This week: commit to diversifying architecture; hear from Imaginary Forces designer Karin Fong; snap up Disney memorabilia, learn about the making of afroLAtinidad: mi casa, my city; join Big City Forum for stories that move and Matthew Rolston on the power of pleasure, in photography.
Photo: SoCalNOMA (The National Organization of Minority Architects, Southern California Chapter)1) SoCalNOMA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Challenge!
The built environment affects us all, yet less than 2% of architects are African American (Black people make up approximately 9% of the population of Los Angeles County). There are a number of reasons for this, from lack of early education about architecture, which is historically aimed at the wealthy, to challenges within the profession itself. The Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCalNOMA) is working hard to rectify the imbalance.
They have launched a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Challenge (DEI Challenge). It calls on architecture, engineering and construction firms to voluntarily diversify their firms, through metrics, accountability, and actionable responses. This week, SoCalNOMA is hosting a Zoom webinar to explain the initiative in more depth, in the event you plan to enroll your firm in the challenge. Read more about the initiative here. Check out this DnA story about Paul Revere Williams for more on the historic challenges facing Black architects.
When: Thursday, July 29, 5:30 pm
Where: You can connect with the Zoom webinar here.
Cost: Free
Karin Fong will talk about what excites her design sensibilities. Photo courtesy of ArtCenter College of Design2) ArtCenter Designer Lecture: Karin Fong
ArtCenter College of Design has great teachers who give fascinating lectures that are very hard to attend in normal circumstances due to the challenge of getting to the school on on a weekday night by car. Now the talks are beamed direct to you, via the school's webinar Designer Lecture Series, hosted by Gloria Kondrup, Executive Director, Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography and Sean Adams, Chair, of Graphic Design. This Wednesday, catch Karin Fong, Emmy Award-winning director and a founding member of Imaginary Forces, famed for its work in film titles, television, gaming, and advertising. See her team's much-lauded title design for the Apple TV+ series, SEE (above). She will talk with faculty director Ming Tai about finding inspiration in everything from surrealism to Schoolhouse Rock.
Find more about the upcoming talks and YouTube videos of past talks, here.
When: Wednesday, July 29, 1 pm
Where: You can connect with the Zoom webinar here.
Cost: Free
Photo: La Plaza de Cultura y Artes3) When Community Creates Exhibitions: The Making of afroLAtinidad: mi casa, my city
LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes' in downtown Los Angeles is currently displaying the exhibition afroLAtinidad: mi casa, my city. Sadly the physical doors are closed but you can hear from the creators of the show about the culture, artifacts and lived experiences of Afro-Latinx Angelenos. The emphasis will be on the community's role in creating the exhibition. Hear from curator Mariah Berlanga-Shevchuk, adviser La Mikia Castillo, lender Janelle Hartley, and assistant curator/project manager Esperanza Sanchez.
When: Wednesday, July 29, 7 pm
Where: Zoom connection information provided with registration. You can register here.
Cost: Free
4) Disneyland: The First 65 Years Collectibles Auction
Disneyland turned 65 without fanfare on July 17, 2020. The park gates are still closed, but if you need a Disney Park fix, consider taking home a piece of one. 1000 artifacts from Disney Parks, including park-used vehicles, an original mock-up for the Pirates of the Caribbean guidebook and Disney Legend Milt Albright's original 1955 cast member no. 10 metal ID badge, will be auctioned off by Van Eaton Galleries. Van Eaton is typically a brick and mortar gallery in Sherman Oaks that specializes in Disney memorabilia. "Disneyland: The First 65 Years" is a large online exhibit and two-day auction telling the history of Disneyland and Walt Disney World through rare props, signage, costumes, vintage souvenirs, attraction posters, and much more.
When: Viewing open now through August 14. Auction takes place August 15, 16.
Where: Van Eaton Galleries online. Connect here.
Cost: No entry fee.
5) Art and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Big City Festival on Instagram/The Power of Pleasure webinar
Big City Festival "Stories that Move"
Big City Forum, founded by Leonardo Bravo, has spend several years working to facilitate community transformation and reshape narratives about public and social space, through the exchange of ideas between artists, culture makers, and social justice activists.
Big City Festival-Stories that Move isa three-day conversation, live-streamed on Instagram, "documenting the human experience of our time." From Friday, July 31, to Sunday, August 2, hear from designer Bianca Nozaki-Nasser, poet Natalie Patterson and actorChristopher Rivas about the role of art in addressing the pandemic and systemic social injustice. Rounding out the series will be live DJ performances by Bruja Prieta and Baby Bruise in Mexico City.
When: Friday - Sunday, July 31 - Aug 2, 2 - 3 pm, plus a Sunday after-party 4 - 6 pm
Where: Instagram Live@BigCityForum
Cost: Free
The Power of Pleasure: Decoding the Art of Visual Seduction with Matthew Rolston
Acclaimed photographer Matthew Rolston will host a webinar benefit for the Los Angeles Center of Photography, The topic is The Power of Pleasure, and it is based on Rolston's ArtCenter College of Design masterclass, updated to address the values of fashion and fashion communication in the current social landscape diversity, equity, inclusion, financial hardship. How do you "square these realities against fashion’s exclusionary nature?" There is a way, says Rolston.
When: Saturday, August 1st, 10 - 11:30am.
Where: Zoom. Click here for information and to sign up.
Cost: Tickets are $45 and all proceeds go to LACP.
Photo by Matthew Rolston.
Cyndi Lauper, Headdress, Los Angeles, 1986
, from the series “Hollywood Royale” (Courtesy Fahey/Klein, Los Angeles)