Venice Beach: Portfolio

Venice Beach

Although it is located in Southern California, Venice Beach is a well-known attraction to people all around the world. What many do not realize while visiting Venice is the significance behind it. In 1850 Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney. He created the idea of transforming an ordinary beachfront property into an area of culture. Venice has gone through many transformations and stages of development to become what it is today. For this reason, Venice beach is an important space because of the interesting history behind it’s venetian architecture, the concept behind the formation, and the cultural aspect that it is known for today.

In 1905 a beach resort town was created by Abbot Kinney and his partner Francis Ryan which is known today as Venice beach. They constructed this interesting beach resort town with two miles of oceanfront property that they had previously purchased in 1891. The beach resort was constructed on the North end of the property and was given the name Ocean Park. The name Ocean park was changed to Venice in 1911. After Abbot Kinney’s partner Francis Ryan died, Kinney started to expand and build on the South end of the property as well. Abbot Kinney envisioned creating a seaside resort designed like Venice’s namesake in Italy. This inspired him to build several miles of canals to drain the swampland in the area and put up Venetian style buildings. Kinney also built a pier for entertainment and made his visualization come true by building a long street with venetian architecture. There are many distinct features that the buildings in Venice possess. For example, the pillars and arch ways are very unique and a prime example of Venetian architecture and appeals to the setting Abbot Kinney envisioned creating. Venice beach officially opened on July 4, 1905. I always have admired the unique architecture at Venice beach but I never put it into perspective until I looked at it in depth and discovered the history behind it. Realizing that the Venetian architecture is an intentional factor because of Venice’s namesake makes me value it more than I did in the past.

The idea behind the formation of Venice was to create a place of culture. Abbot Kinney wanted it to be like a mini Americanized Italy since both of the cities share the same name. The population began to grow rapidly because of all the excitement taking place with all the new attractions being built around the town. A miniature railroad was built and even gondola rides were made available for people to tour the town. Rides were put up as well as an aquarium, racing derby, city hall, and competitive business districts. Kinney even hired aviators to do ariel stunts over the beach. Later on a fun house was built along with rides and roller coasters, making it become the best amusement park on the West coast. After a while, the roads, water, and sewage system in Venice all were in desperate need of repair and Venice became unmanageable. With the growing population and the popularity of the area, things needed to change for the better. This lead to the annexation of Venice becoming a part of Los Angeles in 1925. Once Venice became annexed to Los Angeles, things began to change drastically. Los Angeles had their own image of Venice that they wanted to create. They got rid of the canals and paved streets around the city. Los Angeles spent little money on improving Venice after the annexation, which led to low costs of rent and attracted mostly immigrants and young artists, poets, and writers. With that being said, the uprise of many famous and successful artists have come about over time because of their work that originated in Venice. In an article it is suggested that “Some artists create standards of local authenticity by prioritizing their attachment to the context of Venice Beach and immersing themselves into the neighborhood counter culture.”(Deener, 1). This suggests that their inspiration to create artwork has come from the culture of Venice beach. This is extremely significant because many artists have started out small, selling their work at Venice beach and have progressed over the years. Also, with Los angeles barely compensating for improvements of venice, competition between theme parks such as Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm increased as the years went on and the amusement park was eventually forced to be shut down because of bankruptcy.  Even though everything did not work out positively with the amusement park aspect of Venice, it still happens to be an extremely entertaining place within itself. Venice beach does not need rides and roller coasters to be amusing, it is still one of the most exotic places known to man and that is enough for it to keep it’s ongoing fun reputation. Today, Venice beach stands as a great place to shop, eat, tan, walk around, and even get body artwork done such as tattoos and piercings. Many people visit Venice beach because of it’s unique culture and space. I picked this space because I feel like it is the most interesting place in Southern California. Learning the history behind it makes it even more special to me. Throughout the years Venice has remained successful even without compensation from the city of Los Angeles. It may have been altered physically, but the concept of space will never change. 

Abbot Kinney can be recognized as indubitably successful when it comes to making Venice beach a cultural place. Today, Venice beach is notorious for it’s cultural aspects. The community of Venice beach within itself is filled with culture. From street performers, to homeless people sitting along the strip and constant pressure from people at the marijuana clinic’s to get a medical card, there is always something exotic and different going on at Venice beach that one will never be able to experience elsewhere. Since 1987 the Venice Farmers’ Market has been going on and takes place every Friday morning. Not only is there a beautiful beach to enjoy, but also handball courts, basketball courts, the infamous muscle beach, volleyball courts, a park, a bike trail and the boardwalk. A wide variety of shops are located along the boardwalk and there are stands with unique creations as well. Venice is a place of artistic inspiration and creativity. It gives artists the opportunity to expand their career by displaying their artwork in public at the random pop up galleries that take place. The graffiti around Venice is also very interesting to look at. While some people think graffiti is disrespectful and disgusting, I think that the graffiti at Venice beach is so appropriate and fits the scenery perfectly. I wouldn’t get the same vibes without it there. It creates a laid back mood with a sense of freedom. Going to Venice beach is much more than just going to an ordinary beach, each time you go it is an experience. 

In conclusion, Venice beach is an important space because of the interesting history behind it’s venetian architecture, the concept behind the formation, and the cultural aspect that it is known for today. Although there were many transformations that took place throughout it’s lifetime, Venice has turned out to be one of the most vibrant and exotic areas in all of southern California and is well-known world wide. Abbot Kinney’s idea of a cultural beach town was a phenomenal success and will forever live up to that image. 

Deener, Andrew. "Forging Distinct Paths Towards Authentic Identity: Outsider Art, Public Interaction, and Identity Transition in an Informal Market Context." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 38.2 (2009): 169-200.