The Van Nuys native says he started taking people on personalized tours across the San Fernando Valley in 2019 as part of his school project at the California Institute of the Arts.
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"I was just running with it you know and kind of trusting my gut," said Hernandez. "It could have been the type of project where I took some photographs and did some writing, but for some reason, I felt compelled to drive people around in my car."
But Hernandez says he never anticipated the valley tours to be transformed into an exhibit. The 24-year-old artist says he is one of 39 artists who will have his project displayed at the Hammer Museum's free exhibition, "Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living" on Oct. 1 in Westwood.
"He told us about the Valley Tours. We were really impressed and thrilled," said Pablo Jose Ramirez, curator of "Made in L.A. 2023."
"Vincent's project is in the exhibition and you can see the map that he created that marks different points of interest in Valley and then, visitors are able to sign up and enter into a raffle to win a tour," said Diana Nawi, curator of "Made in L.A. 2023."
Hernandez says the tours run from Oct. 14 to Dec. 30. One winner will be selected from the raffle each week to go on a five-hour tour that ventures from Sylmar all the way down to Studio City.
Hernandez says people will have the opportunity to learn about iconic and historic sites throughout the valley. From the neighborhood tortoise down the street to the Van Nuys Airport and the Great Wall of Los Angeles. That's just a small glimpse of the places people can expect to see on the tour.
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"It's a real mixture of things like history that's underneath your nose or the restaurant inside of a corner plaza," Hernandez said.
And if you're wondering about the steep price of gas, Hernandez has a stipend from the museum to help him out.
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