Carlsbad Art and Culture

Your experience at an art show opening reception usually consists of looking, some thinking, maybe buying, a drink or two and then you’re just about done. A Carlsbad artist and culture enthusiast is enhancing the art show experience by sending it into the streets.

On Saturday, July 5, Bryan Snyder organized his 4th large scale art show and scavenger hunt at Culture Brewing Co. on S. Cedros Ave. in Solana Beach. The show was based on Doodle, an innocent, yet mischievous character who reminds of long lost, yet easily relatable, childhood memories called Reminiscent Pop Art.

Attendees were greeted by a 15ft. tall Independence Day themed mural stretching the length of the brewery interior, 20+ original paintings on Snyder’s signature cardboard medium, a slew of complementary stickers and magnets, and a collection of clues with detailed instructions leading participants into the streets in search for a coveted Golden Block redeemable for a prize piece of Doodle art.

“Unfortunately I have been to many art shows where the interaction with the art is stale, short lived and easily forgotten,” Snyder said. “I want to create more of an interactive experience where you become less a guest walking and more an integral participant of the show.”

7 Doodle prizes of artwork, 10 clues per prize and 7 hidden Golden Blocks are the ingredients of Snyder’s hunt. Attendees are invited to purchase the clues which are found on the backs of Doodle reproduction blocks. The clues send hunters into the streets in search for a hidden Golden Block. When found, the Golden Block is taken back to the brewery and redeemed for the corresponding Doodle artwork.

The clues send participants in a general area, but are kept vague to encourage detailed exploration and teamwork. Snyder explains that the Golden Block and artwork prize fuels urban exploration that indirectly promotes community and local businesses.

“I didn’t find any Doodles, but I did notice a bunch of cool businesses I had never noticed before,” one participant from Los Angeles said.

Participants searched in bushes, behind corners and in holes between the two overhead Cedros Arts District signs. Over the 3 hours of searching, sporadic cheers could be heard echoing off the local business walls indicating yet another Golden Block had been found.

Fans of Snyder’s artwork are not strangers to his shenanigans, often being sent into the streets all over San Diego, Los Angeles and as far as Australia through clues posted on social media. Doodle was named quickly after hiding hist first art in the streets in 2009. When word got out about these first hidden paintings on cardboard, Snyder was contacted asking when the next artwork was planned to be hidden.

“I responded to each email explaining that this hidden art was just quick paintings on found materials to past the time and learn new brushes,” Snyder explained. “They were just quick doodles.”

The emails continued, but Snyder noticed a difference. The subject no longer referenced hidden art, but instead inquired about hidden Doodles. The character that Snyder began drawing since a preteen finally had a name.

Click HERE to view all the photos.

Check Snyder’s past hunts HERE HERE and HERE.

Photos by Jack Lungu.