Melissa Richardson Banks is Downtown Muse. During 2013, she produced and hosted 13 episodes of "The A.D. Live." Follow Downtown Muse at www.instagram.com/downtownmuse.

The A.D. LIVE by Melissa Richardson Banks

Downtown Muse talks coffee and more with Urban Radish's chief "Cure-ator and Deli-gator" Chaz Christianson.

The A.D. LIVE: Deli @ Urban Radish

Downtown Muse encounters crime in progress when walking along Alameda St. during the evening of July 13, 2013. Evidently, a robbery took place in Little Tokyo. No other details became available. 2nd Street was closed for hours, from Los Angeles Street to Alameda Street.

The A.D. LIVE: Little Tokyo Shooting

PØST (2009 to present), and its predecessor POST (1995-2005), is a subversive venue in the Arts District for contemporary art in Los Angeles, where nearly four hundred exhibitions have been hosted. For the past five years in July, the venue has hosted daily Kamikaze Shows. Each day during that month, a new show is installed (and the previous day's one removed) and an opening is held that evening from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Every show is curated by an artist to feature his/her work and/or works by a group. On Day 17, Downtown Muse spoke with artist Jonathan Hornedo who curated that day's show. 

The founder and director of PØST is HK Zamani. The venue is located at 1904 E. 7th Place in Los Angeles. LA, CA 90021. To learn more about PØST and its July Kamikaze Shows, visit www.post-la.com, www.postlosangeles.org, or https://www.facebook.com/NotPOST. 

THE A.D. LIVE: Post Kamikaze Show-Day 17

Thursday is the NEW Friday at Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles with the 2013 "Out of Office" summer concert series. Curated by Edgar Varela, the series included indie bands The Rebel Light, Holly Conlan, and The Young Romans. For information about Grand Park, visit www.grandparkla.org.

2013 PLAYLIST
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5a8GZjLMUEi1tih0xP3RO8

PRESS
https://westsidetoday.com/2013/07/18/grand-parks-out-of-office-concerts/

The A.D. LIVE: Grand Park "Out of Office" Concert 8-1-2013

Downtown Muse talks with Scratch founder Chelsea Kent at Bay St. Bazaar, presented in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, July 27, 2013 - www.goscratchit.com

THE A.D. LIVE: Scratch Nail Wraps DTLA

Downtown Muse makes a quick stop into the NEW Smart & Final store in DTLA ... ample right-out-front parking, fresh produce, floral arrangements, grab-and-go salads, and even FREE delivery of purchases for local businesses ($200 minimum).

THE A.D.LIVE: DTLA Smart & Final

If you've been to Handsome Coffee Roasters in the Arts District, you may have occasionally seen a taco cart set up along Willow St. Chef Wes Avila runs Guerrilla Tacos with his wife Tanya Mueller. On this day, Downtown Muse had a chat with the couple who just launched their new truck, replacing the cart.

Wes and Tanya use seasonal ingredients sourced from local farms, so their menu changes daily. Currently, they serve their tacos through their new truck parked near Handsome Coffee Roasters (582 Mateo St, Los Angeles, CA 90013 near Willow St.) on Tuesday mornings, Wednesday evenings, and Friday mornings (until 2 p.m.). Before going, check on Twitter @GuerrillaTacos or @Wes_Avila to be sure they are there!

The A.D. LIVE: Guerrilla Tacos

StoryCorps Interview: Melissa Richardson Banks and Christy Addis Gutierrez (10-25-2013)

With the news over the last few weeks that Soho House and other high-profile tenants are snapping up property in the Arts District, a hue and cry has erupted (at least in some media outposts) that the once-gritty neighborhood is done--at least for artists.

I met up with long-time resident, photographer and neighborhood activist, Melissa Richardson Banks to hear her take. She drove me around the 52-block area late last Saturday afternoon, identifying what's in store for empty parcels of land and once-forgotten buildings--as we skirted gaggles of happy, shopping, jaywalking pedestrians.

Photogenic graffiti, camera-wielding tourists, holes in the ground destined to become malls, old structures reincarnated as condos and restaurants and 'creative office space': Welcome to the rapidly transforming neighborhood where only the most successful of artists, or anyone, for that matter, can afford to dwell. There was a time, not very long ago, when this was an area most people went out of their way to avoid. Then, in 2008, the sausage place came in, and suddenly the Arts District became a destination. One after another, storefronts and warehouses transformed. The area grew from 1500 to 6000 residents in just the last seven years, Banks said, and only a tiny fraction is working artists.

On Santa Fe, just south of Bread Lounge and Stumptown and just north of the warehouse recently announced as the new location of the private club called Soho House, I pointed out a bride posing for a camera. "Oh that happens all the time here," she told me.  "People love to have their engagement photos taken in front of graffiti. It's very popular." Banks pointed out this strip isn't even technically in the Arts District, but, rather, Arts District adjacent. So great is the cache of staking a post downtown.

For someone who could get edged out by the rising rents, Banks is decidedly not NIMBY about the groundswell of interest in her neighborhood. "We don't want to lose our past and we want to appreciate what's coming," she said as we passed a triangle of land that had been co-opted by Nike as a pop-up store. Hundreds of people stood in line waiting for the chance to buy $175 sneakers. She does, however, have that remorse familiar to those of us who haven't bought:  "I looked around in the late 90s, but could never quite do it."

As the Arts District turns: The rapid transformation of a once-sleepy neighborhood

Melissa Richardson Banks visits the inaugural Parachute Market in the Arts District on Saturday, June 22, 2013. This episode features her interview with local resident and artist Michael Faye who brews KombuchaDog, a new line of beverages; proceeds of which support adoption of shelter dogs. To learn more, visit http://www.kombuchadog.com.

https://roaminghunger.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ParachuteMarketReleaseFinal5.pdf

The A.D. LIVE: KombuchaDog @ Parachute Market in the Arts District

Melissa Richardson Banks aka #MRB announces the inauguration of her new podcast series about the Arts District (A.D.) of Downtown Los Angeles (#DTLA).

The A.D. LIVE-Inaugural DTLA Broadcast

Here in the Arts District, the early bird gets the worm; er, or encounters with homeless sporting loud boomboxes playing just the right song for a morning filled with bird noises from our urban forest! Downtown Muse gets the sounds.

The A.D. LIVE-Early Bird

Downtown Muse shares how she abbreviates the three areas of DTLA's Arts District.

The A.D. LIVE-Abbreviated Arts District by Downtown Muse

The A.D. LIVE: Urban Radish Grand Opening

#MRB biked over to #GrandPark in #LosAngeles, yet was among those turned away due to at-capacity Fourth of July crowds, but spoke with three guys from #DTLA #ArtsDistrict (Sammy Be, David Matz, and Jareb Liewer) who had been there most of the day.

NOTE: Austin singer-songwriter Marcia Ball sings "Play with Your Poodle" (not "Let Me Pet Your Poodle" by Lou Ann Barton): http://youtu.be/u2yxnEIUrio

The A.D. LIVE: Grand Park on 4th of July

MUSED: LA 2 HOU is a podcast series hosted by Melissa Richardson Banks. In late 2016, she left Los Angeles where she lived and worked for 25 years, and returned to her home state of Texas ... but to a new frontier for her -- Houston! Episodes range in focus on the concept of journeys to the literal and figurative connections between Los Angeles and Houston. #MUSEDla2hou