Author: The Mesa Maven

We love interviewing all manner of Costa Mesans, but must confess, the city’s ‘creative types’ are some of our favorite subjects. Maybe it’s unearthing each unpredictable interest they’re ‘into’ at the moment, or the thrill of pacing the breakneck speed of their ideas. Maybe it’s plumbing their vast depths of self-reflection, or the hilarity of a non-linear sense of humor. Usually, it’s all of the above… and all at once. A swirling whirl of ideas, laughter, stories, show-and-tells (and sometimes, tears) that leaves us utterly inspired and happily exhausted….

When we use the term ‘city’ to describe Costa Mesa, it’s easy to mentally mistake it for a singular, finite entity. An object. A thing. But if I Heart Costa Mesa has taught us anything, it’s that ‘city’ is just a word trying very hard to wrap its arms around a much more complex and undulating aggregate of ideas, concepts and characters. That the true, tangible ‘realness’ of Costa Mesa does not begin and end along the edges of her borders – but with the living, breathing individuals that move about her middle.

The well-known British sculptor, Antony Gormley, is often quoted as saying: “I believe in the city as a natural human environment, but we must humanize it. It’s art that will re-define public space in the 21st Century. We can make our cities diverse, inspirational places by putting art, dance and performance in all its forms into the matrix of street life.” He should know. He’s spent a lifetime creating sculpture designed to adorn public spaces.