Discovering the Pomona Art Colony's west side
A.S. Ashley, Correspondent

POMONA - While most art enthusiasts during Second Saturday Art Walk stroll around the center two blocks of galleries and art venues in downtown Pomona, few venture west of Cal Poly Downtown Center on 2nd Street and Main Street.

For those who do this Saturday, there is a collection of live/work studio galleries in a quickly growing area of the Colony on 2nd, two blocks west of Main.

As a matter of fact, the eight venues that occupy this patch along the Colony's edge make up nearly a quarter of the total exhibit locations in downtown.

Starting on the north side of 2nd, right before Park Avenue, is Gallery 475 (naturally, it's at 475 W. 2nd), a co-operative space that displays highly skilled urban/street art, and often has artist demonstrations during the Second Saturday Art Walk.

Continuing west, crossing Park and skipping back to the south side of 2nd, patrons will find the Blue Core Gallery mid-block.

Steve Ruiz was a veteran of Pomona's downtown years ago and recently returned to the Arts Colony with his wife, artist Cori Griffin-Ruiz, and their 3-year-old daughter, residing at the Blue Core (558-A W. 2nd St.) and using the front area of the loft as gallery space to exhibit local artists.
The Blue Core Gallery will present the "World Series" art exhibit this month, an "Earthly" show featuring artists Armando Peralta and Griffin-Ruiz.

Just a few doors west of Blue Core is the Colony's resident art hero, Father Bill Moore. His studio/residence (590-2 2nd St.) has been a favorite stop during Second Saturday since the very beginning of the Art Walk events. He too uses the front end of his loft to display his latest paintings.

Next door to Father Bill, on the corner of 2nd and Parcels, is the studio/residence gallery of Max King Cap ("Tropo Mfg.," 590-1 W. 2nd St.), where, very interestingly, Max displays his work (and various other artists') behind the studio's front black windows with large port-hole clearings to view the art.

The old Edison building (585 W. 2nd St.) is getting a facelift, adding 15 new live/work lofts to the area with all the amenities. Artists wishing to move to the west end of the expanding Arts Colony may call Jaramillo Construction at (909) 397-9766, or go to www.theedisonbuilding.com.

From there, crossing Parcels Street, folks can see the live/work studio of Ross Thompson (661 W. 2nd St.), a local ceramicist who displays various thrown pots, plates, custom tiles and hand-formed sculptures.

A couple of doors west of Ross' ceramics is Pomona's venerable Armory building, the farthest west building in the Arts Colony and home to Cabrera's Gallery.

Artist Lisa Cabrera lives in the front left space of the building (637 W. 2nd St.) where she shows her drawings, paintings and other art objects in the front foyer, occasionally displaying the works of artist friends.

Walking south on Parcels, art patrons can find two more studios on the back side of 2nd Street.

Off Parcels behind 2nd Street, there is an alley entrance to artist lofts starting with Joseph Todorovitch's studio (590-8 W. 2nd St.).
Joseph is the latest arrival to the west end of the Arts Colony, but is no stranger to downtown Pomona. Todorovitch previously lived downtown before purchasing a house outside elsewhere. Longing to return to the downtown community, he rented a studio here just to do his artwork.
A master painter, Joseph was recently awarded the Draper Grand Prize at the 2009 International Portrait Competition, and will be conducting painting demonstrations during Second Saturday's Art Walk.

And lastly, from Joseph's place, halfway down the alley, patrons can see the eclectic works of (yours truly) A. S. Ashley at his studio, 558-D W. 2nd St.

For more details about the artists, and a map that can be downloaded of all 34 art venues in the Arts Colony, go to pomonaartscolony.com.

A. S. Ashley is a Pomona Arts Colony artist and advocate.