LA Weekly’s Artopia

Melissa Richardson Banks of CauseConnect co-produced the artisan village for LA Weekly’s Artopia at The Container Yard in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles. The 3rd annual festival showcased L.A.’s thriving art scene with interactive experiences, a mixology program, music, performance art, live painting, and more. Transformed into a wonderland designed to excite the senses, Artopia featured pop-up art galleries curated by art critic Shana Nys Dambrot for an amazing array of artists, including Drew Merritt, Wyatt Mills, Victor Wilde and his Bohemian Society, Debi Cable and her 3D Art Gallery, Mikael B. Design, Amy Kaps, and Marcus Kuiland-Nazario; music from activist-DJ Jeremy Sole of KCRW, and #FlowersOnYourHead, a performance-based photography project from Mud Baron. Guests sipped artistic cocktails by François Vera of Pour Vous and Ben Scott of Harlowe, enjoyed artfully crafted food from the Grilled Cheese and Kogi trucks, and shopped for creative wares in the artisan village, which was also co-produced by Edgar Varela.