By Daniela Coe-Mcnamara
Staff Writer
To create organization in the Los Angeles art experience, Mira Costa alumnus Jesy Odio and four other members of the Curate LA team have constructed a website and mobile application with maps and reviews about art exhibits in the city.
As an art lover, Odio has always wanted a singular, comprehensive list of art exhibits in the greater Los Angeles area, but she was unable to find one that was in-depth enough for her standards. Curate LA co-founders Alex Benzer and Shelley Holcomb decided to create their own website in 2014, which they called curate.la. After a coffeeshop meeting with Odio, they recruited her as their head writer.
“Jesy is a talented writer, and I dig her style,” Holcomb said. “When we met, she seemed to implicitly understand the direction and aesthetic I look for to represent Curate LA. I admire her ideas and enthusiasm.”
While Holcomb takes care of the art space, event details, and marketing, Benzer is behind the technological aspects of Curate LA, including the web design and app production. Together, the co-founders began to compile a list of exhibits in 2014 by creating an online interactive map. The map extends from galleries in the South Bay to areas as far as Palm Springs.
“It is something that Los Angeles needed,” Holcomb said. “I have always been a passionate art seeker, and because L.A. is such a sprawling city, I saw a need for a website that would help everyone navigate the city’s art scene in an organized way.”
Stemming off from the website is the Curate LA app, which also includes a comprehensive list of upcoming temporary exhibits and a list of nearby galleries. Odio is the head writer for the project and is also the overall ambassador for the app.
“At the moment, we are a very small team of five,” Odio said, “I really believe in Curate LA and everything that the co-founders do, so I am always helping out with whatever they need,” Odio said.
The Curate LA website celebrated its one-year anniversary on Oct. 22 at Werkartz, a studio in L.A. At this event, the co-founders and Odio celebrated the release of the Curate LA app with more than 600 attendees.
“Everyone kept asking us for an app, as people love the convenience of their mobile phones and use them more than desktop computers,” Holcomb said. “A mobile app feels like a natural progression for a website.”
Holcomb, Benzer and Odio’s goal was to create an easy way to explore the art scenes of L.A., which they believed to be unorganized. Odio said that the website and app strive to connect people to the local artists and galleries that they may have never been exposed to in the past, Odio said.
“People are finally paying attention to art in L.A.,” Odio said. “Many galleries are opening up in the city, such as the Broad, and it is really exciting to see that type of art arising. I love writing about art in L.A. because it is such an exciting city.”
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