Youth who created Lennox Park mural to be celebrated August 26

 

                                         

 

Press contacts:

 

Ed Maddox, Director of Communications, Office of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, office (213) 974-2222, mobile (213) 361-6980

 

Imee Perius, Public Information Officer, Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation, office (213) 738-2963, iperius@parks.lacounty.gov

 

Linda Chiavaroli, Director of Communications, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, office (213) 202-5935, mobile (323) 810-9240, communications@arts.lacounty.gov

 

MEDIA PLEASE NOTE: Downloadable 300 dpi photos available at http://www.lacountyarts.org/civicart/projectdetails/id/151

 

 

For Immediate Release

August 23, 2010

 

CREATIVITY OF LENNOX RESIDENTS ON DISPLAY IN PARK ARTWORK

August 26 celebration of recently completed Lennox Park mural recognizes the community members who created it.

 

LENNOX, CA—You will find most youth taking their summer to vacation, swim and hangout with friends, but in Lennox more than 100 community members had a hand in producing an over 1,200 square foot mural on exterior walls of Lennox Park. Called “Lennox Past, Present and Future,” the mural completion is being celebrated on
August 26 at 11:00 a.m. The Lennox community is invited to view the mural, meet its creators and enjoy entertainment including spoken word and drumming.

 

The project was initiated in May 2010 through a partnership between the Office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, the Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation Department, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission’s Civic Art Program and Create Now, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit focused on social change through the arts.

 

“This project is a perfect example of not just bringing art to a community, but empowering the community to unleash its own artistic creativity and work as a team to envision their community’s future and enhance their neighborhood, ” said Los Angeles County Second District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

 

A core of more than 30 community members, primarily youth between the ages of 6 and 20 years, designed and painted their vision of Lennox during two drawing workshops. Create Now hired local muralist and educator Roger Dolin to work with the youth. Virtually every image in the mural originates from one of the over 80 drawings produced by Lennox community members. Other residents stopped by to help with the painting, observed and commented on the progress.

 

In an effort to feature the best qualities of the Lennox community and convey hope for the future, themes of environmentalism, sustainability and health were integrated in the artwork. In their original design drawings, the Lennox youth illustrated people recycling, being active outdoors and interacting with nature. These depictions were translated directly onto the mural and within these broad themes of environmentalism, health and natural beauty, one can make direct connections to Lennox Park. The park pool, basketball court, and jungle gym reflect those important hubs of activity in Lennox. The jacaranda, the airplane, the food vendor and the postman are also defining elements of the park and the entire Lennox community.

 

Artist Roger Dolin explains the mural’s visual entry point of outer space. “I liked the idea of Lennox Park from close up and from far away, showing that the people of Lennox are a part of a micro community, but also a part of the rest of the world.” According to Dolin, outer space and the distant hills convey “…Lennox as part of the whole world. It has a history as well as a future and people came from all over to be here.” The micro and macro perspectives also reinforce the theme of environmentalism, which starts locally, but has a global impact.

 

Lennox Park is located at 10828 South Condon Avenue, Lennox, CA 90304. The mural runs along Condon Boulevard and is accessible to the public at any time.

 

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BIOGRAPHIES

Create Now (http://www.createnow.org/), serves poverty-stricken families with histories of violence, substance abuse, or neglect. Through their five program areas; music, art, writing, performing arts and cultural excursions, high-risk and at-risk youth learn to express themselves in a positive manner versus the destructive ways that they have in the past. Create Now programs develop youths' talent and abilities and help build teamwork, self-esteem and confidence. The organization is a current grantee of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

 

Roger Dolin (http://www.rogerdolin.com/index.htm) is a Los Angeles based artist and owner/director of Mural Environments, Inc. which specializes in the design and execution of murals for education and healthcare facilities. Its focus is on children's environments for the healthcare industry in many of the major hospitals in the Los Angeles area, such as UCLA Medical Center and Long Beach Memorial Hospital. Mural Environments strongly believes in the healing value of art.

 

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Laura Zucker, Executive Director, provides leadership in cultural services of all disciplines for the largest county in the United States, encompassing 88 municipalities. The Arts Commission, in addition to overseeing the County’s Civic Art Program for capital projects, provides leadership and staffing to support the regional blueprint for arts education, Arts for All; administers a grants program that funds more than 300 nonprofit arts organizations annually; programs the John Anson Ford Theatres; funds the largest arts internship program in the country in conjunction with the Getty Foundation; and supports the Los Angeles County Cultural Calendar on ExperienceLA.com. The Commission also produces free community programs, including the L.A. Holiday Celebration broadcast nationally, and a year-round music program that funds more than 40 free concerts each year in public sites. The 2010-11 President of the Arts Commission is Ronald D. Rosen.

 

For more information please consult the Arts Commission online press kit: http://lacountyarts.org/page/pubnewspress