The Candy Factory

...was an old loft building where I lived for nearly a decade in downtown San Diego. It was a place of inspiration and creativity for all who lived there... the place just had a certain energy...someone once called it, "the magic of the Candy Factory."

But almost overnight, the Candy Factory went from a sleepy little bohemian painters loft, to a hotbed of contraversy when the San Diego Padres baseball team decided to put their stadium in, and bulldoze the Candy Factory. I did my first political posters called, "Preserve Neighborhood Character... Vote No on Proposition C."

The posters were surprisingly popular amongst people on the other side of the issue. I wanted to present my case through art, not argument, and it worked. Alot of people unwittingly helped my cause.

One newspaper reporter from the Union Tribune, Gerry Braun, told me I was wasting my time fighting the ballpark because it was a done deal. However, he told me, "those are the most beautiful political posters I have ever seen, and I must have one for my office. He showed up at my loft the next day to get one, and it has hung in his office ever since. Even Larry Lucchino, then part owner of the team was a good sport.

The media was camped out for months, live shot antennas on every block... helicopters whooring out the window; it was nearly impossible to walk down the street without being interviewed. I would try to have a fresh prepared statement everyday just in case....

Once when Gene Cubbison of NBC/7 asked how I felt about the ballpark project, I said, "It reminds me of the old VietNam war mentality; "you've got to bomb the village in order to save it." He lit up cheerfully and said, Oh, I like it, we can lead the 5:00 news with that!"

It was eventually decided that the Candy Factory would be saved, and it was moved a block away.