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Featured artists+partners include (updated regularly so check back often!)

Brandon Coleman grew up in South Central, cultivating a thirst for jazz with his brother, andrecently birthed a distinctly Los Angeleno flavor of piano jazz wizardry meets gospel soul meets Prince-esque funk vibes on his release “Resistance.”   Brandon’s unique sound and aesthetic represent the eclectic and diverse sonic textures of Los Angeles both past and present.   A regular fixture in the scene with Donald Glover and Kamasi Washington’s band, as a wizard on the keys or wielding his keytar, he is sometimes introduced onstage at gigs as “Professor Boogie” by his longtime friends and collaborators.  Already back in the studio working on his follow up record and recently having contributed to Flying Lotus’ forthcoming release, Brandon Coleman’s voice in the Los Angeles music scene is here to stay. “Resistance” – released September 14th, 2018 via Brainfeeder – represents a new chapter in the funk dynasty that spans George Clinton / Parliament Funkadelic and Zapp through to Dr. Dre, DJ Quik and Dam-Funk as the Los Angeles resident salutes his musical heroes – Herbie Hancock, Peter Frampton, Roger Troutman – and honors their ethos of freedom and experimentation in his search for funk’s future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Born and raised in Leimert Park, the center of the Black arts scene in Los Angeles, Slim Jeff grew up heavily influenced by his parents’ eclectic music collection. During live performances he is accompanied by a three piece hip-hop band and supporting vocalist. Slim Jeff is currently working on his full length debut album  Palm Village.

 

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FLASH THEATRE by Playwrights Arena, the first and oldest, theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing and producing new works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights. FLASH THEATER L.A. was created in response to young audiences who are not interested in being confined to a schedule, a dark theater, and not have the ability to post on social media what they are witnessing as it is happening. These FLASH THEATER events are designed to be immersive, physical, and vocal — using dance, music and text to convert a simple story in 15 minutes or less. Past local playwrights who have written FLASH THEATER pieces include: Boni B. Alvarez, Alison dela Cruz, Evelina Fernandez, Tony Foster, Jose Cruz Gonzalez, Velina Hasu Houston, Tom Jacobson, Donald Jolly, Jennifer Maisel, Michael Kearns, Lucy J. Kim, Annette Lee, Leon Martell, Laurel Ollstein, Henry Ong, Michael Premsrirat, Janine Salinas Schoenberg, Gene Franklin Smith, and Bernardo Solano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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KPCC In Person presents “Unheard LA” —the live programming, events, and engagement platform for NPR affiliate KPCC, Southern California Public Radio (SCPR)— produces the community-centered storytelling series “Unheard LA.” This project puts community voices and stories center stage in a series of free live shows in different venues around the sprawling and too-often disconnected greater Los Angeles area. Each show is unique and features a distinct lineup of real people sharing personal and authentic accounts as a way to explore the complexity, diversity, and nuance of the region. As an organization, SCPR is committed to better reflecting the people and communities of Southern California through its in-depth public service journalism. “Unheard LA” echoes SCPR’s mission to strengthen the civic and cultural bonds that unite our diverse communities by serving as a catalyst for connection for those that call Southern California home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Viver Brasil, a Los Angeles based company founded in 1997 under the artistic direction of Linda Yudin and Luiz Badaró, captivates audiences with its irrepressible blend of bold Afro-Brazilian dance theater and exuberant physicality, power, and passion drawn from orixa movement and rhythms, samba, forró, dança afro and bloco afro styles. The dancers unveil history, ignite the present, imagine and inflame the future. Vocalists become part of the action and musicians take polyrhythms to new heights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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No)one Art House is a movement based collective reshaping the way audiences consume contemporary dance. Co-founded by 4 LA natives, No)one has presented and programmed educational and unconventional perforamances throughout the LA area. No)one has collaborated with artists and institutions such as Solange Knowles/SAINT HERON, The Getty Museum, MOCA, Refinery 29, and Hauser & Wirth to name a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Department of Cultural Affairs presents The Big Read. This program in LA will host an interactive workshop, Place It!, led by urban planner James Rojas. Inspired by this year’s Big Read title, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears,by Dinaw Mengestu, this dynamic and participatory experience will explore topics such as memory, place, and where we come from and where we settle. Using found objects, such as pipe cleaners, building blocks and hair rollers, Angelenos will construct a model of Los Angeles that considers issues such as belonging and home. The workshop uses model-building, storytelling, art making, and play to build community. People of all ages will better understand their physical and emotional connection to our shared built environment. All ages are welcome. This is an highly participatory and creative fun experience.

