​FOOD LA October Citywide Public Arts Initiative Launches, Till November

Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs & Annie Gimas (Image:Provided)

CURRENT: LA FOOD is a month-long arts initiative taking place throughout Los Angeles from Oct 5 - Nov 3. The 15 arts installations are in 15 neighborhoods throughout the city. The initiative allows visitors to interact with never-before-seenart experiences from a replica of an Iraqi palace as well as see live performances by the S.H.I.N.E. Mawusi Women’s African Drum Circle and participate in fermentation workshops, among other community-driven and celebratory food events. Here are a few of the highly anticipated sites!

Eva Aguila (Image:Provided)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Park (Exposition Park, Los Angeles) Artist: Jazmin Urrea’s Imperishable sculptures in Martin Luther King Jr. Park in LA are filled with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos® and stand 8 feet tall. This amusing monument to a popular junk food is also an imposing reminder of the poverty of nutritional options in disfranchised communities.
 
Public Programming Community Partner: Join SEE-LA (Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles), an organization that operates farmer’s markets throughout the region, for an all-day gathering in the park that will connect community members to local growers over a series of talks and workshops.

Jazmin Urrea (Image:Provided)

Valley Recreation Center (North Hollywood) Artist: Shana Lutker’s Contemporary Museum of Temporary Containers (CMTC) is aninstallation of single-use takeout containers painted a single color and organized by size, shape, or former contents. The work encourages creative reuse and considers the limits of sustainability and recycling at a critical juncture of environmental responsibility.
 
Public Programming Community Partner: Drawing on manipulative food marketing and consumption from a personal and communal perspective, Christopher Reynolds presents a site-specific installation in and around the pool at Valley Plaza. Sounds, scents, and performances complete the Baker-Miller, pink-hued experience.
 
Pershing Square (Downtown Los Angeles) Artist: Nancy Lupo’s Open Mouth is an installation of custom benches with rounded end elements that resemble teeth. The benches are arranged in a configuration that resembles a diagrammatic adult human mouth. The work is a stage for viewing, meeting, and thinking about the metabolism of the city.

Nari Ward (Image:Provided)

Public Programming Community Partner: The Golden Dome and its collaborators will bring people together to explore food and prismatic color at two gatherings that involve shared meals, tea ceremonies, performance, and sound. This project will address the deeper personal, social, spiritual, and political ways we can experience food and drink.

ALL AGAIN: Two Performances at Delano Recreation Center, Van Nuys - Artists Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs & Annie Gimas present performances that take place outside and feature a professional ensemble, workshop participants, and community chorus. 

Ry Rocklen (Image:Provided)

​A House with a Date Palm Will Never Starve presented by artist Michael Rakowitz at Pan Pacific Park - Take part in a dinner cohosted by Iraqi American chef Sara Ahmad. Dates harvested at Aziz Farms in Thermal, California, by members of the Iraqi diaspora, About Face, and the studio of CURRENT artist Michael Rakowitz are highlighted in the meal prepared and shared at this Beneath the Date Palms event. 

The Art of Food: A Recipe for Community at Exposition Park Rose Garden presented by Center for the Arts Eagle Rock. This one-day, all-ages event brings together members of LA’s artist and culinary communities to engage participants in a vibrant series of hands-on activities exploring the city’s rich and diverse art and food cultures. Take part in an enchanted picnic and painting experience, pop-up food poetry, vegetable printmaking, and heritage chocolate making. 

What’s Going on with Recycling?! Closing Celebration and Conversation at Valley Plaza Recreation Center, North Hollywood - Presented by Shana Lutker. Join an open discussion and workshop about the current state of recycling in LA. Get answers to questions about how to recycle and reduce waste. Closing ceremony and recycling of artist’s CURRENT art project.  

Shana Lutker (Image:Provided)

​Chapter 5: Futuro of New Shores at Barnsdall Park, East Hollywood - Take part in this late-summer party that is a multisensory meal and performance and glimpse of the future, an evening created and presented by CURRENT artist team Julio César Morales & Max La Rivière-Hedrick. This night considers an unknown future, given the drastic changes in our global environment.  
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Through an intricate partnership between artists and community members, CURRENT:LA FOOD sheds light on the precarious balance between pleasure and peril found in food today, and the ways food gives expression to social and political life. It is produced by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Public Art Division and the Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti. Check it out and let us know in the comments below which were your favorite sites and why.

Julio César Morales & Max La Rivière-Hedrick (Image:Provided)