Love My Neighbor®: December 2018

Saturday, December 15, 2018

We Are Awarded The Grant from California Arts Council!

Press Release

　Contact: Olga Vlasova classicalunderground@yahoo.com (310) 710 - 7845
　
Date: December 15, 2018

Artward Initiative Awarded California Arts Council "Cultural Pathways" Grant

State funds support arts programs rooted in communities of color, recent immigrant and refugee communities, or tribal groups

[Carson, CA] – The California Arts Council announced its plans to award $8,400 to Artward Initiative as part of its Cultural Pathways program.

The Cultural Pathways program is rooted in the California Arts Council’s commitment to serving the needs of an increasingly demographically complex California, and the belief that a healthy arts ecosystem reflects contributions from all of California’s diverse populations. The program provides two years of operating support and a host of technical assistance and professional development activities to small, new and emerging organizations rooted in communities of color, recent immigrant and refugee communities, and tribal or indigenous groups.

　

Artward Initiative supports culturally engaged projects, public art and social interaction programs in underserved communities of color that promote cultural diversity and change the perception of the community through art. Our goal is to focus on art and culture as tool of community turn-around. Our projects include organizing and promotion of free and low cost classical music concerts that reach out to people of all backgrounds to ensure classical music is accessible to all. We conduct "Love My Neighbor" free public art projects in the disadvantaged communities in the City of Carson and established a non-profit "Artward! Gallery at "Scottsdale" neighborhood. We provide free art consultation and education to youth at risk as part of our art outreach and Gang Diversion program. We provide local minority groups with free art education programs.

"With the critical support of CAC Pathway grant Artward Initiative will be able to substantially advance the organizational capacity for our Love My Neighbor project. We now will be able to expand our programing by deeper engaging our program partners. We will be able to bring our program to new audiences in need and to bring new participants into our program. We will substantially increas our ability to provide the program and critical reliability of our planing by the ability to hire additional staff," said Artward Initiative President Olga Vlasova.

Artward Initiative is one of 56 grantees chosen for the Cultural Pathways program. The award was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council.

"California’s cultural diversity is its greatest creative asset," said Nashormeh Lindo, California Arts Council Chair. "We are proud to support the work of Artward Initiative in celebration of that unique and cherished identity."

To view a complete listing of all Cultural Pathways grantees, visit http://arts.ca.gov/programs/files/FY1718_ProjectDescriptions_CP.pdf.

　

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Artward Initiative is formed to strengthen Southern California local communities through its charitable cultural activities. Our goal is to provide the economically disadvantage people and indigents in the local communities with improvement of professional skills and other educational resources they may need. Our events and projects are centered around community development and revitalization, enhance community's quality of life through art, cultural and educational projects. We support projects, public art and social action programs in underserved communities of color that promote cultural diversity and encourage greater understanding among different cultures including community beautification, civic leadership, citizen education as well as arts education initiatives that contribute to the positive development of young people and young people at risk. We support public art and social action programs that reflect our goals and focus on art as a tool of community turn-around.

The mission of the California Arts Council, a state agency, is to advance California through the arts and creativity. The Council is committed to building public will and resources for the arts; fostering accessible arts initiatives that reflect contributions from all of California's diverse populations; serving as a thought leader and champion for the arts; and providing effective and relevant programs and services.

Members of the California Arts Council include: Chair Nashormeh Lindo, Vice Chair Larry Baza, Phoebe Beasley, Christopher Coppola, Juan Devis, Kathleen Gallegos, Jaime Galli, Donn K. Harris, Louise McGuinness, Steven Oliver, and Rosalind Wyman. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.

Monday, December 3, 2018

LOVE MY NEIGHBOR Goes International!

Love My Neighbor has officially marked its place in the international cultural map as it took part in the Artists for the World 2018 Omai Goodness Tour 7^th International Convention “Puerto Rico” – a high profile international art conference in support of Puerto Rico recovery effort that was held in November 5-12, 2018.

Alexey Steele was invited along with representative of the City of Carson Idris Al-Oboudi to participate in The World 2018 Omai Goodness Tour 7th International Convention "Puerto Rico" as part of the group of international artists and activists representing 27 countries. Alexey and Idris shared their Carson experience and knowledge on using art as social action and as a tool of community turn around with the “Love My Neighbor” public art project.

Alexey Steele’s Carson public art project theme and tittle “Love My Neighbor” was selected as the theme and title of the joint mural that was completed by a group of leading international mural painters participating in the conference to show solidarity by the international art community with the heroic effort of Puerto Rico people overcoming the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The joint “Love My Neighbor” mural was completed and presented during the conference in the hard hit by the disaster rural Cayey province of Puerto Rico. Alexey Steele had designed the central section of the mural and directed its execution.

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"MY NEIGHBORS: Capturing the Soul of America's Diverse City" a series by Alexey Steele

There is a lot of adversity to overcome in today’s world. For me the answer to many difficult questions that we presented with daily is in the simple principle "Love My Neighbor".

Loving one’s neighbor is the foundational building block in the moral fiber of our society. I make my case with ongoing "My Neighbors Series" a collection of portrayals of the people around me in our City of Carson.

Carson is a great city, statistically one of the most diverse in the nation, a community most closely reflecting our World. Carson is great because of its people and the diversity is its most important asset.

I was honored to be awarded The City of Carson Cultural Arts Commission grant for 2015/16 and then again for 2016/17 to continue working on "My Neighbors Series" in collaboration with the City of Carson.

I was also honored to be awarded 2016 and, recently, 2017 additional grants by Wells Fargo Bank.

I am grateful for a long-term support and sponsorship for my cultural outreach programs by Rand Resources, LLC

It is a great privilege to collaborate and coordinate my Carson projects with 501c3 non-profit Artward Initiative.

Art can lift aspirations and give us all an important common ground in today’s divisive times. I believe that as we are continuously exposed to the stream of escalating negative news we need to focus on people in communities that inspire us in positive ways. I take inspiration for this series from my community that overcomes adversity.

Every street and every neighborhood has its own widely loved neighbors. What I want to capture through My Neighbors is the unique, iconic and deeply human qualities that make ordinary people the true bedrock of our communities and who give us something meaningful, true and solid to hold onto in times of trouble, which is especially important in neighborhoods like Scottsdale.

At the kind of times that we live in I want ART to help people fill what I call The Dignity Gap.

I believe that strengthening community bonds by getting to know and love one’s neighbors is an answer to many of the difficult issues facing society today. I hope that My Neighbors will encourage visitors to see their own neighbors from a new perspective and take the message of love for one’s neighbor back to their own streets.

I want to capture people in these painting who you cannot help but love. Through the Love My Neighbor public art project, I want to encourage other people to notice and embrace human beacons in their own neighborhoods.

These are the overlooked heroes of our society.

I also believe in the public nature of ART. In this I am following in the footsteps of my late father, an important Ukrainian artist Leonid Steele and this project is my homage to him.

Just as my father went into remote villages of Ukraine to capture the expression of real people and share it with them, I am following this family tradition to capture in paint the strength, the dignity and the grace at the rock bottom of our society, which is so often the bedrock of our community.

Alexey