'Laurel District Association'

by Tommy Wong

An All-Laurel Art and Music Summer

Laurel merchants. Photo courtesy Tommy Wong.

It has long been a well-kept secret that the Laurel and our surrounding neighborhoods house an incredible number of up-and-coming and world-class artists. In addition to the Summer Solstice Festival on June 19 put on by the Laurel Village Association, the Laurel District Association (Laurel merchants, LDA) is excited to present two additional events this summer that will showcase our local talent.

On Saturday, July 17, LDA will host a "Grow the Laurel" Mural Walk to celebrate the installation of four new public art pieces on MacArthur Blvd. These murals are the kickoff to a series of installations that will rotate annually along our business corridor. For our inaugural set of murals the LDA has enlisted the talents of acclaimed master artists Xochitl and Roberto Guerrero, graduates of the Mills College Art Department Sophie Leininger and Jennifer Martin, Komodo Toys' painting prodigy Lea Perez, and students from the Bret Harte Mural Art class. The hummingbird will also be making a return appearance. Through the theme,"Grow the Laurel" the artists will share their connection to our neighborhood. Their individual stories and descriptions of their artwork will be detailed in brochures you can find in all our Laurel businesses come July.

Then on Saturday, August 14, the LDA is proud to present the 11th Annual Laurel Street Fair. We are beyond excited to announce this year's world-class, All-Laurel lineup featuring six-time Grammy nominee John Santos Sextet. Also performing are the ACME All-Stars featuring jazz legend Donald "Duck" Bailey, amazing vocalist Valerie Troutt, and an incredible young dance and music group called St. Valentines featuring Will Randolph and the BRS. This promises to be the biggest Laurel Street Fair ever. For vendor information please contact Simone Acevedo at 510-712-8992, or email laurelstreetfair\@gmail.com.

Finally, look for your new Laurel Coupon Mailer. Coupons will be home-delivered in the Laurel, and on display at Laurel locations such as Lucky, Bank of America, Ace Hardware, Farmer Joe's, and many other great shops. They can also be found at stores in the Dimond, Redwood Heights, Maxwell Park, and Allendale Park. Our merchants came up with really great deals for you. So please support local business and Grow the Laurel. Have a great summer!