Thousands of people flock to the gates of the Pomona Fairplex to attend opening day at the Los Angeles County Fair.
The LA County Fair had a record 230,000 fairgoers on opening day, the most in four years.
Every year, the number of attendees grows. Since its grand re-opening after World War II, the Los Angeles County fair has topped a million attendees every year. The fair has a cult following.
Fairplex President and CEO Miguel Santana said in a statement the “synergy of our theme, value offers, the weather and exciting programming created the perfect storm.”
The Los Angeles County Fair Association decided to bring back the classic Route 66 theme this year.
The Millard Sheets Art Center at the LA County Fair showcases artists exhibiting diverse experiences on historical Route 66.
The show, titled “Alt 66” explores different perspectives of Route 66 — journeys of food, cars, family, racism, immigration, and more.
The museum art manager, Thomas Canavan displayed repeated imagery and stories told about Route 66. Canavan said he wanted to take an alternative approach to voice different views of Route 66.
“Overall it’s about looking at Route 66 with all different perspectives,” Canavan said. “We want to provide an opportunity for new narratives.”
One work in the exhibition, “La Ruta Madre,” shows documents and photographs of Mexican-Americans on Route 66.
The Pomona Fairplex chooses a different topic to exhibit at their museum every year. As the art manager, Canavan is the first to present the idea. The rest of the committee contributes to the final theme of the show.
“The gallery isn’t politically motivated, but we are certainly interested in providing a platform for voices of minorities,” Canavan said. “There is a large group of people who aren’t represented in the art world.”
Even though the museum is in Pomona, show artists come from cities all over Southern California, including Claremont, Los Angeles, San Pedro, Woodland Hills.
The gallery is also student friendly. Canavan said he hired four interns the summer before the LA County Fair, who were promoted to gallery assistants.
Canavan said the extensive-internship is an opportunity for students to be, “introduced into the world, it’s a cool experience for them to be in a gallery and learn how people interact with art” as Canavan stated.
One of the assistants, Veronica Marquez, 21, a UC Riverside student at, said her experience was transformational.
“I can see art a lot differently now,” Marquez said. “I feel like I can appreciate it more.”
“Alt 66” will be open to the public until September 23, 2018.