James Rojas has developed an innovative public-engagement and community-visioning method that uses art-making as its medium. Through this method he has engaged thousands of people by facilitating over four hundred workshops and building over fifty interactive models around the world – from the streets of New York and San Francisco, to Mexico, Canada, Europe, and South America. He has collaborated with municipalities, non-profits, community groups, educational institutions, and museums, to engage, educate, and empower the public on transportation, housing, open space, and health issues.

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Children’s Film Showcase

This collection of gorgeously animated and crisp live-action shorts films from rising Los Angeles filmmakers tell stories about kids who go on journeys and solve mysteries, finding out how to soar above their fears and doubts. Along the way, they learn important lessons about how to find balance, appreciate their families, and share their gifts with others

Just Breathe

dir. Julie Bayer Salzman

This non-scripted short doc features kids speaking candidly about anger and how they use breathing techniques to cope.  “Just Breathe” is the quickest lesson on mindful meditation you’ll ever get, by the youngest teachers you’ll ever have.

 

Every Star

dir. Yawen Zhen

A mysterious boy from nature collects stars and sends them to every child lives in the city, who is unable to see the stars through the foggy sky.

 

Noir

dir. Soyeon Kim

A black crow searches for its identity, trying to escape the perception that it is something other than a beautiful and intelligent bird.

 

The Light and the Little Girl

dir. Guy Pooles

A young girl finds herself entranced by a beam of light moving through her empty house, and decides to capture it.

Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/99509955

 

Tale of a Seed

dir. Yawen Zheng

The story is about a journey of a little boy who found a golden seed in the woods and left home to find a place to buy it, so that it could grow. During the journey, he learned about the world, and what’s more, felt the growth of his own heart.

 

Shoot for the Moon

dir. Lauren Hoekstra

At summer camp, a girl realizes a dream when she gets to design a rocket. But her delight is dampened when her sister excludes her from her circle of older friends. Until the girl’s rocket finally flies, and her sister and friends take notice.

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=X-ipad6AT88

 

Mr. and Mrs. Kim

dir. Jaehung Chang

An imaginative fourth-grader whose lies come to life must deal with the consequences when he claims his parents are North Korean spies.

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD6q1qJd90c

 

The Magic Shoes

dir. Sahand Nikouker

After moving to Los Angeles in 1992, a nine-year-old Iranian boy wants to impress his new classmates with a pair of Air Jordan basketball shoes, thinking they will make him fly like Michael Jordan!

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARb8hhU-3yQ

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Jardín Del Arte

The Annenberg Center of Photography Presents PHOTOVILLE LA 

For the first time in its 8-year history, PHOTOVILLE – New York City’s premier photo festival is coming to LA! Annenberg Space for Photography Presents PHOTOVILLE LA, created and produced by United Photo Industries, will feature exhibitions in repurposed shipping containers, photo cubes, and lightboxes that will create a festival atmosphere with multiple galleries for Angelenos to explore. The festival will run from April 26 through to May 5. The Los Angeles based artists featured in this ongoing series of portraits have helped shape art, education, and public space in our city. They have impacted not only my understanding of my personal trajectory through art school but also my role as a current educator and its implications.

Lluvia Higuera (“Present Future – Willing a Dialogue”) is a graduate of Art Center College of Design, Photography Program (2005). She works as a freelance photographer and art educator, teaching in museums and non-profit arts organizations. She has led workshops and classes in the education departments of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Latin American Art, Norton Simon, Hammer Museum, ArtworxLA and others. Her independent experience in arts education, coupled with her practice-based photographic research, has helped her define her thoughts on art and its pedagogy to act on new questions about public life and the role of art in community well-being. She also has made a long-standing commitment to individuals and groups that have little access to health care by teaching restorative forms of yoga and art to help them gain physical and mental well-being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Residency Gallery

Devon Tsuno is a Los Angeles native, and has exhibited locally and nationally. His recent abstract paintings, social-practice projects, arts books, and print installations focus on the LA watershed, water use, and native versus non-native vegetation. His long-term interest in bodies of water in the LA area has been central to his collaborations with the Department of Cultural Affairs, Theodore Payne Foundation, grantLOVE Project, and Occidental College.

