New restaurant coming to Arts Colony district
A.S. Ashley, Correspondent

POMONA - The same folks who brought you Aladdin Jr. on North Garey Avenue and Casablanca at Claremont's Packing House have opened an additional Aladdin Jr. restaurant in the Pomona Arts Colony.

Many in the Arts Colony will tell you that during any Art Walk, people come for the art but stay for the food.

During Pomona's downtown revitalization efforts, the recent increase of art venues and entertainment attractions has encouraged more dining establishments to follow.

Aladdin Jr., with its Mediterranean fare, will nicely round out the broad range of ethnic eateries in Pomona's Metro area, bringing the once-vacant southeast corner of West Second Street and Main back to life.

In the growing tradition of restaurants in the Arts Colony, Aladdin Jr. will also be an art venue, displaying rotating exhibits throughout the year.

Aladdin Jr.'s first "Art de Jour" exhibit will feature local art hero Father Bill Moore for Saturday's art walk.

Though many know Moore's paintings from a multitude of art shows and distinguished galleries, his broad textured canvases of sharply contrasting fields of earthy color fit quite nicely "a la art" in Aladdin Jr.'s new digs.

Aladdin Jr. is at 296 W. Second St. Information: www.aladdinjrrestaurant.com.

The American Museum of Ceramic Art presents a new exhibition, "Ceramica de la Tierra."
This exhibition, supported by the James Irvine Foundation, will unveil a large, rarely seen, private collection of pre-Columbian works, replete with examples of ceramic tomb sculptures, wind instruments, and vessels ranging from 1200 B.C. to A.D. 1600.

These fabulous antiquities represent the Maya culture; West Mexico - Jalisco, Colima, and Nayarit, Veracruz; Teotihuac n; and northern Peru.
Juxtaposed against the ancient works are contemporary ceramic sculptures by Luis Bermudez and Francisco "Pancho" Jim nez, two California Mexican-American artists who reference Mesoamerican culture in their art.

AMOCA is at 340 S. Garey Ave.
Information: www.ceramicmuseum.org.

Dba256 Gallery & Winebar is mixing it up with its "MySpace Show." Primarily made up of California artists, the "MySpace Show" is exactly that, an exhibit of artists you can find on dba256's MySpace friends list.
The range of work in this show is as varied as the 14 artists themselves; nonetheless, a fun and exciting exhibit.

Dba256 Gallery & Winebar is at 256 S. Main St.
Information: www.dba256.com.

57 Underground's "Spectrum" is an exhibit introducing 57 Underground's three newest members: Travis Reysen of Chino, Gregory Liffick of Ontario and Bryon L. Havranek of San Diego.

Reysen prefers to paint on wood panels using smooth hues to explore the surfaces of depth and color.

Liffick works with found objects integrating them into complete compositions whose elements are otherwise individually opposed. Havranek's patterned paintings evoke the commonality between diverse cultures and their symbols.

57 Underground is at 300C S. Thomas St.
Information: http://57underground.com.

At the dA Center for the Arts, "I'mprints," curated by Kathy Spear, is a show of printmakers, many of whom were accomplished artists before engaging in printing workshops with Spear.

Therefore this exhibit has a blend of styles and experience that infuses several printmaking disciplines with these notable artists: Sioux Bally-Maloof, Sandy Garcia, Karen Neiuber, Kathy Spear, Jan Wheatcroft, Katherine White and Larry White.

The east portion of the dA gallery (the Joan Weldon Gallery) will feature Rick Caughman's new paintings of floating, linear horizons.

The dA Center for the Arts is at 252 S. Main St.
Information: http://dacenter.org/.

Cal Poly Downtown Center's "Mentors" art exhibition will showcase artwork from faculty and students of the university's art department.
Art faculty members have agreed to invite the student(s) of their choice and mentor them one on one through the process of the highly rigorous and competitive experience of exhibiting.

This collaborative show will include 3D design, painting, mixed media, photography, and digital work of 32 faculty and student participants.

Cal Poly Pomona Downtown Center is at 300 W. Second St.
Information: www.class.csupomona.edu/downtowncenter.

For information about all 29 art venues in Pomona's Arts Colony and to find a map of the venues, go to: www.pomonaartscolony.com.
A. S. Ashley is a Pomona Arts Colony artist and advocate.