Community Arts Resources (CARS) Events
Director of Production, Events & Festivals
Develop and curate arts & cultural public programming for all ages, including educational workshops, multidisciplinary community festivals, lecture series, and online virtual events.
Oversee and manage all production-related matters from conception to execution for each project including working with artists and third-party vendors, negotiating fees and scope of work, obtaining permits from city agencies, and creating production schedules.
Create & manage project budgets and timelines, contracts, and project reports
Manage a team of three full-time staff and twenty freelance staff members
TRANSCENDIENTS COMMUNITY CELEBRATION
On March 7th, 2020 The Japanese American National Museum, in collaboration with artist Taiji Terasaki, presented the Transcendients Community Celebration: Challenging Borders produced by Community Arts Resources. This free one-day event explored the visible and invisible borders in our world through music, dance, art, speaker series, and interactive activities.
New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thahn Nguyen delivered the keynote speech on transcending the borders from the perspective of an immigrant, a refuge, and a writer with a bicultural identity. In addition, a selection of the Heroes being honored in Taiji Terasaki's groundbreaking Transcendients: Heroes at Borders exhibition joined in the curated speaker series with facilitated conversations exploring transcending their respective borders.
KCRW Good Food Host Evan Kleiman joined with " Gangsta Gardener" Ron Finley and Executive Director of Inclusive Action for the City, Rudy Espinoza for a conversation on challenging the borders of food in Los Angeles. Aziza Hasan, the Executive Director of NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change discussed challenging the borders of human rights in Los Angeles. Additionally, John Malpede, performance artist and founder of the Los Angeles Poverty Development discussed art and activism. Interactive workshops focused on joint activities and exercises such as communal weaving, memory crafting, and letter writing to individuals detained at the Mexican/American border to help people in immigration detention centers cope with isolation and stress.
This celebration included free entry to Taiji Terasaki's masterful exhibition, amplifying the themes of his work that honored heroes from Los Angeles and across the nation who are fighting against discrimination, prejudice, and inequality at our physical and social borders.
Viet Thanh Nguyen - "Transcendients Community Celebration: Challenging Borders" Keynote Speech
ICE BREAKERS HOLIDAY MUSIC SERIES
CARS produced, curated, and marketed an 11-week musical series hosted by ICE, the annual ice skating rink in Downtown Santa Monica and presented by The Plaza at Santa Monica. Featuring 22 different musical groups ranging from OZOKids (Ozomatli's acclaimed original children's music set) to fifty local students in the Santa Monica Youth Orchestra, this free and family-friendly event became an overnight holiday favorite. Other notable groups presented by CARS included multiple Grammy-award winner Daniel Ho, Mostly Kosher, Mariachi Las Colibri, Phranc, and Las Cafeteras. CARS researched, procured and set up an outdoor stage with sound and lighting for the series and worked closely with Downtown Santa Monica as well as The Plaza to develop a traditional as well as social media marketing campaign for the series.
The Times They Are A-Changin' - The Folk Experience
MEET ON BEACH
On Sunday, November 17th, 2019, Meet on Beach event-goers participated in a day filled with free fun for the whole family and experienced seven Orange County cities like never before. From the hills of La Habra, down to the ocean at Huntington Beach, the event featured 1.5 miles of open streets, bike and pedestrian-friendly activities, live performances, food, giveaways, and much more at seven pop-up sites along or nearby Beach Boulevard.
As part of the economic revitalization efforts of the Renew Beach Boulevard Coalition, this multi-city reimagining celebration sought to transform historic State Route 39 into a more walkable and bikeable active street for a day. The event encourages participants to:
· Move more and eat healthy along the Coyote Creek Bikeway in La Habra
· Walk, bike, skate or scoot along 1.5 miles of car-free streets connecting Knott's Berry Farm's Independence Hall in Buena Park and the West Anaheim Youth Center
· Participate in hands-on workshops at Stanton's Walkable Streets Lab
· Ride the bike skills course with Garden Grove's Police Department
· Bike over to Westminster's Civic Center for active and healthy fun
· Cruise over to Huntington Beach's Party on the Beach
Meet on Beach was presented by Go Human and the Southern California Association of Governments; and produced by Community Arts Resources; in association with the cities of La Habra, Buena Park, Anaheim, Stanton, Garden Grove, Westminster, and Huntington Beach.
Meet on Beach November 17th!
