Ari Simon is one of those guys that runs shit behind the scenes in Downtown LA. He knows a hell of a lot about said scenes, and he has had a hand in a few different areas of local government. He is best known for his events and survey of the neighborhood, Get Downtown – a map and print publication that also has a heavy online presence and killer newsletter.
0:35 - What is GET DOWN TOWN?
• Tower Theater’s first talkie
http://www.towertheatrela.com/history-of-broadway
6:15 - Ari’s involvement in DTLA - A2B
10:15 - Working with the Historic Core BID
● What is the BID?
http://historiccore.bid/about-the-bid/
15:35 - DTLA Perspective - The differences between then and now
○ 6th St - The most underrated street in DTLA
23:25 - The DTLA Cultural Stakeholders Group
○ The Broad comes to Los Angeles
25:07 - An Accidental Call to Action - Bringing venues together
26:53 - Eli Broad - One of the biggest art collections in the world
www.highsnobiety.com/2015/06/16/most-valuable-art-collections /
32:43 - The Future of DTLA
37:00 - What is Night on Broadway?
○ What is a way that we can inspire people?
42:27 - “We’re not old money, we’re young money”
44:00 - The History of Pershing Square
http://la.curbed.com/2013/8/28/10203644/38-photos-of-pershing-square-from-1866-to-today
50:52 - Gentrification of DTLA
54:33 - What the fuck is Ari’s job?
○ Separating different projects when representing different businesses
1:03:03 - The Development of Take Me Home LA
○ What does it mean to be home in LA?
http://urbanize.la/sites/default/files/TAKEMEHOMELAinfo.pdf
1:07:30 - Challenges faced as a curator
1:11:13 - When a creative’s performance goes awry
○ Fabric Planet
1:23:48 - What is Monkey Town?
1:24:40 - The Sponsorship Debate
○ Levi’s Commuter Space
1:37:40 What’s in your event pipeline for the history of DTLA?
1:43:50 - What would you tell your 20 year old self?
Ari can be found in DTLA, NYC, Paris, Berlin, Mexico City... or http://getdowntown.la and http://instagram.com/getdowntown.la