In 2018, East LA master artist Ofelia Esparza was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation's highest honor for folk and traditional arts. In this video tribute, Ofelia shares the history and practice of altar-making.
In 2018, Bay Area master artist Marion Coleman was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation's highest honor for folk and traditional arts. In this video tribute, Marion shares the history and practice of African-American quilting.
Arts-In-Corrections teaching artist & Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis Rodriguez leads his students from trauma to transformation through the art of writing.
ACTA developed this rehabilitative arts program at CCI to support inmates transitioning out of long-term solitary confinement to general population housing. Art and music provide a pathway towards positive transformation and mental health in the lives of participants.
Reimagining the traditional son 'El Colas,' participants composed new versos reflecting the need for universal access to health care and the importance of balancing this with the riches of traditional remedies practiced in Boyle Heights.
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts has served as a key protagonist in lifting up traditional artists and their cultural convening methods as important vehicles for exercising and sustaining opposition to injustice and proposition for a collective future.
The Community Leadership Project in collaboration with ACTA worked to provide grants and capacity development to seven organizations in the San Joaquin Valley over the course of 7 years.
Video teaser of the SoCCA (Sounds of César Chávez Avenue) - Mobile Recording Studio project. SoCCA documents the Past, Present and Future of the Great Street of E. César Chávez Avenue in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.
Current: LA & Community Services Unlimited teamed up for the first ever public art bi-ennial focused on the theme of water.
The Come Together is a non-profit organization based in East LA whose main focus is to work with youth in high risk situations through educational seminars.
Collective Songwriting has its roots in the Zapatista movement and is currently being used as a tool to create collective consciousness in the Boyle Heights community.
Arts in Corrections participants bloom where they are planted through arts programming that includes storytelling, music, gospel choir, and acting. These men demonstrate moving stories of resilience and humanity.
ACTA held a 14-week series of workshops in the Eastern Coachella Valley in which participants engaged in community dialogue while learning traditional Purépecha embroidery from the town of Ocumichu, Michoacan.
In December, fellow filmmaker Eric Coleman and I had the opportunity to film the first round of intensive art workshops at Corcoran State Prison. This video offers a peek into the intentional process of building trust and a collective, supportive environment that inspires creativity & confidence.
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) held a series of events that culminated with an afternoon of participatory arts engagement focused on the pressing issues of gentrification in Boyle Heights. actaonline.org
It was an honor to document the ways in which the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) and the California Endowment worked with several community organizations and artists in Boyle Heights over a two-year period to infuse their existing campaigns with traditional arts practices. actaonline.org
An in-depth look at what the International Baccalaureate Exhibition Project is comprised of as told through Farmdale Elementary teachers, mentors, and students.
Community Services Unlimited is getting ready to open South LA's First Beyond Organic Produce and Grocery Market. They have several ways for you to get involved in the healthy food justice movement. csuinc.org
Fellow filmmaker Kimberly Bautista invited me to work on this piece as part of a 16 Day Campaign of Activism to end gender-based violence. To learn more about how to get involved visit: www.justiceformysister.com
After participating in Echo Parenting & Education parenting classes and Parent Educator Certification Program, I was eager to share this knowledge with everyone. Former Director of Programming, Brian Joseph, and I developed a series of Video Blogs to encourage and support parents in our attempt to increase peaceful parenting.
The Anti-Mall is another one of my favorite alternative marketplaces. Their mission is to provide a space where ARTivists, Cooperatives, and Entrepreneurs that are actively involved in the betterment of their communities can sell their goods and services directly to the consumer.
This video documents the unincorporated East LA community’s exploration into the feasibility of Community Land Trusts on public and privately owned land as a strategy to create permanent, sustainable, healthy, inclusive, stable and community controlled neighborhoods.