I traveled to Telluride, Colorado for the first time earlier this month for the town’s annual film festival. I journeyed there looking for inspiration, and my expectations were high. I was counting on cinematic artistry and natural wonder to come barreling toward me the moment my feet hit the dirt. I packed pads, pens, camera, digital video recorder- all in hopes of capturing something tangible- something that might ignite my own creative fire. Lucky for me, I found more than one something.

Often mistakenly dubbed as the “Mexican Halloween,” Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, holds a special significance to the descendants of the Meso-Americans. Part of a ritual that has been practiced for over 3,000 years, Dia de los Muertos honors death as a continuation of life. Celebrants wear skull masks, called calacas, or face paint to honor deceased relatives and build elaborate altars to fill with offerings for the dead. For all its mysticism, at its core, the celebration is about family and community.

Past a crawling maze of neon, sun-like patterns and a swarm of people- I gently muscled my way through the Standard Downtown’s lobby and walked straight up to the man I was looking for: Dennis Hernandez, the hotel’s director of marketing. Surprised that I found him so easily on my first attempt, Dennis smiled back, kindly, and welcomed me, warmly.

Although Petula Clark is right about the noise and the hurry, forgetting your troubles isn’t really what downtown is for, or at least downtown LA. Just because Skid Row is slowly edging away from the loft spaces and bars that have sprung up like mushrooms after a heavy rain does not mean anything has been forgotten here. The downtown art scene isn’t one of escapism; its craggy roots firmly cling to the foundation of the city, every canvas a mirror of one of the 4 million Angelenos reflected there.

On June 13^th, he would have been in the minority as the Santa Monica Fine Art Studios opened its doors to the unwashed masses for a rare treat – a chance to grok art with its creators, over 30 of them to be exact, spanning a myriad of media from painting to mobiles to sculpture, and encompassing every style, from Impressionism to Superflat.