Angel City Culture Quest

What is remarkable about Karina is her independent spirit, which has served as her guide both in her career decisions and in how she relates to and emboldens those around her.

Soulspired, released in September, is inspired by COVID times, grief, love and new beginnings. Karina has said her aim is to share a message of renewal and hope — and to remind her listeners how important our lives are, how much our time matters. and how much we can make a difference when we are inspired by our soul.

Watch Karina's video American Dream from Soulspired here:

https://youtu.be/Pv0d7hk0FO8

• Website: www.Karinanistal.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/karinanistal
• Facebook.com/karinanistalmusic

Elana Mann has presented her work in museums, galleries, and public spaces in the U.S. and globally.

She has received numerous awards, including an International Artist-In-Residence at Artpace San Antonio, the California Community Foundation Artist Fellowship, the Stone & DeGuire Contemporary Art Award, the COLA Individual Artist Fellowship, and she was the inaugural artist-in-residence at Pitzer College's ceramics department. Elana received her B.F.A. with honors from Washington University in St. Louis, and her M.F.A from California Institute of the Arts.

Indeed, Elana has accomplished so much; one look at her website is testament to this. One can spend hours absorbing it — from her projects, writings, videos and poetry to her thoughts on social justice, and the power and agency we have as people. In exploring her site, my initial thought was that Mann could be an educator.

Getting to her artwork, within most of it there’s an element of sound. Yet, as a younger artist, Mann said this was confusing to her when she was in grad school. Then a connection revealed itself. It was her Jewish culture.

Elana's links plus an article in The Forward

View the exhibition Unprotected here: https://epoch.gallery/

Elana Mann, The Forward: https://elanamann.com/press/can-noisemaker-rattle-world-out-its-complacency-elana-mann%E2%80%99s-activist-art-mixture-politics-and

https://elanamann.com

www.instagram.com/elanamamma

IMAGE CREDITS:

Elana Mann by Josh Caffrey.

Change Rattle image by Monica Orozco

In celebration of its 20th anniversary season, we'll look at the ways CalArts Center for New Performance - or CNP - has been an incubator for testing, developing and producing artistic projects, and what Travis calls a truly different paradigm for creating professional work.

And We'll speak with Octavio about Scene With Cranes and his process in writing it, including the varied symbols that cranes represent and even an unexpected master class from one of the leads in this production.

CalArts is one of the preeminent theater training grounds in the country, designed to educate the whole person and to prepare fully equipped theater artists to transform the field.

Scene With Cranes is part of a project of Duende CalArts, an initiative of the Center for New Performance - or CNP - dedicated to developing and producing innovative work emerging from Latinx and Latin American communities and sources. Established in 2009 by Marissa Chibás, Duende CalArts develops adventurous projects at CNP that aim to expand aesthetic boundaries and performance discourse, and advance multilingual works.

The play will have a short run from September 29 to October 1, at REDCAT in downtown Los Angeles. And the program will include a pre-show talk with playwright Octavio Solis in conversation with director Chi-wang Ya(a)ng on Saturday, October 1st at 7:30 PM.

Creative Team

Director: Chi-wang Yang
Playwright: Octavio Solis
Scenic Designer: Efren Delgadillo Jr.
Lighting Designer: Christopher Akerlind
Costume Designer: Edurne Fernandez
Sound Designer: Cristian Amigo

Marissa Chibás, Lourdes
Emilio Garcia-Sanchez, Angel
Stacia Marcum, Ruby
Isaias Alexander Miranda, Nico
Angela Rosado, Letty
Hilario Saavedra, Ramiro
Tony Sancho, Lieutenant David Leyva
Hannah Trujillo, Yolie

PERFORMANCES
September 29 at 8:30pm
September 30 at 8:30pm
October 1 at 8:30pm
REDCAT, Los Angeles

ARTIST TALK
Join us October 1 at 7:30pm for a pre-show conversation with playwright Octavio Solis and director Chi-wang Yang.

TICKETS for "Scene With Cranes" are now on sale here.

https://centerfornewperformance.org/projects/scene-with-cranes/

K Ryan Henisey brings years of experience in the arts and premium/luxury retail to fine art management and curation with Artlounge Collective. Ryan is an award-winning artist and recent recipient of a public arts grant from the city of West Hollywood. His fine art has appeared throughout California and in locations that include international galleries and museums. Ryan previously worked for major cruise lines, overseeing product management and publication for a half-billion dollar segment of the global tour industry, among other notable accolades. Until very recently, Ryan was the president of TAG Gallery in Los Angeles.

And in May of this year, he opened Artlounge Collective in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles.

Ryan brings an edifying, inclusive and pragmatic approach in working with the artists in Artlounge Collective. He said Artlounge chooses all the artists and there are many factors in that but most important to Ryan is making sure that Artlounge is keeping the quality of the artwork even across the board.

