI’ll have to check the towers out.. When I’m in Santa Monica I go to Wertz Brothers to do my thing in my stall, then the farmers market, the apple store and then home...I live 3 miles from the beach and never go there. Its when you read people from other states saying how much they want to go there that i realize how I don’t take advantage of what’s in my own backyard...
ReplyDeleteThe safe post are wonderful. They are mix of Baywatch meet MiamiBeach. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful! I love them! What a great project! I just love how colorful they are.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing those picture and the story behind them. It sounds like a project that worked and one that should be followed in other parts of the country. Hope is good.
ReplyDeletewhat a great project/cause...the towers are beautifully done and it's a tourist attraction for sure!
ReplyDeleteHow incredible is that? Thanks for sharing this. Gives me hope when I read stories like this.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Casey
Those life guard stations are incredibly awesome! What an improvement!
ReplyDeleteLove love love the lifeguard stands like that.
ReplyDeleteWow. They look very beautiful. Hope I was there!
ReplyDeleteToodles...:)
I love this project. And especially the effort that went into to be inclusive to everybody, not just the paying sponsor.
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant project, and I simply adore the inclusiveness it incorporates, it sends such a positive message that everyone has a talent to contribute.. AND the end result is proof positive of that! Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference a bit of colour makes :0)
ReplyDeleteWow! Those are fabulous!
ReplyDeleteEvery time we get out of the house we begin a new journey. You have such a talent to see beauty everywhere! I wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I live in the valley, so I'll have to get out to see it. Enjoying your blog!
ReplyDeleteLove the way those life guard stations have been decorated
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to do it with sponsorship! I love the paint jobs!
ReplyDeleteImpressive!
What a great program. And they're so appealing visually. Somebody was thinking when they came up with this idea.
ReplyDeleteWOW the lifeguard towers look AMAZING! Love them.
ReplyDeleteThe hubs was telling me about these, he passes them every day on his way home from work! How great, now we'll need to go out and see them all ourselves!!
ReplyDeleteThe paint is awesome! What fun!!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Love them!
ReplyDelete