Today we’d like to introduce you to David Parra.
David, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. Over the years though, I lost interest at some point in time. During my time in the service, I was able to add a few murals in the barracks I was living in during my training and then again during one of my deployments. I thought after this, I would start drawing and possibly painting, but I guess the timing wasn’t right or something cause I never did anything with it. Fast forward to October 2018, and that’s when everything changed for me. I helped my nephew out by creating a poster for his class for their Halloween event with the use of paint and markers. Creating that poster for him, it lit a fire or something in me that has been missing for a long time. I hadn’t felt the passion for anything like the way I did with art. Since that day, I’ve been either creating art on a daily basis, working on a big piece or curating art events.
Has it been a smooth road?
No, but where’s the challenge if there wasn’t any obstacles? I’m an Army Veteran diagnosed with PTSD among other things. Because of everything that was going on with me health and mental wise, everything was put on the back burner with me. I was so depressed over things going on with me health wise, I resigned from job, I didn’t care about my personal hygiene, I pretty much didn’t want to deal with life anymore. I was pretty much done. In a sense, the poster that I did for my nephew is what saved me. After I completed the poster, I wanted to continue with art, which sucked at the time because I didn’t have a job so my financial situation wasn’t the best. My sister has been a lifesaver though, she went out and bought me everything I thought I would need. Hundreds of dollars later, I figured out that was the wrong move for me to make. But you learn as you go and I learned a lot since then with my art. Don’t get me wrong though, even though I’ve overcame some obstacles, the depression and health issues are still there. I just take things one day at a time now and use art as my scapegoat to another world where I have no worries other than my paint, paint brushes and whatever I decide is going to go onto my canvas.
As a new artist, I had friends and family telling me that I should start selling my art. I never thought my stuff was good enough and would always question their sanity. After a month or so of them telling me to try and sell my art, I did. I went to a local Farmers Market in West Covina and started there. My booth setup was horrible! I had no idea what I was doing or what I should charge for my art. Little by little I started changing my setup, changed my prices and was able to present my art better. I did the Farmers Markets for a few months before a friend sent me a post through Instagram for an actual Art pop-up at a Brewery in El Monte. I gave it a try and really enjoyed the people who hosted the event. Since then, I’ve been doing them ever since.
For the art events that I curate, I had a lot of struggles. Being a new artist, I didn’t have a lot of clout and wasn’t known. Of course, that’s all changed now, but my first couple of events were a waste of peoples time. I learned as I went, figured out what worked and what didn’t and applied them to my next event. As an artist and art curator, the challenges and obstacles I faced in the beginning is what helped my grow as a person, artist, and art curator. If you didn’t learn from the challenges, then you’re doing something wrong!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Art Haus LA story. Tell us more about the business.
Where do I start? Art Haus LA is an artist ran business supporting ALL local artists by showcasing artists artwork through art events throughout Los Angeles County and surrounding counties. I host events with a wide range of local artists, local musicians/bands, and local food vendors. Art Haus LA started all because I had some of my art featured in a coffee/waffle house in Studio City. The owner was looking to host events with my art being the focal point. Well things didn’t work out with the owner and myself, but after getting my feet wet with hosting events, I continued on. I would spend hours on end talking to venues on the phone or emails on why they should give me a chance and bring an art event to their place of business and what I was able to do for them by them allowing me to host a show. Being an artist and art vendor, I thought that I had my foot in the door already and knew what to expect, what not to do, etc. I’m really greatful for the art friends that I’ve made in the art community. Without them, Art Haus LA wouldn’t exist today. Because of their support, I was able to move forward with events and build a sense of family in the art community. In return, I’ve been able to give local artists more exposure, whether its helping them get into a big show, helping them get interviews on podcasts, or helping them get out of their comfort zone by showcasing their art in other cities. I feel that me being an artist that’s been in their shoes hosting events sets me apart from other curators because I know the struggles vendors go through and I have their best interest at heart. When I say that I have their best interest at heart, I really mean it. I’m not the typical art curator that is in it for the money. Every artist that has ever done an event with me, always comes first and that will remain that way until I decide hosting events is something that I no longer want to do. I’m an artist supporting other artists.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see events becoming more scarce within the next 5 – 10 years. I see art events or pop-ups becoming more common now a days that it’s getting to the point that “if you seen one, you’ve seen them all”. Since what I do is something that is common, you need to create new ways to stay relevant, keep the public interested and keep reenventing yourself so the art community stays afloat. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t trully feel that art will go away completely, ever, but something definetly needs to be done in order to keep the publics interest. So rather than big shifts or changes, I guess I should be trying to figure out what’s going to separate me from the rest? How I’m going to adapt to the changes that are sure to come. What’s going to keep me relevant and wanting people to keep coming to my shows to see artists’ artwork or listen to the bands I get. Once I’m able to answer those questions, I feel that I will be ahead of the pack and will have no issues with some of the new ideas that I’m currently working on that haven’t been done before. With that said, stay tuned. Art Haus LA is just getting started!
Contact Info:
- Address: 17527 Salais St., La Puente, CA 91744
- Website: www.arthausla.wordpress.com
- Phone: (323) 695-3841
- Email: arthaus.losangeles@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/art_haus_la
- Facebook: facebook.com/arthauslosangeles
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