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Schave Resigns as Head of Downtown Art Walk

By Ed Fuentes and Eric Richardson
Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009, at 02:45PM

get on the bus Ed Fuentes [Flickr]

Richard Schave, pictured in front of the Hippodrome shuttle in June of 2008.

With just two days before the November Downtown Art Walk, the popular monthly event event is without a leader. Executive Director Richard Schave confirms to blogdowntown this afternoon that he has resigned his position, effective yesterday. While declining to give a statement, Schave said that he was sad about the move.

Schave was handed charge of the event earlier this year by Art Walk founder Bert Green. He led the creation of a non-profit to run the effort, and that organization's board will now be responsible for naming a new director.

Told of the news this afternoon, Green offered this statement via email. "I am disappointed that Richard has stepped down, as he volunteered himself to take the position back in the spring, and I had high hopes for his stewardship. I wish him well, and I hope that the board of the nonprofit can find another director soon."

Schave's wife, Kim Cooper, also resigned from her role as Treasurer of the non-profit.

The November Art Walk will take place on Thursday, and few gallery-goers will notice the behind-the-scenes upheaval. The one likely casualty is the walking tours organized by Schave.

Schave's resignation comes at a time when there was concern about whether Art Walk leadership was putting enough care into the handling of the event's relationship with the neighborhood and galleries. Schave and members of the Art Walk Board of Directors last week attended a meeting with the Historic Downtown BID and LAPD to discuss concerns over security, trash disposal, food trucks and events serving alcohol.

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Downtown Art Walk

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Comments

1
Dave Bullock writes:

That was quick.

# on Nov.10.2009 AT 02:52 PM
2
Oscar writes:

wow....


me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me!

YOU!

who, me?

YES!

oh no, no no no no... no

# on Nov.10.2009 AT 04:22 PM
3
WALT! writes:

Bummer.

# on Nov.11.2009 AT 12:16 AM
4
outmywindow writes:

Isn't this article missing information. Lets get real the situation was out of control. Resigned? Ok if you say so.

# on Nov.11.2009 AT 10:27 AM
5
Mike writes:

What situation was out of control?

# on Nov.11.2009 AT 10:38 AM
6
Dave Bullock writes:

Interesting, the DTN has some more info about the whole thing, noting an issue that Schave had with accepting a $50k corporate sponsorship:

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2009/11/11/news/doc4afb0fba5340a653213489.txt

So I guess the question now is the Art Walk "selling out"? Who will be sponsoring it?

# on Nov.11.2009 AT 12:23 PM
7
Howie writes:

the dog wagging the tail or the tail wagging the dog? Hummmmm.....

# on Nov.11.2009 AT 05:31 PM
8
Kim Cooper writes:

I have posted a response to the Downtown News article that followed Blogdowntown's breaking the story of Richard's and my resignations. Some of the questions being asked here are perhaps answered between the article and my comments on it.

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2009/11/13/news/doc4afdec9259851035245402.txt

# on Nov.16.2009 AT 02:35 PM
9
Sandie Richards writes:

The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk is an extraordinary phenomenon; it has grown exponentially over the past five years and is a tribute to all who have had a hand in managing it over the years, including Bert Green, Shane Guffog, Russ Brown, and most recently, Richard Schave. Mr. Schave can be credited with creating the formal non-profit entity that will steward the event moving forward; he and his family have done a tremendous service to the community during the five months since the birth of that non-profit entity.

The historic leadership of the Art Walk had perhaps a different vision of how the Art Walk should grow and move forward. In deference to that vision, Mr. Schave agreed to step down for the good of the community. It is my hope that Mr. Brown and others, particularly the Gallery owners, will help us to move forward in good faith. Each and every member of the newly-established Art Walk board has the best interests of the community at heart; there will always be differences of opinion, and we are committed to listening closely to the needs and desires of all the constituents and to working out the best possible solutions.

Richard Schave, Kim Cooper, and Chinta Cooper have spent hundreds of hours as volunteers in service of the Art Walk. They met regularly with community members, attended DLANC and DLANC Arts Committee meetings, and created a website with links to Galleries. The Facebook fan page and the group each have thousands (about 3k each), of members. Press releases were circulated to thousands of press contacts and have resulted in a stream of positive coverage. They launched a blog celebrating the people of Art Walk, gave a voice to non-commercial Happenings promoters, responded to hundreds of calls and emails, and raised $6500 in sponsorships.

In an effort to provide programming during the Art Walk, several cultural events were planned such as walking tours (with volunteer docents), salon-style discussions, and most recently, the opening of the Spring Arcade with curated acts taking place. This provided a connection between Broadway and Spring Streets, and was a smash success within about an hour during the September Art Walk. They partnered with the LA Historic Theatre Foundation to sync their theatre tours with our walking tour series, the first of many planned non-profit partnerships.

The work of Richard Shave, Kim Cooper, and Chinta Cooper in service to the Art Walk and the community that supports it, is deeply appreciated. Their hard work helped the Art Walk through an important transition. At our last Art Walk Board meeting the remaining board members expressed gratitude for all the accomplishments I've listed above.

Sincerely, Sandie Richards Art Walk board member

# on Nov.24.2009 AT 11:02 AM
10
James B. writes:

The artwalk is lucky to be rid of these two unscrupulous characters

# on Dec.10.2009 AT 10:01 AM
11
meestercranky writes:

yeah, well as someone who stood in front of my 18 year old daughter, a paying ticketholder on one of his tours, loudly repeating over and over how much he hates teenagers and kids in general and wishes they'd all just "f*** off", I can't say I expect much more of him that to volunteer then leave the whole thing in the lurch.

# on Dec.14.2009 AT 02:09 PM

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