~ https://artlounge.co/ ~

Hello everybody and welcome to ACCQ. Today we have an exciting show. We’re speaking with Holly M. Crawford, who is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Director of Adult Public Programs, Education & Public Programs

— But you will quickly discover why I call Holly M. LACMAs Director of Fun, Joy and Creativity.

Today, we will discuss the projects Holly M. brings to the public at LACMA, in terms of education and programming, and connecting those programs to the diverse Los Angeles audience.

And later, we will discuss LACMAs exciting exhibition Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse, including several of the programs that the museum is offering in conjunction with the exhibition.

First, some details about our guest.

Holly M. who uses They/Them pronouns is an artist and educator who is passionate about reimagining museums as sites for healing, connection, and creative invention.

In Their role at LACMA, Holly develops and implements programs that inspire joy and invite learners to expand their understanding of themselves and the world.

Previously, Holly M. was the Director of Education at ESMoA, where they coordinated the Mychal’s/ESMoA Internship program, a paid internship designed to introduce adults with developmental disabilities to future career opportunities in the arts and culture sector.

Holly M. attended the Maryland Institute College of Art for graduate school receiving an M.A. in Community Arts, and relocated to Los Angeles to learn about murals and public art.

They maintain an independent art and curatorial practice and have exhibited work at leiminspace, Los Angeles; The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, The Main Museum, and The Maryland Institute College of Art. Holly M. is also the Founder & Artistic Director of The Nomadic Werewolf Museum where play and collaboration come together to tell stories about werewolves.

Holly M. said what drives Them to be in museums: they can be magical places that transport you … and seeing to it that people experience joy when they go to these institutions.

Holly M.'s origin story presents insight into the very special work they do in terms of making museums welcoming spaces and bringing that joy to them.

Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse runs to October 9th.

Find the first THREE videos in the 8th R.L. Shep Triennial Symposium” in conjunction with Lee Alexander McQueen Mind, Mythos, Muse below.

https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/lee-alexander-mcqueen

https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/lee-alexander-mcqueen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOSnPw1T2A4&t=2s

~ Find out more about Holly M. Crawford and Their work at:

IG @hollym.crawford and @hollymcrawfordstudio

What is the definition of a working artist?

Nancy is a poet, educator, and community organizer. She has co-founded a handful of arts organizations, including the Long Beach Literary Arts Center and briefly ran a social justice-based literary press.

As an organizer, she has produced innumerable arts events, including writing workshops, public readings and arts festivals. She is also the creator of Surprise the Line, a community poetry workshop.

Writing from an eco-feminist perspective, her poetry is largely inspired by the magic and power of the natural world. Nancy has received fellowships from PEN America, Arts Council for Long Beach, and Idyllwild Writers Week.

Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro serves as one of the cultural hubs as part of the Artists At Work initiative, as it hosts both Nancy and artist Taylor Griffith for year-long artist residencies.

The ARTISTS AT WORK program is inspired by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, or WPA

It was designed to give artists resources to continue to produce work during the COVID crisis, but also, to build new structures and partnerships to help sustain the creative sector in a post-pandemic America.

The goals of Artists At Work are to give artists a living wage to support their work and to put that work into the public sphere for free, to connect artists and cultural organizations to local initiatives in areas like youth mental health, suicide prevention, food justice, prison reform, youth at risk and other civic engagements to foster healthy communities.

Links:

• www.nancylyneewoo.com
• Artists At Work
• The Office Performing Arts and Film
• www.sbcc.community

Jana Opincariu is an award winning artist with paintings recognized across the southwest and paintings that have found their home around the globe. She creates surreal and fantastical images of human bodies, objects and animals. As a painter, she strives to exemplify what it means to become vulnerable and romanticize it. She does this by creating hyper-realistic portraits of people, creatures and bodies, illustrating lucid dreams and making delicate surreal images that demonstrate the lust and chaos we face in day to day life.

In February, Jana won Best of Show and Most Meaningful artwork for her painting Fuck Vegas of the "Sensuality in ART 2022” show at Hellada Gallery.

In her artist statement Jana said, “I imagine that there is no break from my creations and I am my creations and my creations are me. Therefore, every piece I do is a self-portrait.”

Daniel Kathalynas is an award-winning international artist. He works in painting, three dimensional art, sculptural wall hanging, hand-painted animation, music, and symbolic use of materials, 2D rendering, filmmaking and stop motion animation.

In December 2021, his film Flowering won 2nd place at the Santa Fe 3-minute Film Festival.

Daniel’s method begins in a silent-mind meditation then he allows the first higher thought that enters his mind to forge the direction of the artwork.

Currently, Daniel is traveling across the country and filming short videos called The Roaming Artist – American Odyssey where he discusses his inspirational process, the beauty of national landmarks, local culture and live painting.

The first Totem took place in Albuquerque at Factory on 5th in September, 2019. It was such a success they decided to bring it to Hellada in Long Beach.

