The Santa Monica Art Studios is located in a historic hangar on the southern edge of the Santa Monica Municipal Airport, but co-founder and co-director Yossi Govrin thinks of the space’s mix of skylights, white walls and towering ceilings in religious terms.
“It feels like a Gothic church,” the Israeli artist said.
Celebrating the venue’s seventh anniversary, Santa Monica Art Studios, which features 29 artist spaces and three galleries, will hold an open-house exhibition on Oct. 15 and 16. The complex’s 35 artists-in-residence — including painters, sculptors, mixed-media artists and photographers — and approximately 15 outside artists will participate in the event. Visitors can explore the artists’ studios, galleries and the Arena 1 exhibition space, which are all part of the 22,000-square-foot complex.
“It’s only once a year that we open the studio in this manner,” Govrin said. “It’s extremely festive and beautiful.”
In Arena 1, architectural exhibition “Unruly” — curated by local architects Lisa Little and Emily White — examines the personality of static objects and the unexpected chaos that results when using machines in art.
Oscar-nominated costume designer Julie Weiss (“American Beauty”), oil painter Krista Augius and veteran printmaker Mitchell Friedman are among the artists-in-residence whose work will also be featured.
“We like it when people come in,” Friedman said. “That’s why we do what we do.”
Govrin’s sculptures and paintings will also be featured during the show.
Born in Iran, Govrin moved to Israel when he was 10. In the late 1960s, he served as a paratrooper in the Israeli army, then studied sociology and diplomacy at Hebrew University. But when he started dating an artist, her passion rerouted his direction in life.
“I saw that she had more fun than me. I took her material and started painting,” he said. “I finished my studies but never went into diplomacy or international relations.”
Govrin enrolled in the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem in 1977, then moved to the United States two years later.
Nowadays, Govrin counts celebrities — including Halle Berry and Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh — among his clients, and his work is featured on the television show “House.”
One of his most prized pieces, however, is thousands of miles away — in Israel. About 10 years ago, the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles commissioned Govrin to create a monument honoring the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Govrin was thrilled to work on the Rabin piece. There was one problem: how to move the 800-pound sculpture from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv.
“I said I would do it for free if [they] initiated how to get it to Israel and install it,” he said.
Ron Huldai, the mayor of Tel Aviv, helped transport Govrin’s sculpture to Israel. Today, the bronze bust of Rabin sits on display in Tel Aviv City Hall.
“It was one of those pieces you’re touched by as an artist,” Govrin said.
Govrin co-founded Santa Monica Art Studios with Sherry Frumkin, who previously ran a gallery at Bergamot Station Arts Center, also in Santa Monica.
Frumkin said her talents complement Govrin’s.
“Yossi had much more experience with putting together a collective of artists who worked in a space,” Frumkin said. “I had more experience with exhibitions.”
As the former home of the Douglas Aircraft Co. — noteworthy for having built the first plane to circumnavigate the earth — the Santa Monica Municipal Airport has been friendly to Govrin and Frumkin’s art world.
In fact, Govrin created a sculpture of Donald Douglas, founder of the Douglas Aircraft Co., for the airport’s Douglas DC-3 Monument Plaza in 2009. Beverly Hoskinson, who worked for the Douglas Aircraft Co. for several decades, helped arrange the commission.
“Judging by the person he is, and the heart he puts in his work, he was the logical choice,” she said.
Santa Monica Art Studios, Hoskinson added, is “a wonderful thing for the airport, and very integral for what a lot of us would like to see the airport be. Just a gathering ground for all parts of the community.”
The occasional planes flying overhead, the pilots coming in to check out art — Govrin loves the environment.
“It’s fantastic,” he said. “It’s a fun energy.”
The open-house exhibition runs for two days — Saturday, Oct. 15, 6-9 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 16, 1-5 p.m. Tickets are available starting at $25 at uclalive.org, via Ticketmaster or through the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310-825-2101.
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