Banker's Block Collective: The Tin Can Alehouse

Thursday's Banker's Block Collective, and the monthly Colour Palette, showcase the Tin Can Alehouse's dynamism as an art gallery, local music venue, and dance spot. Owner Kelsey Allyn Breunig, Sarah Yassine and Bryan Wingen give us the scoop on this week's poppin' promo party!

his Thursday night, Banker’s Hill will be spiffing up and greeting San Diegans for Banker’s Block Collective, a block party spanning four businesses and a slew of artists and djs. The Tin Can Alehouse, SRO Lounge, Broken Heart Tattoo and JG Color Studios will all hold event specials for the big night. “We think of Banker’s Hill as roughly between the area around Barrio Star on up to the area around Caliph,” says Jen Guerin, one of the founders of the event. Banker’s Hill, formally recognized between Upas, Date Street, the 5 freeway, and Little Italy, known originally for being an affluent residential neighborhood thus earning its name. It is currently turning into an independent commercial center comparable to the nearby uptown neighborhoods that, too, had for many years been considered up-and-coming.

Banker's Block Collective: A Visit To JG Color Studios

Artist/Interior Designer Jennifer Guerin and Artist Charles Page gear up to establish Banker's Hill as an artistic hot-spot with politically-charged work in LOVEKILL, for the inaugural run of the Banker's Block Collective.

nside JG Color Studios is a warm, ochre light flowing in from the gold-soaked streets of Banker’s Hill in the afternoon. The illuminated room, walls covered in panels of different finishes and colors to show JG’s interior wall surface options, is energetic and clearly in preparation of an exhibition installation. Canvases rest on ledges and on the floor. One waits for more work in an easel. A duct-taped form of a woman’s chest and arms sits at the foot of a large table where paintings with encaustic surface-work gleam in the late day sun. Jen Guerin, who launched Ox and Olive and was a contestant of HGTV’s Design Star program, hands me a Banker’s Block flyer. She and artist Charles Page have just returned from flyering the neighborhood. Banker’s Block, kicking off this Thursday, August 19th, will be a seasonal collective event, started by Guerin and Page, showcasing artistry and promoting the businesses in Banker’s Hill.