The physical location known as SEA AND SPACE WILL BE CLOSING IN SEPTEMBER 2010.

What does this mean?
This means that Sea and Space will exist only as a concept for a while, perhaps forever.

Why?
A lack of funding for the space.
Director burn-out related to working multiple jobs while simultaneously running the space as a one woman project and trying to make new artworks.

Will it return?
Sea and Space was an art piece that seems to be ending. It has achieved what I wanted locally. It gave me hope, a home, and healed me from a great deal of disappointment and alienation in the Los Angeles art scene. It also proved to me that the changes I sought are possible, but cost in terms of time, effort, and money, and, in my case, must come from the self and then work outwards.

What is/was Sea and Space?

An artwork. A gallery. A place.

Sea and Space is a gallery I founded in June 2007 that operates as an artwork. I consider it a Place Artwork, which I defined as a spatial location to be occupied by the artwork, statements, and thoughts of others. In this case, the others were artists, guest curators, lecturers, and collaborators. My role can be described as director of the gallery and context developer of this artwork. I carefully crafted the mission, the format, and the operations from it's inception and then refined much of this with the advice from our Board of Directors over time. This has been a solo project with the support of a board of 5, that formed after the first year. I chose to operate on an alternate model to a commercial art space. My goal was to foster, through appreciation and support, artistic practices that are dependent upon alternate means for visibility. I am certain that without such forms of support, artists who make work that is not marketable due to conceptual, political, formal, or social differences will remain culturally undervalued.

We need hundreds of artist defined places like this in Los Angeles, but all uniquely their own, defined by the needs of individuals.

It is up to you to make and promote an independent system where artist have control over their own work. Do not wait for assistance or change. Artists must define their own value on their terms. It will work. I have seen it.

Thank you everyone who was a part of this project! Nothing is possible without you!

Lara Bank
Sea and Space Explorations
~|*

Sea and Space Explorations attained 501 (c)(3) non-profit status in 2009.

LOCATION/CONTACT INFO/MAP/HOURS/FlOORPLAN

Sea and Space Explorations
4755 York Blvd
LA, CA 90042
tel 323-982-0854
fax 323-982-0854
info@seaandspace.org
http://www.seaandspace.org
map

Gallery Hours
Sundays 1-5PM
email info@seaandspace.org to make an appointment.

Gallery floorplan

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lara Bank, President
Haruko Tanaka, Vice President
Clay Chaplin, Treasurer
Asher Hartman, Board Member

Adam Overton, Secretary and Board Member from Jan. 2008-Jan. 2010

MISSION STATEMENT

The sea and space bracket us, literally and metaphorically. Familiar and unfamiliar, easy to see but impossible to fathom, they inspire the poetic and the empirical.

Sea and Space Explorations is a portal to a place where notions of good and bad, market constraints, and fixations with progress are understood to be peripheral, where artists take risks without fear. This space hosts artists whose practices resonate with the conceptual, theoretical, relational, and political.

Group Core Values
* adventure
* space to take risk
* benevolent beings
* collaborative, interdependent, human
* exploratory
* poetic, visionary, practical
* artistic liberty, responsibility, and sincerity
* embracing the unknown
* artists before objects

GOALS

goals of the space are to...

• steer towards work that resists capitalization allowing the gallery to operate as a capitalist critique of sorts

• show works that are either relational, collaborative, large scale, ephemeral, video, performance, neo-conceptual, or in traditional mediums that would have a hard time fitting into a commercial gallery

• support work that is not as supported due to content, scale, longevity, or conceptual reasons

• run the space as more of an experience than a gallery

• support artists and their endeavors before objects


COSTS & INCOME

The space costs $900 a month to operate. This includes rent, electric, postage, and cleaning supplies.

Sales of artwork are split 50/50 with the gallery (suggested donation). The gallery typically only sells about $200 of work a year. The main objective of the space is not to sell artwork.

Yearly fundraisers: Holiday benefit earns $800-$1500 yearly.
All proceeds last year went to our non-profit application. The year before we fixed our electric to bring it up to code.

Donations from website: approximately $300 yearly

Performances: we will be charging a $3-$5 suggested donation for upcoming performances. Exhibitions and lectures remain free.

No staff are paid.

LABOR

Lara Bank
Executive Director, President of Board, and Founder
Conceptualization and guides the direction of the space
Operations: curator, artist/curator selections, studio visits, website maintenance, promotion, press contact, documentation, repairs and maintenance, accounting, cleaning, gallery sitting, and primary funder.

Haruko Tanaka
Vice President of the Board
Assists president in leading board and advising executive director

Adam Overton
Secretary (until Jan. 2010)
Intern & Volunteer Coordinator,
Chief Wiki Officer
Records minutes at board meetings, distributes minutes and correspondences to board, maintains official records, announces meetings

Clay Chaplin
Treasurer
Manages financial aspects of the organization, makes financial reports to the board, leads the board finance commitee

Asher Lauren Hartman
Board Member
Advisor

Christopher Colthart
Copy Editor

Served:
Emily Butler White, former Secretary and Board Member 5/25/08 - 7/4/08

Interns:
January 2010-present - Justin Stadel, Events

February 2008 - May 2008 Chelsea Lewcow. From Occidental College.
Sea and Space misses you Chelsea!

ARTISTS' RESPONSIBILTIES

•Your dates given include de-installation and installation. Please keep this in mind when scheduling with us at your initial scheduling appointment. We cannot scramble dates at a future time and alter other artists show times.

•Installation and deinstallation of show.

•The space should be returned to the state that you found it in. Artists are responsible for repairing the walls, floor, ceiling if they are altered or marked. If alterations are extensive, cost for repairs will be the artists responsibility.

GALLERY SUPPLIES ARTISTS WITH

•Space (key access Monday - Sunday, 8am -10pm or arranged with Director)

•Publicity: email marketing to public and press releases to press.

•Gallery sitter on Sundays 1-5pm

•Documentation on website

•Paint and painting supplies to return space to original state.

•One Epson Projector and a DVD player at your disposal (cannot leave gallery space)

•BBQ out back is free to use and back patio area (as long as noise is kept to a minimum, we do have lovely neighbors).

AT THIS TIME WE HAVE NO

•funding for postcards or postcard mailings, but we do have a mailing list at your disposal

•funding for liquor

•money for travel

•honorariums

•sound system

•insurance

•storage

•personnel to help with installation and de-installation

SUBMISSION PROCESS

MUGS


Mug wall in gallery.

Mugs are $3 to buy and free to borrow. All proceeds go to the gallery. Bought mugs can be taken or left in the gallery with your name (mark) on your mug.

CHICKENS

Where are the chickens?

Sea and Space had chickens for about 4 months. The landlord made us move them due to fire code reasons. Apparently chickens are explosive! They have been relocated to Lara Bank's yard.

Yolko Ono, Summer 2009	Little Bok, Summer 2009