Carl Baldwin didn’t hesitate when choosing Chinatown as the new home for the Velveteria when the museum moved from Portland, Oregon six years ago.
- Chinatown museum home to one of biggest collections of velvet art in the U.S.
- Owner Carl Baldwin relocated museum from Portland six years ago
- One-of-a-kind museum currently struggling to stay afloat
“Chinatown is a magical place in Los Angeles. And it ought be thought of that way more,” said Baldwin.
The museum is located on New High Street and when visitors behind the pink velvet curtain, they enter into a wondrous world full of velvet paintings. From the great musicians, dead or alive, crying clowns by artists like Ce Ce Rodriguez, and animals that look almost real when painted in velvet.
Baldwin knows a lot about velvet art. He launched Velveteria along with partner Caren Anderson in Portland back in 2005. The success led to press that caught the attention of Anthony Bourdain and The Tonight Show.
Now, Baldwin runs the museum by himself. Each day is a struggle to stay afloat with the high rent prices and lack of visitors. There are curious people who walk in, but then don’t want to pay the $10 fee.
“Okay, alright. Well, come back…when you get some money,” Baldwin says as another man walks out the door.
Baldwin says he needs at least 30 guests a day to stay in business.
“I’m just one man alone, doing this all by myself. I don’t have big corporate supporter dollars or government tax dollars paying for this. So if you believe in an individual prowess and seeing something cool, come in to see me.”
Today, Elizabeth and Bill showed up at the end of the day. They are great fans of velvet art and also like to do thing out of the ordinary. When I asked them how velvet paintings made them feel, they both replied at the same time-
“Joy,” said Elizabeth.
“Makes me feel fuzzy,” said Bill.
But for Baldwin he hopes you feel more than that.
“You can come out feeling good about the world, about life, after you’ve been here,” he said.
Velveteria is located at 711 New High Street, in Chinatown. The museum is open Wednesday through Monday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.