Art Rise
May 7 - May 31
Art Rise, part of the WE RISE initiative of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, is a series of 18 outdoor art installations and 3 special projects in 14 locations, created in collaboration with museums, cultural institutions and artists. Each work in the series uses the power of art toward collective wellbeing, health and connectedness. Taking place across five neighborhoods (Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire, Leimert Park, South Central) and intended to be experienced as a whole, the installations are designed to be COVID-safe with socially-distanced viewing, and are easily accessible by foot, car or Metro.
Newly Added One-Time Activities
Creating the Compassionate City
A conversation among arts and social change practitioners produced in conjunction with Los Angeles Poverty Department’s Art Rise performance, organized by MOCA. The performance, The New Compassionate Downtown, imagines an inclusive downtown that people are proud to be a part of because of the ethos and practices of concern for the well-being of everyone and a commitment to prevent and alleviate everyone’s suffering. Panelists: Karen Mack, Charles Porter, and Jeremy Liu
Creating our Next LA Virtual Celebration: Meet the Artists
LA Commons designed a series of art installations as a part of Art Rise that specifically focus on South LA, in the communities of Exposition Park, Hyde Park, Leimert Park, and Willowbrook. Meet the artists at this online celebration: Dominique Moody (artist), S. Pearl Sharp (poet), Halline Overby (photographer), and more.
Their Body Became (An Offering) with veronique d’entremont and Laur Lewis Neal
In a queering of the Catholic “ex novoto” tradition, where symbols of body parts can be used as offerings that evoke gratitude or desire for healing, Laur Lewis Neal will lead participants in a ritual, accessible and open to all, that centers queer and trans bodies. Participants will be guided through a practice of letting go; offering up parts of themselves that no longer serve them so that healing can enter the new space left behind. This ritual acknowledges the transformative act of relinquishing ownership, infusing generosity and gratitude into the objects, identities or traumas we choose to release.
Crenshaw Dairy Mart: Patrisse Cullors and Waunette Cullors
The Crenshaw Dairy Mart along with MOCA has prepared a series of fireside chats with Abolitionists and Farmers, centering the intersections of abolitionist praxis, farming practices, and food justice within the lineage of FREE THE LAND. Patrisse Cullors and Waunette Cullors will speak to the intersections of Abolition as a theory and practice, and Food Justice as a theory and practice.
Pakook koy Peshaax (The Sun Enters the Earth and Leaves the Earth) Meet the Artists and Sundial Portraits with Megan Dorame and iris yirei hu
For WE RISE 2021, Julia Bogany (Tongva), poet Megan Dorame (Tongva), and artist iris yirei hu have constructed a human sundial artwork titled Pakook koy Peshaax (The Sun Enters the Earth and Leaves the Earth) at Los Angeles State Historic Park. To interact with the sundial, visitors stand upon a platform in the daytime and their cast shadows tell time. We invite you to meet the artists iris yirei hu and Megan Dorame, interact with the sundial, and receive a photo portrait with this ephemeral environmental artwork inspired by ancient practices.
Only Light Can Do That: Mental Well-Being, Connection, and Healing in Neon
LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes large-scale neon mural installation exhibition by multimedia artist Patrick Martinez, Only Light Can Do That, 2021, is comprised of more than twenty-five bilingual neon signs that address the plight and resilience of essential workers in Los Angeles. Join on Zoom and Facebook Live for a conversation with the artist, along with LA Plaza senior curator Karen Crews Hendon; Susana Smith Bautista, Ph.D. director and chief curator, AltaMed Art Collection; and Sandra Pisano, PsyD, Director of the Behavioral Health Department at AltaMed Health Services Corp.
The Power of Resilience: Meditation for Freedom and Change with Justin Michael Williams
Motivational speaker Justin Michael Williams, a pioneering millennial voice for diversity and inclusion in wellness, works at the intersection of social justice, mindfulness and personal growth to give audiences practical tools to transform their lives and overcome uncertainty. The interactive 60-minute session will share how viewers can break their own fears and take charge of their mental health. The session is appropriate for all ages and for beginner and experienced meditators alike.
Crenshaw Dairy Mart: Jamiah Hargins and Richie Reseda
The Crenshaw Dairy Mart along with MOCA has prepared a series of fireside chats with Abolitionists and Farmers, centering the intersections of abolitionist praxis, farming practices, and food justice within the lineage of FREE THE LAND. Richie Reseda and Jamiah Hargins will speak to the intersections of Abolition as a theory and practice, and Food Justice and Micro-farming as a theory and practice.
Los Angeles Poverty Department: Performance 1
Downtown LA has long been marketed as a night-life destination. Los Angeles Poverty Department’s The New Compassionate Downtown, dares to imagine alternative marketing that draws people to Downtown who value the wisdom and compassionate practice exemplified by Skid Row residents and workers. The performance is set at a meeting of The New Compassionate Downtown, a diverse group of people living and working in all parts of Downtown who embrace building a community of compassion.
