CARLSBAD — It’s kind of like Pokémon Go, but in this case, instead of catching cartoon monsters on a cell phone, people have the chance to catch actual pieces of art.
Bryan Snyder, one of the community’s eminent street artists, will again be hiding pieces of art throughout the Village area during the Art in the Village event on Aug. 14.
Eight original pieces featuring his “Doodle” character, painted on 8-by-16-inch canvasses will be up for grabs.
These types of scavenger hunts Snyder started doing a little while after moving back to the city in 2006. It was all about trying to introduce more art to the community, the Carlsbad native said.
Since returning, he’s taken it upon himself to lead a sort of art revival in the community, everything from painting several street murals, to hiding pieces of art, all the way up to the present with his recent Carlsbad Art Wall project. That project, which is featured on a side wall of Señor Grubby’s restaurant on Carlsbad Village Drive, features a new mural every month or two completed by street artists typically from the Los Angeles area.
He’s hidden probably more than 1,000 pieces of art over the last decade, and finding good hiding spaces is getting tougher, Snyder explained.
Though throughout the Carlsbad Village, no nook or cranny is safe from becoming a hiding spot.
“I’m going to put a lot of effort and time to find difficult hiding spots, not impossible, but the clues definitely will help,” he said.
“One of my favorite parts of these things is going out and looking for these hiding spots,” Snyder, who lives in the Village, said.
This time around, instead of hiding the actual canvasses around the Village, Snyder will have wooden discs, about a few inches wide, throughout.
That way, when a disc is discovered, they can bring it back to Snyder’s booth where he’ll give them the actual work.
Clues can be purchased at Snyder’s booth ($10 for one; $15 for two). His booth will be located just near the water fountain on State Street.
The hunt will take place in the Village from Coast Highway 101 to Jefferson Street and Beech to Oak avenues.
One of his favorite places to hide art pieces is the fountain at State Street, though because his booth will be next to it, it’s unlikely any of the wooden discs will be hidden there this time, he explained.
Trees are fodder for hiding spaces too, he warned.
“They won’t be visible, but you’ll be able to get to them,” he said of the discs. “So you won’t have to climb necessarily up in a tree, because not everyone can climb a tree; it won’t be on roofs. You’ll have access to every one,” he said.
Yet after 10 years of working to introduce art and culture to the community, Snyder said it’s been in the past two or three years that the goal he’s reached for is getting accomplished.
“I set out to do some things in the community related to art and culture and also helping local businesses. I feel like the art and culture is now at a point where it’s promoting the local business community, and people are really embracing it,” he said.
“It’s not done,” he said. “It can always get better and so I won’t stop.”
Snyder has a vision for the next 10 years at least, which includes large-scale mural projects that fill the walls of Carlsbad.
Beyond leaving original works around the community, Snyder is also leaving behind a legacy of sorts dedicated to the arts.
“When I’m gone I want my art, my ideas to carry on, and so I share my ideas through the Doodles, the drip paintings, through my writing…that’s real important to me — to pretty much any artist — to be remembered,” Snyder said.