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Devin B. Johnson works with the traditional media of painting as well as sculpture but finds reconciliation with the fast-paced internet-driven, digital age of contemporary art. While honoring the toils of the black diaspora in the millennial age we live, Johnson’s paintings explore ideologies that sprout from his early childhood growing up in an African-American household through the 90’s, images that focus on shifting old dialogues into new conversations. He finds beauty and relation to themes and objects that delicately fit in a natural context. He takes from the surrounding urban and natural world and repurposes materials by placing them back in a narrative which suggests human interference in passing and going. Based on a connection to a spiritual plain and romantic intimacy, Johnson’s approach hones in on the resourcefulness of blackness and the ability to materialize out of very little. He evokes emotion through gestural movement of the material, color as well as the visual and smell senses.

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Born and raised in Southern California, Jaimie Milner discovered photography through a high school elective. After high school, Milner attended the University of Southern California and received her Bachelors in Communication. In her studies at USC, she learned about the portrayal of race, gender and sexuality in the media and the effects it has on our society. It was then she realized she could have a direct influence on how people saw themselves and each other. Milner combined this new found knowledge and her love for the art of photography to capture the essence and stories of a people and their individual characteristics. Milner uses photographic portraiture as her primary medium by which she aspires to capture, empower and inspire the human spirit.

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Kya Lou’s practice is steeped in the roles of photography, colour grading, sculpture, video, audio, and performance. As a queer artist of color, her work questions relationships between social, political and cultural histories. Her study is concerned with the existence of folk as branches without roots, and that makes things come round in queer ways.

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Lyndon Barrois Jr. is an artist and educator. He is primarily interested in constructed realities, material economies, and marginal histories that surround race and representation. Lyndon received his MFA from Washington University in St. Louis as a Chancellor’s Graduate Fellow (2013), and his BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (2006). He has served as an adjunct faculty member in drawing and design at Washington University in St. Louis, and Webster University, respectively. He is a former Museum Educator at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and a Hashinger Hall Artist-in-Residence at the University of Kansas. He is half of the arts collaborative LAB:D, and a founding member of the artist co-op Monaco.

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Maria Maea is interested in direct action and remembering how to utilize space. Her works range from performance and sound art to kinetic installation. Her art is imbued with a sense of magic and ritual, with yellow masks made from her own face hanging from orange tree branches, altars made of earth, fire and mirrors. Her work is about existing as a feminine body within the oppressive structures that seek to limit her magical lens on the world. Community plays an important role in Maea’s life both inside and outside of her work. “There are radical ways in which we can care for each other and our city outside of the structures that tell us there is only room for one,” she asserts. In other words: “Bitch, you don’t wait in line to start a revolution.”

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Noah Humes was born and raised in Mid-City, Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Otis College of Art and Design with a BFA in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Illustration. Noah explores and revisits the convergence of experience, memory, history and expression. Within these happenings he shares his thoughts and interpretation on political and social issues that occur throughout the world around him. He paints sports heroes, friends, family members, celebrities etc. who all of which share personal moments with him as they are recreated through his visual language. Portraiture is a large portion of Noah’s work as they are executed with vibrant, confident, expressive and free techniques. As he reminisces on those experiences and memories, Noah recreates new moments that are destined to live within the canvas.

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Noé Olivas is a Southern California-based artist. Through print making, sculpture, and performance, he investigates the poetics of labor. He considers the relationship between labor as it fits into the conceptions of femininity and masculinity in order to play with and reshape cultural references, narratives, myths, traditions, and objects, ultimately employing a new meaning. Olivas received his BA in Visual Arts from the University of San Diego in 2013 and is currently an MFA candidate at University of Southern California. He lives and works in South Central, Los Angeles, CA.

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Born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Patrick Martinez’s L.A. suburban upbringing and his diverse cultural background (Filipino, Mexican and Native American), provided him with a unique lens through which he interprets his surroundings. Influenced by the Hip Hop movement, Martinez cultivated his art practice through graffiti, which later led him to the Art Center College of Design, where he earned a BFA in 2005. Through his facility with a wide variety of media, Martinez colorfully scrutinizes otherwise everyday realities of suburban and urban life in L.A. with humor, sensitivity and wit.

