Artmageddon
Here is a perfect example of transforming a problem into a winning situation.
Last July Los Angeles saw the shutdown of the 405 freeway for bridge reconstruction. It was expected to create havoc on all the roads as people used alternative routes. However, some people saw an amazing idea in this mayhem.
More than 100 artists, arts organizations, advocacy groups and community partners teamed to launch what they called Artmageddon, with the tagline "Less Car. More Art." Artmageddon featured a series of events spread out across 16 neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, encouraging patrons to bypass the freeways.
“Instead of the message to stay off the roads while the freeways are closed, what if the message was, ‘stay in your neighborhood?’” said Ezra LeBank, a theater arts professor at Cal state Long Beach and one of the project leads of Artmageddon. “Los Angeles has so much amazing art, but there’s not a sense of togetherness.”With another massive shutdown of the 405 freeway approaching, a grass-roots effort is underway to offer Angelenos an artistic reprieve that's locally focused, timed for the second coming of Carmageddon, Sept. 29 and 30.