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Janel Adraneda
Cal State University, Northridge
Prof. Florian
ENGL114B
30 April 2014
Project Venice
For our Project Space assignment, my group chose to explore one of the top ten beaches
in Southern California, Venice Beach (travelchannel.com). We chose this specific beach because
no beach in the world is similar to it. Though there are other beaches with the typical sand, water,
and sunshine, Venice beach has qualities like no other. It is a district of Los Angeles that situates
between Santa Monica and Marina del Rey. Venice has always been known as a hangout spot for
the artsy type of people. Today, its known as a vibrant area of Southern California and
continues a tradition of progressive social change involving prominent Westsiders
(venicebeach.com). Venice Beach is popular for having the beach, bohemian boardwalk, Muscle
Beach, skating rink, beach volleyball courts, bike trail, and their basketball courts that many
NBA players were recruited from.
Venice Beach represents diversity and individualism with the people inhabiting it each
day. The famous boardwalk is filled with a 3-ring urban street circus, aspiring artists, trash-
talking basketball players, intimidating weightlifters, marijuana dispensaries, daring
skateboarders and much more. No matter what interests a person has- sports, art, marijuana,
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fashion, etcone will always manage to find something fitting perfectly to their personality. The
varieties of people walking the shores of Venice Beach suggest it is a cross-cultural space. With
the huge diversity of people this beach attracts, it is safe to say that Venice Beach has a home
feel to it. As we interviewed several people on their ideas of Venice, they all shared the fact that
it is a place for everyone and it is like a second home. I found it interesting that each person we
interviewed was easy going about it and thought of Venice in a positive way. Today, it is
extremely difficult to find something almost everyone likes but Venice seems to be an accepting
place because the varieties ranges so far that if everything were the same it would go against
Venice Beachs cultural norm.
Aside from the many activities available to the public, there are also several stores and
restaurants fulfilling the cravings of all people. Each restaurant varies in pricing, however, for
most part prices are reasonable. Food on the boardwalk varies from zesty nachos, two dollar
pupusasa, loaded meat sandwiches, bread pudding, etc. In addition to the delicious meals offered,
Venice is also the place for our sweet tooth which almost everyone has. Available at the board
walk are four dollar cups of ice cream, sorbet without the artificial tastes, and World Famous
mini-donuts. If a person were to go to Venice Beach and not want to do anything, it also serves a
sort of getaway for many people. Having the beach directly next to the boardwalk, people can
easily take a relaxing break while lying on the warm sand as the suns warmth resonates on their
skin.
After our visit to Venice Beach, we were left speechless along with being in a food coma.
Being a group of four, all with dissimilar tastes, each of us were able to find something we loved.
We were able to see the true colors of Venice as we explored every aspect of it from playing
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basketball, participating in street shows, eating their food, and admiring art. Although I have
been to Venice numerous times, I found that every time I visit I always manage to find
something new to love about it. Throughout the many times Ive visited this beach, I never
thought of it as a piece of art until now. As I was leaving the boardwalk this past visit, I saw
Venice through a completely different perspective. At first I saw it as a sort of sporty hippie
scene, but now I see it as art. I made the conclusion that Venice situates itself in Los Angeles
because of the different types of people in the area plus tourists from outside places. With that
being said, I saw Venice Beach as one long extending canvas and each person walking on it adds
their own marks which creates a bigger picture. Thats why, I feel, Venice Beach is ever-
changing because it is not the location that defines these shores, but the people residing in it each
day. And as each day starts anew, the canvas clears and waits for blank spaces to be filled with
new marks.








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Works Cited
"About - VeniceBeach.com." VeniceBeachcom. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2014.
"Top 10 Southern California Beaches : Best Beach Vacations : Travel Channel." Travel Channel.
N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.