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Ramiro Gomez was born in 1986 in San Bernardino, California to undocumented Mexican immigrant parents who have since become US citizens. He briefly attended the California Institute for the Arts before leaving to take work as a live-in nanny with a West Hollywood family, an experience that did much to inform his subsequent artistic practice. Gomez’s work is known for addressing issues of immigration and making visible the “invisible” labor forces that keep the pools, homes, and gardens of Los Angeles in such pristine condition.

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Eyeone is an artist and graphic designer based in Los Angeles. His work is rooted in graffiti, printmaking, photography, and punk rock. Often focusing on isolated objects and individuals, his art reflects on themes of alienation, survival, melancholy, resistance, and the myriad experiences encountered while navigating the chaos of contemporary urban environments. Eyeone co-curated and was a featured artist in the SCRATCH exhibition at ESMoA in conjunction with The Getty. Eyeone also co-curated and is featured artist in the Getty Research Institute’s L.A. Liber Amicorumblackbook project, now part of their permanent rare books collection. His work has recently been included in L.A. Heat and Dreams Deferred at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles and in the Pasadena Museum of California Art as part of their Street Cred exhibition.

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In his intricate paintings, Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers) re-imagines 18th century colonial history, conjuring a fictional cast of subjects within his own original on-going narrative that includes a rebel fighting force of freed slaves, militiamen, dikes, lords, and tribesmen. Two Feathers paints ink and acrylic scenes onto coffee and tea stained paper, detailing coloniel uprisings against the imaginary superpowers Frengland and Fenoscandia. His images contain a mashup of historical and cultural references combining elements of 18th and 19th century colonel portraiture and folk art with visual signifiers of contemporary urban culture, including jewelry and body art associated with present-day gangsters and hipsters. Two Feathers wryly points to the instability of public histories and confronts issues of race, power, and greed.

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Molcajete Dominguero

Luis Octavio (Co-Founder​ ​Molcajete Dominguero and ​Host ​of​ ​Nos​ ​Vemos​ ​en​ ​el​ ​SwapMeet) is a queer Latinx entrepreneur born in Mexico City and raised in Santa Ana, CA where he became passionate about his Mexican roots and culture. Con los huaraches puestos, Luis began his career in experiential marketing, and twenty years later has been able to take his expertise into different fields. He is founder of @Mercado_LA, an online shop incorporating traditional Mexican items into everyday apparel. His latest venture is CalChonies, an underwear line created for queer Latinx millennials of all body types and genders. Trying to meet the online needs of the queer Latinx community, Luis began La Jota App allowing for users to engage and send queer themed stickers through texts. His passion to uplift his community led Luis to become co-founder of Molcajete Dominguero, a monthly Latinx pop-up shop. After this huge success, Luis has co-founded the Molcajete Dominguero Tienda, a space dedicated to the Latinx community, hosting several events, workshops, and of course shopping. A few years ago, Luis began his podcasting career as co-creator of Tamarindo Podcast, and served as co-host for the first 60 episodes. Now, you can catch Luis on his podcast @NosVemosEnElSwapMeet where he keeps you up to date on the latest chisme.

Gladys Vasquez (Co-Founder​ ​Molcajete Dominguero and Owner of @G.Soto_Designs) was born in Tepic, Nayarit and raised in Boyle Heights, L.A. As a child her dream was to become a cartoonist, and at the age of 11 her love for the arts and crafts began. After working for a manufacturing company as an office manager for several years, she decided to go back to school to get her degree in accounting. Since then, she’s been an accountant for about nine years. A chingona at heart, Gladys founded @G.Soto_Designs to empower Latinas through her designs and apparel. Soon after, she began her “The Chingona Box” subscription, bringing together Latina brand creators of all type. Her passion for her community led her to become co-founder of Molcajete Dominguero, a monthly Latinx pop-up shop. After this huge success, Gladys has co-founded the Molcajete Dominguero Tienda, a space dedicated for the Latinx community, hosting several events, workshops, and of course shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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asian mamas working in the arts is a collective of femme and non-binary panasian art workers building cultural and political relationships in our community. Our goal is to build power by using art, education, and organizing to build solidarity, decenter whiteness, and celebrate our dynamic and layered identities. for this program, we are inviting femme and non-binary panasian artists living and working in los angeles, to lead workshops for intergenerational audiences. through these workshops, we can facilitate dialogue and engagement around wellness, relationship to body, and relationship to other. as femme and non-binary panasian peoples, we carry our diasporic histories and lived experiences with us and these workshops seeks to guide participants through their own weights by grounding us kinetically. in addition to leading free workshops, we will be selling art pieces including but not limited to handmade zines, handmade jewelry, buttons, postcards, and small photographs that will be priced between $2-$50.

