Art will be rotated by the artists every month until the property is leased

ATASCADERO — Zoya Lopata Dixon and Sam Lopata, siblings and visual artists, have temporarily placed their art in a vacant commercial property located at 6090 El Camino Real, Suite A, in the heart of Downtown Atascadero. The 160-square-foot space now holds two pieces created by the artists: “ENTROPY” and “CONSTANTS,” two large-scale abstract pieces, each measuring 36 inches x 72 inches high.

This art pop-up is temporarily installed to bring vibrancy to vacant commercial spaces, and to gather public interest in the arts and local artists. Art will be rotated by the artists every month or so until the property is leased. 

“This was such a win-win, for both us as artists and for Z Villages Real Estate — we get to use this empty space and have an art pop-up, and Z Villages gets to bring attention to a downtown vacancy,” said Lopota Dixon. “I am so truly grateful for this opportunity, and I hope it can lead to a longer working relationship and more opportunities.”

“ENTROPY” and “CONSTANTS” were created with Sam Lopata’s graffiti handwriting and the abstract sand stacks that have become the signature style of Zoya Lopata Dixon. The artistic process involved the procurement of a compelling question which was answered by a large language model, after which Sam hand-wrote the background with that content. Zoya then designed, traced, and painted abstract shapes onto the piece; sand was sifted over the wet shapes, then allowed to dry. After an additional coat of paint and or varnish, the work is complete. These works are still available for purchase on ZoyaDixon.com

6090 El Camino Real, Suite A, is located within the Block Shops development in downtown Atascadero across from the Carlton Hotel. The Block Shops project was built in 2021 by Z Villages Real Estate and the buildings were created using seven shipping containers that were repurposed to bring a unique experiential retail center to flourishing Downtown Atascadero. The other businesses within the Block Shops project are Ancient Owl Beer Garden and Negranti Creamery.

Though they grew up less than two miles apart in Chicago, Zoya and Sam first met in 2021, after the passing of their father, Daniel.

Feature Image: The artists’ location at 6090 El Camino Real, Suite A, in the heart of Downtown Atascadero, is part of the Block Shops project, consisting of building made from repurposed shipping containers. Photo by Kateryna Shyshlenko