Stephen Holman’s current paintings are inspired by his many years of scuba diving experiences off the beaches of LA and Orange County. His motive for painting them has been to inform, inspire and unite the local community regarding the incredible richness, beauty and fragility of the undersea world lying a stone’s throw from our urban coastline.
Maija Beeton, is an L.A.-based artist and producer of emerging media. Last year, she
created Imagined Histories of Women in Art for the inaugural Ladies of Courage (LOC)
event. This year, she will lead a CITIZEN ARTISTS workshop throughout the day at the
LOC event.
Beeton’s CITIZEN ARTISTS workshops invite community members of all ages to
engage with their neighborhood’s ecosystem in a hands-on, creative way. Participants
use stencils featuring the locale's man-made and natural imagery at both micro and
macro levels, encouraging community engagement through artistic collaboration.
Thomas Hollier, The shifting sands of the industry then led me to Walt Disney Imagineering to design media for immersive and interactive themed attractions. Since the pandemic, I’ve been working independently on smaller projects and producing digital art imagery. Throughout my career, I’ve maintained an open ended creative practice using digital and electronic media. While I am currently not working for the Walt Disney Company, I still consider myself an “Imagineer”. I think it’s a great term to encapsulate a spirit of open ended creativity using art and technology which I’ve always had.
J-Walt Adamczyk, My art is a celebration of the act of creation. The process and product are one.
Kelon Cen “
Fluidity” is the word to describe Kelon Cen and his mastery of the smooth lines in calligraphy, painting, the animation of metamorphosis and body movement, and sound-driven editing. Kelon has worked in many forms of media, from traditional painting to digital animation and programming. He has explored animation in film and digital forms along with its integration into video installation, dome, and theatre projection. His works have been exhibited in various festivals, including Electronic Language International Festival in São Paulo, Animamix Biennale in Hong Kong, Japan Media Arts Festivals.
Catherine Bauknight, “A Messenger of Cultural Voices,” is a filmmaker and photojournalist. Her documentary films and photographs elevate social change and communication between people of all cultures. Her film Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty has won 8-awards, including “Best Global Documentary Film Creating Change
Lark (Larisa Pilinsky), From the beginning of her art career, Lark’s art caught the attention of art lovers and gained recognition from art jurors including LA Weekly critic Peter Frank, Sweeney Art Gallery director Tyler Stallings, Santa Monica Museum of Art director Lisa Melandri and MOCA curator Alma Ruiz.
Fusing classical and contemporary art traditions, Lark's award-winning artworks carry her signature gestural brushstrokes and vibrant color palettes. They have been featured in the many prestigious exhibitions, art catalogs and sold globally in France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, Armenia, Canada, Sweden and many other countries.
Snow Mack
Carol Lay is an American alternative cartoonist best known for her weekly comic strip, Story Minute (later to evolve into the strip Way Lay), which ran for almost 20 years in such US papers as the LA Weekly, the NY Press, and on Salon. Lay has been drawing professionally for over 30 years. Based in Los Angeles, Lay's strips and illustrations have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Mad, Newsweek, Worth Magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker. This year she published two new graphic novels.
James Cushing, In the early 1980s, he hosted a live poetry radio program on KPFK-FM in Los Angeles which gave early exposure to Dennis Cooper, David Trinidad, Amy Gerstler, Wanda Coleman, Leland Hickman, Scott Wannberg, and many others. From 1989 through 2020, when he retired, he taught literature and creative writing at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and served as the community’s Poet Laureate for 2008 – 2010. Cushing’s poems have appeared in many journals, and his 30-year association with Cahuenga Press has resulted in seven full-length collections of poetry, the most recent of which is Tangled Hologram.
Lisa Rusmussen is dedicated to guiding individuals and communities towards personal and creative transformation. Through the Harmonia Institute, she blends practices like breath work, yoga, chakra alignment, meditation, and intuitive art creation to promote mind, body, and soul harmony and balance.
Her journey into art began in childhood as a healing force for her social anxiety and trauma, leading her to develop the Harmonia Process, a modality that empowers people to reach their highest potential through creativity. Lisa advocates for the transformative power of art, believing everyone has a creative superpower.
Cutmod and Bianca Gil