Dark Totem is about power imagery: such as animals, elements, or, representative of humans' higher aspect, or, walking into the new realm.

Dark Totem brings dark themes and is not as light hearted. It's emotional, with undertones of the original Totem, including images of humans, animals and delicate things. Attendees will also see some of the artwork from the original Totem.

https://www.janaopincariuart.com/

and https://danielkathalynas.com/

Pedro Kos Co-Director

His latest documentary feature film, REBEL HEARTS, which he directed, wrote and edited premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was released worldwide by Discovery+ in summer of 2021.

Prior to that he wrote and produced a Netflix Original Documentary THE GREAT HACK by Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for a BAFTA award.

His feature directorial debut BENDING THE ARC (co-directed with Kief Davidson) premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Previously, Pedro has edited several award winning and award nominated films, including THE SQUARE, which earned him an Emmy Award for Best Editing for a Non-Fiction program, among others. Pedro is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and he received his B.A. in Theater Directing from Yale University.

Lead Me Home is a co-production of Netflix and Actual Films, and produced by Bonni Cohen, Serin Marshall and Richard Berge. And I'm happy to announce that it will screen at the Warner Grand Theatre, in San Pedro, on March 20th.

In Lead Me Home, Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk filmed the daily lives of more than two dozen subjects over three years. This method allows the viewer to almost be with the subject, to understand from their perspective. That is largely what makes the film so vital - as it sheds urgent light on these individuals' circumstances.

Lead Me Home trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moekzAxXe0o

Today we are speaking with artist Jana Opincariu, who lives in San Pedro. I was introduced to Jana’s work in June of 2020, at her solo exhibition, Meditations in Solidarity, a collection of paintings created during the pandemic at Hellada Gallery in Long Beach. A striking exhibit, it featured works from Jana’s Black Series, her Beautiful Grotesque series and other works — all of which demanded unremitting attention.

Hyper-realistic is just one way to describe this young artist's work. Jana creates images of human bodies, objects and animals that are surreal and fantastical—and some with macabre undertones.

Jana originally studied to become a medical lab scientist but decided to follow her true passion: art. She graduated with a dual bachelor’s in art history and studio art from University of New Mexico, with a focus on ancient Latin American art and European art through the centuries. Jana works in photography, printmaking and lithography but her passion is painting.

She finds inspiration from her studies of Spanish and Italian Baroque, her travels, nature, and her dreams.

Jana has shown in multiple cities across the Southwest and the Pacific coast. Her breakout show, Totem, a September 2019 collaboration with internationally known artist, Daniel Kathalynas, at the Factory on 5th in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Jana’s other recent exhibitions include:
Intro to Black and Gold: A Series in Conversation solo show, Albuquerque Press Club January 2020
Black and Gold I: with TWO separate solo shows, Boxing Bear and Tractory Brewery in Albuquerque February-April 2020
Art in Sensuality 2021: Group Show, Hellada Gallery, Long Beach, February 2021 and 2022
The Harper 420 Golf Invitational Art Exhibition: Group Show, San Pedro, pop up April, 2021

Terence Toy started spinning house tracks in the early 80s, back when the genre was progressing through major east coast cities with velocity. The late New York house DJ David Bryant was a mentor to Terence and turned him on to the deep, funky sound of the underground scene. Bryant’s perceptive advice to Terence was, “to be really successful in this business, these are the grooves to play.” Terence never looked back.

To the benefit of his audience, Terence brings to his turntables his experience as a trained musician. He’s a skilled drummer, he reads music and was a member of his high school band. He understands music theory and is an expert at reconstructing verses, bridges and breaks. Terence is also an accomplished composer and producer of house music, including deep house, R&B house, gospel house, Afro-Cuban rhythms and Afro-tech.

His roots embody the styles of New Jersey swing to the Miami sound to Chicago warehouse; the beats and tempos speak to him. Soulful-vocal-house and straight-ahead jazz have always moved him equally.

Click the links below to listen to the tracks we played on our episode with Terence, plus a few more including Terence's musical response to George Floyd and the story about it.

http://www.terencetoy.com/

• https://soundcloud.com/terencetoy/i-want-you-ill-atmospherics-seeks-refuge-afro-latin-house-mix?si=ebce5c48cbff4b1aac39c875bf2042c8&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
• https://soundcloud.com/terencetoy/terence-toy-feat-louis-hale-lets-get-jousey-isr-remix
• https://soundcloud.com/terencetoy-music/terence-toy-love-is-losing
• https://soundcloud.com/terencetoy/shot-of-your-love-illatmospherices-seeks-refuge-remix?si=ebce5c48cbff4b1aac39c875bf2042c8&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
• https://soundcloud.com/terencetoy/thinkgeorge-floyd
  https://www.randomlengthsnews.com/archives/2020/06/26/think-george-floyd/28993