By Christopher Gomez | Little Italy News
Connecting neighborhood growth and community through art
One of the greatest things about our Little Italy neighborhood is how supportive the whole community is — local businesses, residents, community members and its visitors. Since the Little Italy Association is a nonprofit organization, having a community that stands behind us is key to the success of the neighborhood.
In order to raise funds for one of our most enterprising projects — Piazza Famiglia, a 10,000-square-foot European inspired piazza on West Date Street — community members and business owners are coming together to host a neighborhood fundraising art exhibition to benefit the project. It’s called, “Coming Home to Famiglia: The Works of John Asaro.”
Little Italy’s Meyer Fine Art gallery will be hosting the exhibition from July 9 through August 1. Fifty percent of sales from the art exhibition will be donated to the Little Italy Association’s Piazza Famiglia fund.
The piazza will become the new civic center of Little Italy and its developer, H.G. Fenton Company, will be creating a large public space for visitors and residents, new homes, approximately 16,600 square feet of restaurant and commercial space, and an underground parking garage.
The art exhibition will feature the work of San Diego local Italian artist, John Asaro, who grew up in Little Italy. Asaro’s family came to Little Italy from the boot-shaped country and created their foundation in Little Italy through his father’s barbershop business on the corner of India and W. Beech Street (now known as Mexican Fiesta).
Asaro wanted to find a way to benefit the community that he grew up in and had accepted him, so he partnered with Meyer Fine Art to host this art exhibition to give back to the Little Italy neighborhood.
The show will offer a variety of art for collectors, from original paintings of scenes from all over San Diego, such as Balboa Park, the Embarcadero, Little Italy and more, and women and children in gardens and beaches as well. There will also be drawings, studies of paintings and serigraphs available to purchase that feature art from Asaro’s past and more recent work.
A public reception of “Coming Home to Famiglia: The Works of John Asaro” will take place at Meyer Fine Art, July 19 from noon to 4 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet Asaro, learn about the art featured and view his artwork while enjoying refreshments and small bites hosted by local Little Italy businesses and restaurants.
This exhibition is more than just an art show — it’s an example of how a whole community is working together to raise funds to improve and beautify the neighborhood.
To find out more information about the featured artist, John Asaro, please visit johnasaro.com or for details about the upcoming art exhibition, visit littleitalysd.com.
—Christopher Gomez has been Little Italy’s district manager for the past 15 years. Reach him at chris@littleitalysd.com. Follow LIA on Instagram and Twitter @LittleItalySD y Facebook/Pequeña Italia de San Diego.
