A new page is added to your life story each day. Life changes begin new chapters and the margins of your pages are scribbled with memorable quotes. Achievements are underlined and people you helped are bolded.

Your last page may be written, but your story will always be told.

Rest in Peace Junior!

A nationwide call to cover the night asked Invisible Children supporters to cover public walls with KONY 2012 themed flyers and other media in an act to bring attention to Joseph KONY’S inhumane actions towards children and to help restore LRA affected communities in East and Central Africa to peace.

On the night of April 20th supporters hit the streets with a variety of glossy colored flyers and black and white posters. Chalk messages were scribbled on beach-side benches, walls and sidewalks while most early morning walkers passed undeterred.

A thick dew slowly engulfed the coastal village causing the thin strips of tape to saturate with moisture and drop KONY branded material to the ground. Frantic chalk scribbles soon became illegible blurs of colored powder as the boardwalk flow thickened. Large KONY tags drew some attention, but the messages may have been tainted with the lack of creativity and effort.

The idea to use the streets to spread the word may have been a good idea. Hundreds of pedestrians travel the Carlsbad boardwalk each day and the village is often animated with activity, but a successful Guerilla campaign carefully walks the line between acceptable use and vandalism.

Did the Cover the Night Guerilla campaign error in their implementation of marketing material? Could they have exhibited more effort and creativity?

How could they have better used the streets to express their ideas?

As a kid growing up in the Carlsbad Village, local artist Bryan Snyder used the local streets and beaches as his canvas. His early passion for baseball was expressed year around on the Chase and Pine fields. When not on the diamond, Snyder could be found skateboarding all day in the Village. His passions were found early and expressed often within the streets of the village.

Now as an adult and a Carlsbad resident 28 of his 31 years, Snyder continues to express his passions and creativity in the Carlsbad Village Streets through art. His most recent public art installation stopped the 100,000 estimated faire visitors in their tracks.

“As a conceptual artist, I attempt to connect the public’s mind with my ideas,” Snyder says. “What better stage to do this than along a constant stream of 100,000 people all in search of something to look at?”

Thousands of cameras shot photos of the eerie though subtly innocent sculpture shaped out of newspaper, shrink wrap and packaging tape. Snyder’s sculpture was finished with acrylic latex drip and sat upon 3 buckets of paint with a sign that encouraged photos.

Keep your eyes out for future Snyder Art street installations!

Vendors lured with brightly colored merchandise and a smoky food court sent the smell of grilled meat tumbling down the heated asphalt. Bands splashed the sunburned faces with tunes in the beer garden and local shops took a back seat on Sunday May 6th during the 39th Carlsbad Village Street Faire hosted by the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.

Memories of last year’s November street faire in the rain vanished fast like a shallow puddle on the sizzling Grand Avenue asphalt. The first of the two annual Carlsbad faires began early and lasted into the early evening as an estimated 100,000 attendees came, shopped and ate.

A dense vendor wall lined Grand Avenue and the connecting perpendicular streets with a wide variety of eye catching merchandise. Local artists showcased their newest canvases and favorite prints while smooth talking salespersons traded spam for weekend getaways. The pushy pushed insipid knockoffs and the mellow sold one-of-a-kinds.

Waves of visitors crashed upon the village like a surging tide upon our sleepy village. Parking lots which normally remained vacant blocks outside the village ran a price tag of $15 and shuttles transported sunburned village visitors to and from through out the day.

The crowd crept along Grand like a slithering snake. A long stride was as common as an empty parking space. Baby steps and shoulder bumps bounced bag carrying faire visitors along the boundaries of the faire like a battered pinball. Fueled by the grilled tri-tip, the crowd continued its amble towards the coast and back.

Kids’ fingers turned pink and sticky from cotton candy and looney characters were brushed on their cheeks. Giraffes, monkeys and peacocks were twisted into shape by clowns and the a collection of crisp bills blew in the wind at the peak of a climb.

