Edward Tessier
Edward Tessier is a noted real estate developer, artist, and cultural force in the Claremont/Pomona, California area as well as the Inland Empire music scene. (Claremont and Pomona are part of the larger Los Angeles metro area of Southern California, also known as the Inland Empire). Tessier is a profile in courage and success despite the obstacles he has faced, and along with his family has contributed greatly to a burgeoning cultural renaissance in Pomona from the 1990s to the present.
He was born October 13, 1967 in Pomona, California to Victor and Catherine Tessier and attended Damien High School in La Verne. During the summer of his sophomore year at Damien he was paralyzed from the waist down after an accident at the beach, but still went on to graduate from Damien as well as later on Pomona College in Claremont where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He was well known on the campus for his handicapped-rights oriented political activism, including founding the Claremont Colleges' first disabled rights organization, Students for Handicapped Awareness and Personal Equality.
After graduation he formed his own real estate consultancy, Designs for Independence, and participated in handicapped rights protests in Washington D.C. He was awarded an honorarium from visiting Pope John Paul II at Dodger Stadium in 1992. In 1994 he was narrowly defeated by the Republican incumbent after a campaign to become a member of the House of Representatives for his district. Later in 1998 he was awarded the first Inspirational Young Alumni Award by Pomona College at their inaugural event.
Tessier's family has long been involved with the rehabilitation of The Downtown Pomona, California area, where in 1990 he helped develop and open the Haven gallery and then expanded that into the Pomona Arts Colony, a successful and thriving cultural center for the city which includes numerous galleries, loft spaces, dining and music/art venues. His ACTIVE invention and promotion of the Pomona Arts Colony concept redeveloped many stagnating buildings in the area and contributed to a growing cultural renaissance in Pomona which now includes galleries such as the dA Gallery and the Bunny Gunner Gallery, the Glasshouse music venue, and the rehabilitation into loft space of the building which once housed the ProgresS Bulletin newspaper (a well known Inland Empire fixture which now goes by the Daily Bulletin name). Their latest contributions include the re-opening of the Fox Theater, a once-famous (in the 1950's) music and film theater which had seen its share of celebrity studded movie premieres in the past but which had fallen into disuse the 1980s. Now the Fox Theater Pomona is a venue associated with the Goldenvoice music booking agency and sees national and international touring acts visiting Pomona for the first time in years, including well-known acts such as Morrissey, Sonic Youth, and Wilco among others. Tessier himself enjoys music as well, having played the role of vocalist and songwriter in several local alt rock bands such as the Undertoad, which released three songs on a compilation of Inland Empire bands called The Big Balloon Theory. Tessier is also an avid published author.
With the contribution of his sister Victoria Tessier (involved with the Pomona Unified School District), and in partnership with his brother Gerald Tessier (who runs the day to day business of the family), the family's Arteco Partners and Jeved Management firms have contributed to the community in many lasting and valuable ways. 2007 saw the reopening of Claremont's Padua Hills Theater, the development of lofts in Ontario, as well as the debut of the Packinghouse venue in the new Claremont Village Expansion area which turned a building once used for packing lemons and oranges in the early 1900's into a commercial venue that includes the Claremont Museum of Art and the Hip Kitty Jazz and Fondue venue. They have also played a major part in the opening of the School of Arts and Enterprise/School of Fine Arts in Pomona, an accredited magnet school for Inland Empire high school students who want to focus on the arts.
For Tessier to have accomplished so much despite the challenges he faced is remarkable. There are numerous cites from local papers and the like which offer greater detail regarding all of the contributions to Pomona and the Inland Empire that the Tessiers and Edward in particular have made.