SANTA MONICA, Calif. — We all need a little extra holiday cheer this year and Downtown Santa Monica is going the extra mile to make that happen. The 3rd Street Promenade will be decked out with more lights, trees, and ornaments than ever before, even featuring a new project where local artists hand-make whimsical window displays.

What You Need To Know

  • Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade will be decked out in lights, trees, and ornaments this holiday season

  • Local artists have been enlisted to contribute to the display, which is branded as "Winterlit"

  • Artists are being compensated for their work, a welcome relief amid the economic woes of the pandemic

  • The displays will be visible through January 3

One paper sculptor, Jeff Nishinaka transforms white pieces of paper into magical artistic creations. It takes skill, imagination, and patience.

“I spent a week and a half, two weeks cutting everything out,” said Nishinaka.

He hand-draws and hand-cuts every detail. Then he assembles each piece to make the beautiful creations come to life.

“I love the texture of paper and the feel of it. I think it is a unique challenge to take something completely flat and make it appear to be 3D,” said Nishinaka.

He is currently working in a former Forever 21 store on the 3rd Street Promenade, spending days installing his larger than life holiday window display. Many stores have closed either before the pandemic or because of it, but now Nishinaka is helping bring light to the once dark space.

“It’s whimsical and will hopefully help take your mind off the reality of the way that things are,” said Nishinaka.

This project is part of a greater plan to bring joy this holiday season on the Promenade. Marketing and Communications Manager of Downtown Santa Monica Inc. Kevin Herrera says they knew this year would be very different and wanted to do whatever they could to keep the spirit alive.

“The idea was to take our holiday decor up a notch, so we went with holiday galore. Everywhere, decor galore. More lights and more trees,” said Herrera.

Not only is Santa Monica giving back to the public, this program is also supporting the arts. Eleven local artists, like Nishinaka, were employed to create these window displays and are actually getting compensated through funding. This is important during a time when many are struggling to make ends meet.

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“If we can provide some relief to our artists, our creative community, we are all for it. We have a wealth of talent here and we want to support that,” said Herrera.

Nishinaka is grateful to be recognized, hoping his reindeer flying through a snowy scene will positively impact just one person walking by and bring a little bit of hope.

“Maybe something to look forward to in the future, like you know it is going to get better. Period,” said Nishinaka.

 


The Winterlit displays will up until January 3rd.