Village visitors and locals brave the mayhem the faire brings each year. They gear up for a long day in the sun battling unflappable currents and intolerable irritations. Some love the culture connected through friendships associated with each faire visit. Others indulge simply for the thrill. Either way, when it’s all over, each visitor breathes deeply after the realization that they survived the chaos of another Carlsbad Village Street Faire.

Snyder Art is celebrating the arrival of the 39th Carlsbad Village Street Faire and largest one day street faire in the nation with a one day art hunt and raffle. Follow the below steps to win an original piece of art by Bryan Snyder.

HOW IT WORKS:
1. Find the original drip sculpture within the May 6th Carlsbad Street Faire
2. Take a photo of the above sculpture
3. “LIKE” the ‘Snyder Art and Design’ facebook page
4. Upload your photo to facebook
5. Tag ‘Snyder Art’ in your photo

Click HERE to become a fan of the Snyder Art facebook page!

Carlsbad’s newest mural has been painted on the South facing wall of Royal Palms Spirits (Pig Liquor) by Encinitas artist Shawn David Baker.

The mural depicts a gestural scene of silhouetted figures interacting with an animated beach atmosphere painted in vivid pink, orange and teal.

Click HERE to see more of Baker’s art!

Fiesta Liquor in the Carlsbad Village is looking for a business to rent out its 2nd floor space. Check details below:

Rooms: 2
Bathroom: 1
Deposit: $1350
Rent: $1350 per month

This upstairs unit has a separate entrance and includes 1 very large bedroom and 1 medium size bedroom with window views facing North, East and West. The bathroom includes a shower. This rental agreement is a month to month contract with a deposit of $1350. Utilities excluding internet are included.

Contact if interested!
theartist@carlsbadcrawl.com
760.521.8713

Do you think you know every back alley and smooth wall of the village? Can you create art and can you get it up in the streets? Carlsbadcrawl is challenging anyone who answered ‘yes’ to prove it. Lets see your ability to use the streets as a canvas!

Carlsbadcrawl is guaranteeing that any art put in the streets of the Carlsbad Village will be found, photographed and showcased here on carlsbadcrawl.com. Try to prove us wrong!

Let the games begin!

carlsbadcrawl in no way supports or encourages the act of vandalism. Chosen canvases are up to your own negotiations.

Bryan Snyder from Snyder Art and Design and the New Village Arts Theatre in the Carlsbad Village have teamed up and are offering an opportunity to win an original painting created by Snyder in his signature drip technique.

In addition to potentially taking home a painting, you will be helping raise funds for the theatre and its award-winning arts education program, The Shakespeare Network.

Wave in Blue (2012)
36in. x 48in.
acrylic latex dripped on canvas

$20 for a single ticket
$100 for 6 tickets

This opportunity to take home a Snyder Art painting and help raise funds for the NVA ends of Sat. April 28th. The winner will be announced during the 2012 New Village Arts Theatre Gala at the Seapointe Resort.

Visit the Theatre to purchase your ticket! (map)
Or contact them directly if out of town. (760.433.3245)

On April 21st, the parking lot of Spin Records in the Carlsbad Village filled early as large crowds gathered to celebrate the 5th annual nation wide celebration of Record Store Day.

Early visitors waited in line before store hours for one of the scheduled limited edition releases by The Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire and others. The more causal visitors arrived later and browsed vinyl records from the loaded store shelves.

There is an amazing selection here at Spin,” Susanna Kurner of Carlsbad said. “I’m taking home 2 records to add to my collection.”

The store remained packed during the entire day and overflowed into the back parking lot where live local bands performed all day including: The Paragraphs, Sick Balloons, Oldest Boy and Girl, Nena Anderson and DJ Lexicon Devil.

Trouble in the Wind, a local favorite band, finished off the day’s live music with an all acoustic set while a thick crowd listened attentively.

The coastal fog over the Carlsbad Village may have been thicker than desired, but that didn’t keep the local music and community enthusiasts from coming out to Spin and supporting record shops near and far.