This Saturday/Valentine’s Day cruise over to Velo Cult bike shop to check out the first of a series of art shows at their digs on Fern Street in the heart of South Park. This one features five artists including Acamonchi, Anthony Bareno, and Matt Lingo.

Bring your coin purse to CONSPIRE because you’ll encounter shirts, books, and other creative novelties from some of your favorite local independent retailers, including Micreation, Subtext, Velo Cult, and Hi Octane Jewelry. Hand screenprinted shirts and prints will also be available from graphic design masterminds Josh Higgins and Acamonchi.

Now located at 2220 Fern Street, Velo Cult is South Park’s newest bicycle shop and a dealer of high end and custom frames, rims, and accessories. With a strong presence in SD’s vibrant bike community and as a great supporter of local art, Velo Cult breaks the stereotypes of what one would expect from your typical bike shop.  We daresay their blog and shop are works of art in themselves!

Subtext, one of our favorite sources for inspiration and all things design, is settling into a new location right across from the Casbah on Kettner & Laurel. Subtext showcases urban contemporary, pop surrealist, and lowbrow artists from around the globe. We’re coming up on a great time to get over to the new space and check out their next show from January 16th to February 15th – 366: New Works by Frank Rogozienski – a photographer who dedicated himself to capturing 366 images (it’s a leap year) one day at a time.

Hi Octane Jewelry is run by Oceanside based hot rod enthusiasts and metal smiths Brad Johnson and Alicia Hanson. Their inspiration emerges in the form of auto-inspired sterling silver jewelry, including car grille rings and one-of-a-kind salvaged car emblems creatively reconstructed into necklaces.

Micreation showcases a line of hoodies, shirts, and hats with an evolved message behind the art. In their words, “Out of chaos comes form – stars become galaxies, individuals become societies, ideas become reality. Creativity is the language of nature.” Check out their goods here!

At our upcoming event CONSPIRE, we’re serving up soup shooters from The Pearl, meatballs from The Linkery, and chips and guacamole mixed up from Whole Foods‘ local and organic avocados. For your next culinary adventure, s143 personally recommends these fine San Diego eateries:

The restaurant at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma crafts true culinary delights from local and seasonal ingredients. (Try the mushroom risotto or the burger with gouda and pommes frites.) You can drink and dine poolside at this ultra-chic mid-century modern hang out. Head over on a Wednesday and catch the weekly “Dive In” movie on the big screen above the vintage oyster-shaped pool, or get a room to enjoy the intimate old school California ambiance a little longer.

The Linkery is a farm-to-table restaurant in North Park with a neighborhood feel and people with a contagious passion for their food and drink. Ask them where your meal came from. They will tell you. You’ll be tantalized by their house made sausages and revolving menu and feel good about their support for local farms, breweries, and wineries. Give the grilled green beans a try, and visit Jay’s blog to satisfy your inner foodie.

The neighborhood Hillcrest Whole Foods Market, dedicated to satisfying and delighting the community with the highest quality natural and organic foods, welcomes CONSPIRE guests to taste some local delicacies. Valley Center’s Stehly Farms will be providing organic avocados for guacamole, and you might also develop an addiction for chips and salsa from family owned Tacupeto of North County. Also an exciting find: organic, vegan yerba mate teas from Guayaki, a solar powered company committed to fair trade and sustainability.

Check out the SprayGraphic interview with Reinvent/CONSPIRE/San Diego based artist Acamonchi!

Thank you to the wonderful people at Riviera Magazine for the feature on Sanctuary143 and the Reinventing the Wheel show in the December arts issue!
Check out the article and the photo of Acamonchi’s pedicab and Mark Klammer’s Traffic Shrine in action HERE – (Click over to the back page.)

Reinvent artist Acamonchi goes to Tijuana. Above: his work for the Estandartes (“big ass flags”) show.

That vintage pedicab that’s seen better days gets transformed for Reinventing the Wheel as Acamonchi adds on the next layer of paint and the first of many (we’re assuming) stencils. Thanks to Artist & Craftsman Supply for the awesome paint donation and Velo Culture for the loving repairs! (Check out more photos.)

After a generous donation from our friends down at Artist & Craftsman Supply in San Diego, Acamonchi was locked and loaded with 8 cans of Montana Gold and the blank canvas of a reclaimed pedicab waiting for its moment to become art for the upcoming Reinventing the Wheel show.

That moment has officially begun, as Acamonchi laid down the first few psychedelic layers of paint today.

Enjoy, fellow Sanctuarians!