Ranger Station

Summer 2012 Report: Hibernation and Ranger Tales

News from the LA Urban Rangers:

You haven’t heard from us in a while, as the Los Angeles Urban Rangers have been in relative hibernation since our Engagement Party residency at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) last summer. Huddled together in the den, we’ve been busy whittling a new video about Public Access 101: Downtown L.A., expanding our virtual ranger station, reflecting on our active past, and imagining trails into the future.

We want to announce to you, our steadfast cohort, that we’ve decided to enter into a phase of temporary dormancy (i.e. you won’t see us out and about, at least in uniform, in the coming months), partly due to long-distance migrations and other exciting metamorphoses among our rangers. Rest assured, our spirit of exploration runs strong and we will keep you posted of any and all adventures ahead.

In the meantime, we’re eager to share several new tales about the Rangers that have appeared in recent months:

  • KCET collected over 30 stories from hikers on our L.A. River Ramble last August, which can be found on Departures. If you have any field notes of your own about experiences on the L.A. River, please let us know!
  • Amelia Foster reflected on our Critical Campout last September in the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of Public Art Review
  • Meredith Drake Reitan wrote a short piece about our Malibu safaris in David C. Sloane’s new book, Planning Los Angeles
  • Bill Kelley’s recent article for KCET’s Artbound is a thoughtful reflection on the topography and artistic climate in which we Rangers continue to explore.
  • Longer “external guides” about the Los Angeles Urban Rangers are expected soon and we will keep you posted.

As always, we enjoy hearing your stories of urban trail exploration! We’ll add your field notes to our Ranger logs.

Your Faithful Stewards,

The Los Angeles Urban Rangers

laurbanrangers.org

via Summer 2012 Report: Hibernation and Ranger Tales.

Happy New Year from the Los Angeles Urban Rangers!

We’re pleased to kick off 2010 on the homefront with two exciting exhibitions, coming up just around the corner:

  • Come see our work and that of other participatory based projects in Actions, Conversations, and Intersections at the LA Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Art Park from January 24 – April 18, curated by Edith Abeyta and Michael Lewis Miller. The opening reception is Sunday, January 31st from 2-5pm. Check out this link for more events and weekly goings on around the exhibition.
    http://www.actionsconversationsintersections.com/
    http://www.culturela.org/lamag/Home.html
  • Our Portable Ranger Station is winging its way back from the 2009 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam en route to Tijuana! Stop by Performing Public Space, curated by Owen Driggs, at La Casa de Túnel: Art Center from February 6 – March 21. Leave your transit behind and just walk across the border. Other artists in the show include Fallen Fruit, Lauren Bon, and Jane Tsong, among others.
    http://cofac101.org/casa.htm
  • The new year promises new investigations as well. We are currently working with the University of California’s Institute for Research in the Arts on a major project for the UC’s Natural Reserve System, returning to the Netherlands next summer to build a field guide for our trail system in Almere’s favorite vacant lot, and continuing development of a series of programs for our very own Downtown Los Angeles.
  • Finally, thanks to support from the Coastal Conservancy, we will be wrapping up our highly successful Malibu Public Beaches program next month! The newly translated Spanish version of our informative map and guide is hot off the presses, and will be distributed throughout LA County and on the Metro 534 line, and of course, available on our website. Our very last public safari is tentatively scheduled for the last weekend in February. Stay tuned!

Ever onward,

Los Angeles Urban Rangers
http://www.laurbanrangers.org