Los Angeles Poverty Department: Performance 2
Downtown LA has long been marketed as a night-life destination. Los Angeles Poverty Department’s The New Compassionate Downtown, dares to imagine alternative marketing that draws people to Downtown who value the wisdom and compassionate practice exemplified by Skid Row residents and workers. The performance is set at a meeting of The New Compassionate Downtown, a diverse group of people living and working in all parts of Downtown who embrace building a community of compassion.
Social Sparks: A conversation about celebrating resilience and fortifying communities through art with Tanya Aguiñiga
Celebration Spectrum artist Tanya Aguiñiga engages in dialogue with curator Mark “Frosty” McNeill of dublab for an exploration of how art can serve as a powerful vehicle for healing and joyful expression. The duo will give a curatorial overview of their Celebration Spectrum installation and discuss how community-focused creative programs can support the public’s wellbeing through reflections of their own innate strengths.
Audible Identities: A dialog and music listening session about expressing personal heritage through sound
dublab’s Mark “Frosty” McNeill moderates a conversation with dublab DJs Anna Luisa Petrisko, Maral and Xandão as they discuss how to harness the power of celebratory music to bond and bring healing in times of challenge. The artists will reflect on their deep personal connections with music and how it represents their distinct heritages and interconnections within Los Angeles’ diverse ethnic diasporas, including feel-good Filipino sounds spanning space and time, the sounds of Persian springtime renewal and Central American Cumbia Sonidera culture, plus much more.
Month-Long Installations
Pansa del Publico
Both a sculptural object and functional beehive oven, Pansa del Publico is inspired by the artist’s Salvadoran roots, the Zanja Madre aqueduct and the Ceiba tree.
Jason
Jason seeks to subvert the dominant language in digital technology, which excludes the artist’s Korean name, “Jisoo.”
Creating Our Next LA
This project aims to make visible the power of art to express healing, connection, and community by tapping into the creativity of artists and their ability to spark community conversations. Artist Dominique Moody will work with associate artists and youth groups through story-telling circles to create a series of laser-cut metal silhouettes representative of the story-tellers. The sculptures will be placed in four sites in South LA, where the participants reside, and live on to continue the impact of visibility, healing, and wellness.
The Mind’s Eye: A LACMA Poster Project
LACMA is commissioning a series of works from five different artists to be displayed in vinyl on the construction fence along Wilshire Boulevard. The posters aim to destigmatize and celebrate neuro-atypical individuals and celebrate the infinite creative potential of the human mind.
Their Body Became (an Antenna, Transmitting the Message of God)
Atop a hill in the Los Angeles State Historic Park, artist veronique d’entremont will create an installation that relates to the artist’s on-going work with honeybees as a path toward healing.
Pakook koy Peshaax (The Sun Enters the Earth and Leaves the Earth)
Julia Bogany (Tongva), poet Megan Dorame (Tongva), and artist iris yirei hu have constructed a human sundial entitled Pakook koy Peshaax (The Sun Enters the Earth and Leaves the Earth) at The Los Angeles State Historic Park.
Only Light Can Do That
Artist Patrick Martinez transforms LA Plaza’s building as part of WE RISE 2021 into a monumental neon mural with social-political messages addressing the plight and resilience of essential workers in Los Angeles.
The New Compassionate Downtown
Los Angeles Poverty Department’s The New Compassionate Downtown dares to imagine a downtown that attracts people who value the wisdom and compassionate practice exemplified by Skid Row workers and residents.
abolitionist pod (prototype)
abolitionist pod is a community garden in the form of a geodesic dome, and is the first prototype for a design the group hopes to implement across Los Angeles.
Sed (Thirst)
Sed, developed by REDCAT, is a series of sixteen sound works by artists Dorian Wood and Carmina Escobar that connect and engage the various Art Rise sites across Los Angeles.
Celebration Spectrum
Celebration Spectrum is a month-long public art installation produced by dublab, in collaboration with artist Tanya Aguiñiga and curator Mark “Frosty” McNeill.
Vendedores en Acción
This short documentary follows six street vendors from the coalition Venedores en Accíon, VEA (Vendors in Action).
Joy & Resilience
Self Help Graphics & Art’s (SHG) Youth Committee uses reflections shared during SHG’s Wellness Wednesday sessions as inspiration for a new mural about stories of healing during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Los Angeles, I hope u know how loved u are
The art collective Classroom of Compassion explores the role memorializing has in coping with grief creating a floral altar monument—created by photos and stories submitted by the community—to remember the many Angelenos lost as a result of the virus, and in particular those from Latinx communities that have been disproportionately affected.
Sakkan Eku LA
In this textured, mixed-media mural, artist Gisela McDaniel conducted interviews with individuals whose experiences with violence shed light on the injustices and inequities that the pandemic has exacerbated. McDaniel recorded their stories, and created a soundscape that accompanies a major public mural of her collaborators in Downtown LA. The mural and accompanying sound work highlight various experiences of healing, and remind us that there will be vibrant lives to live after this moment.
domingo
This moveable social sculpture has been created out of a 1967 Chevrolet step-van and has been repurposed as a rolling space for art and healing.
