Kevin Chartier. Photo by Sander Roscoe Wolff
If you spend any time in downtown Long Beach, you may have noticed a flurry of activity at the Edison Building, located on the northeast corner of Long Beach Boulevard and First Street.
The 1959 Mid-Century Modern building was designed by Kenneth Wing, whose work includes the Main Terminal Building of the Long Beach Municipal Airport and the Carmelitos Housing Project. The building was previously owned by the City of Long Beach and, before that, Southern California Edison. The building is being converted from offices to a residential and mixed-use development by 100 LBB Real Estate, LLC, a partnership between Long Beach based Ratkovich Properties, Los Angeles based The Kor Group, and Chicago-based Waterton Residential.
Early on, the developers committed to commissioning an original public art piece that would be featured on the north wall of the two-story interior open-air courtyard. They hired Glaza Consulting and Arts Consultant Sumako to oversee the artist search process, which ultimately led to the selection of Lights on Long Beach, a 20 foot by 23 foot backlit sculpture by local artist Kevin Chartier.
Long Beach Post: How did you get introduced to art?
Kevin Chartier: I’ve always been into art. As a kid, mostly drawing trucks, bulldozers, and stuff like that, but I wouldn’t just draw a simple piece of machinery. I would draw it exact, very detailed and to scale. I liked doing technical drawing. I also liked to build stuff, and got a lot of satisfaction from drawing detailed plans first and then building whatever it was.
I built mostly mechanical things like mini bikes, go carts, forts and tree houses. Even weaponry. I built a medieval ballista, which is like a giant crossbow catapult weapon. After designing it and building it, I fired it in my front yard and the arrow flew about 15 houses and stuck perfectly in the neighbor’s lawn. My dad said to dismantle it because it was deadly, so I did. I think I was about 10 years old. I developed my skills throughout high school, taking art and drafting classes. It started mostly with architecture and my appreciation for modern architectural design.
When did you develop a sense of yourself as an artist?
In college. I started taking art history classes at LBCC and started to appreciate art and artists more and more. I was enamored with the more graphic styles of Mondrian, Kandinsky and the metal work of Calder. I then went to a graphic design college and really got into that. I liked designing ads and logos and such. The college actually hired me to instruct there after I graduated.
Teaching was kind of strange at first, telling people what the right and wrong ways are when it comes to art. As I became more confident, I felt as if I really had something to say and could actually make my students not only better artists but actually make some into artists. I liked when they asked me questions and I could actually answer them and help them.
How did you balance teaching, freelance work, and your own creative interests?
Luckily, work started at a decent hour in the morning and I was off early, so I had time to work on freelance graphic design, other forms of art such as sculpting, and even playing drums for lots of bands during Long Beach’s early music scene in the ’80s and ’90s. I still play.
My main bands were The Flagrant Vagrants, The Bridge, The Piledrivers, Mike Malone and The Soul Collectors, Wide Open Road and a few more that I can’t really remember. I still play with Wide Open Road here and there. Mostly at Mothers in Sunset Beach. Every once in a while people will call me to fill in for someone or just to come down and sit in.
How did you get started working with metal?
Ever since I was kid I wanted to build things out of metal because all I knew was wood. I didn’t know how to weld. Ten years ago I set out on my own to get away from the dismal cubical world of working for other people and making them money. It was risky since I had a wife and kids on the way, but I did it. I had a sketch book of sculpture designs and bought myself a welding unit. I learned to weld from the book that came with it.
There was a house being built down the street that had all this extra lumber being thrown out. It was enough to build my whole workshop. I was like Richard Dreyfus in Close Encounters when he built Devil’s Tower out of mashed potatoes. I was possessed. I was pretty stoked. I think everyone should have their own workshop, whether it’s for art or whatever. After I set up shop, I cranked out about 20 pieces in a couple of weeks, and people actually liked them and bought them.
The first outdoor thing I did was for my good friends Mark and Marilyn DiPiazza. I did the Patio Privacy Panoply, the outdoor patio area at their current location. I constructed a privacy screen and barrier to prevent people from handing drinks over the railing to their friends. It’s a geometric steel panel wall, which is a style I enjoy creating due to its simplicity and clean lines. Other than that, most of my work has been for residential interiors and outdoor patio type things. I also do a lot of utilitarian things for businesses, such as railings, gates and fences.
What can you tell me about the piece you’re creating for the Edison Building?
It’s a large metal wall sculpture for the courtyard area. I received a call from some dude named Sumako who’s working with Glaza Consulting. He said he was looking at a bunch of different sculptors and wanted me to submit something as well. Low and behold, I got the job. I met Cliff Ratkovitch and the crew at 100 LBB Real Estate, LLC and showed them my design, a modern take on a map of Long Beach, my home town. I used the nine districts as separate lighted pieces to form the whole. As it turned out, the concept they wanted was Lights on Long Beach. That sealed the deal for me. I’m in production mode as we speak. The unveiling is tentatively scheduled for fall of this year.
What does this project mean to you?
This job couldn’t have come at a better time in my life. Things were bleak for a while. Now I’m getting back on the good foot, especially since I went through a divorce this year and lost a huge piece of my life, and my mind. I’m very thankful.
The art scene in Long Beach is often taken for granted. It’s actually better to embrace it. I say, “Thank you Long Beach, the people who gave this opportunity that I mentioned earlier, and my kids and family, for embracing Kevmon.”
To learn more about Kevin and his art, visit KevMon.com.
To learn more about the Edison development, visit RatkovichProperties.com.
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