Anti-Mall owner tries art experiment

Lolita Harper

Carrie Strom is doing her part to uphold the city’s reputation as

a haven for creativity.

Strom is enthusiastically organizing an artists’ gallery to

showcase handcrafted works by residents.

She is calling for painters, sculptors, photographers and

sculptors, as well as musicians and deejays to perform at night

receptions at a 2,200-square-foot space at the Camp, across Bristol

Street from the LAB Anti-Mall.

“I am excited about it,” Strom said. “It is all kind of spur of

the moment.”

Strom said she got the idea for a gallery when she heard the

Trilogy Playhouse had mysteriously disappeared in December. She

contacted the management at the LAB and asked if she could use the

theater space for her display. The old Trilogy space was not

available, but the Anti-Mall officials, who have a history of

supporting local art, offered the space at the Camp.

Shaheen Sadeghi, owner of the LAB Anti-Mall, said his company

takes pride in using its available space as a venue for local

artists. His company promotes a campaign called Made in Costa Mesa to

encourage city artists to present their products.

“It creates a nice venue for [the artists] because they get to

present their product from a retail standpoint and it gives them an

opportunity for them to get in front of people,” he said.

Not to mention the opportunity it gives area residents to see what

kind of talent is alive and growing in their own community. Strom

said she has been in contact with a handful of hopeful local

participants.

The eclectic nature of Costa Mesa certainly attracts “a lot of

talented people,” she said.

“There are a lot of creative people here. There just aren’t that

many places to go to display your work,” Strom said.

Strom is an abstract artist who usually works with oil paints and

sticks. Her latest project is a series of red paintings designed to

create an atmosphere using the color. She mixes shades of red with

splashes of oranges and yellows to ad some texture and depth to her

pieces. Strom likened her conceptual art to scribbling and then

coloring over it.

“There is nothing in there that is supposed to be representative,”

the 30-year-old said. “Sometimes people say they see certain things,

but there is not supposed to be anything there.”

Sadeghi would not comment on who might lease the former Trilogy

Playhouse, but said he is negotiating with several parties.

“We are talking to different people about putting in another

entertainment venue,” he said.

Sadeghi has hoped to create an alternative “downtown” around that

portion of Bristol Street that would present innovative uses of

buildings and retail space.

Sadeghi is working with city planners for approval of a

“mixed-use” zoning for the area that would allow retail, commercial

and residential spaces in the same buildings. The concept is ideal

for artists who would work and live out of a loft on the upper floors

and sell or display their wares on ground level.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

and covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275

or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.