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Featured artists+partners include (updated regularly so check back often!)

• Brandon Coleman
• Slim Jeff
• Department of Cultural Affairs presents The Big Read
• FLASH THEATRE by Playwrights Arena
  • Jon Lawrence Rivera, Artistic Director
  • Fran de Leon, director
  • Mark Seldis, director
  • Ashley Steed, director
• KPCC In Person presents “Unheard LA”
  • Jon Cohn, co-producer/director
  • Bruce Lemon
  • Stephanie Sajor
  • Eddy M. Gana Jr.
  • Cheryl Farrell
  • Irene Sanchez
  • Bryan Kett
  • Mike Sonksen
  • October B.L.U.
  • Matt Sedillo
  • Kristina Wong
• Viver Brasil
  • Linda Yudin, artistic director
  • Natalie Marrero, executive director
  • Luiz Badaró, co-artistic director
  • Vera Passos, choreographer
  • Shelby Williams-Gonzalez, choreographer
• No) One Arthouse
  • Christopher Bordenave, co-founder
  • Alyse Rockett
  • Brandon Mathis
  • Samantha Spense
  • Amaria Nicole
  • Kevin Zambrano
• Dance Film Showcase, curated by Sarah Elgart
  • Aidan Carberry
  • Benjamin Millipied
  • Jacob Jonas
  • Ryan Heffington
  • Katherine Helen Fisher
  • Lauren Machen
  • August Thurmer
  • Benjamin Shearn
  • Kitty McNamee
  • Mimi Cave
  • Carolyn DiLoreto
  • Megan Lawson
• Children’s Film Showcase, curated by Elizabeth Shepard
  • Sahand Nikoukar
  • Jaehuen Chung
  • Lauren Hoekstra
  • Guy Pooles
  • Soyeon Kim
  • Yawen Kheng
  • Julie Bayer Salzman

Jardin del Arte:

• The Annenberg Center of Photography Presents PHOTOVILLE LA
  • Lluvia Higuera
• Residency Gallery, curated by Ricky Brandon Garzon
  • Devin Tsuno
  • Devon B. Johnson
  • Eric Soublet
  • Jamie Milner
  • Kya Lou
  • Lyndon Barrois
  • Maria Maea
  • Noah  Humes
  • Noe Olivas
  • Patrick  Martinez
  • Ramiro Gomez
  • Raymundo T.  Reynoso (Eyeone)
  • Umar Rashid (Frohawk TwoFeathers)
• Molcajete Dominguero
  • Ahliyah Crafts
  • Arte Tonatiuh
  • ChilOSO Gummy Bear
  • Balam Creations
  • Calaveras y Chingaderas
  • Confetti Fiesta
  • Fabiola Co.
  • Soto Designs
  • Gentle Riot
  • Gladis Alejandre
  • Glamlindo Artesania
  • Happy Organics
  • Hey Puppy
  • Kimmys Bowtique
  • Knock Knock…Quien?
  • La Casa de Frida Los Angeles
  • La Catrina Folk Art
  • La Vela Creations
  • Malinalli Art You Can Wear
  • Manny’s Snack Factory
  • Mercado El Catrin
  • Nectar Azul
  • Olivia’s Heritage
  • Original Miche Sauce
  • Picante Primo
  • Piece of Cake by Angie
  • Randy Jurado Ertill
  • Sabukana
  • Savia Guate
  • Sol de Cobre
  • Style Los Angeles
  • Sweet Angel Creations
  • That Crafty Liz
  • The Movement
  • Urban Woods
  • XiCali
  • Xti’ Artisan
  • Yai’s Naturals
• asian mamas working in the arts (amwa)
  • Jasmine Lin
  • Sara Chao
  • Michelle Sui
  • Seo Yun Son
  • Cat Yang
  • Brenda Chi
  • Joey Scher
  • Eunsoo Jeong
  • Bianca Nozaki Nasser

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