ENVZN23: More than an art festival, a collaboration between communitiese comunidades

A play inside a barber shop? A film festival at a gym? A journey around the world through virtual reality? You will be able to experience this and more during ENVZN23: Urban Art Takeover.

Presented by the non-profit organization Vanguard Culture, this street art festival will transform industrial warehouses and other urban areas in Logan Heights from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2 with multi-sensory art interventions created by over 40 artists and organizations from both Tijuana and San Diego.

Various establishments across Commercial St. welcomed the festival and opened their doors — literally — for artists to intervene their spaces with art and share them with the people of San Diego and Tijuana. The program is built in blocks of 30 minutes and every activity and presentation will repeat during the night, giving spectators the opportunity to curate their own schedule and have a personalized experience.

However, this event is more than the presentation of art for the delight of the senses, it is a tool to highlight the Logan Heights community. This edition and the next will be produced along the corridor with establishments owned and operated by CoPlace, a consortium of San Diego visionaries from different fields who share a passion to regenerate communities from the ground up. “The CoPlace team believes in Logan Heights and its incredible potential. ENVZN23 will help re-energize and invigorate people’s love for this community and allow people to appreciate a region that is often overlooked but is steeped in beauty and culture,” stated Sasha Favelukis, co-founder of CoPlace, in a press release.

Susanna Peredo Swap, director and founder of the non-profit organization Vanguard Culture, is “excited to shine a light on the local color and beauty of the Logan Heights community and share the virtuosity of our creative workforce with a global audience”, said in a statement.

During a recent media preview and tour, The San Diego Union-Tribune visited three organizations on Commercial St. that will host events and activities throughout the night.

The Soap Factory will include a lounge for those with VIP tickets ($125) as well as other areas featuring multicultural presentations of film, dance and virtual reality. This space welcomes visitors with a shop where you can find handcrafted products such as soaps and oils made with high quality ingredients from Early Girl Creations before setting foot on the semi-covered patio full of couches and vintage-style decorations to spend the night.

The Soap Factory is one of the two access points to the festival, the other being The War House, a gym featuring a colorful staircase and balconies on its facade which will work as a runway for the Fashion Week San Diego fashion show (6:30 and 7:30 p.m.) and for a Mesoamerican ceremonial dance (6 and 7 p.m.).

Another of their collaborators along the corridor are SD Custom Studios & FixUrFace, a hybrid and creative space where they offer shoe and clothing making classes as well as a barbershop. This establishment will host an interactive art exhibit by artist XoQue where the audience is invited to transform a sculpture of a Kumeyaay woman’s face with textiles and participate in a clay workshop for all ages (at 8 and 8:30 p.m.).

Named the SD Design Theatre stage in the festival’s program, this space will also present two plays during the night. The first, “Parking sin estrellas” from the Abordo Teatro Company from Tijuana, tells the story in Spanish of a boy and his adventurous journey through Zona Norte in Tijuana using puppets (6 and 6:30 p.m.). Moments later, the stage will transform to present “The Frontera Project”, a bilingual and interactive experience about cross-border life (7 and 7:30 p.m.).

The back patio of Stay Classy CrossFit, a cross fit gym, will be decorated by artist Cat Chiu Phillips with a Filipino textile installation while short films and movies from the Coronado Island Film Fest and the San Diego Italian Film fest play in this outdoor movie theater.

Besides the regional art immersion, there will be food and drinks from local vendors and live music.

ENVZN23 is planned to be an annual event, with 2023 as its first edition. For its second edition, under the umbrella of the World Design Capital 2024, the festival will highlight the region’s arts and culture for an international audience.

“World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana 2024 is proud to support the ENVZN23 festival, an innovative example of mobilizing design to both showcase our region’s culture and transform our community,” said Carlos de la Mora, chief executive officer of WDC 2024 in a press release.

When: 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday

Entry point: Between the Soap Factory, 2995 Commercial Street and 32th Street Trolley Station, San Diego

Tickets: $20 for Logan Heights residents with ID; $20 for creative professionals with ID; $40, general admission; $125 VIP entry

Online: vanguardculture.com/envzn-23/

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