ART ESCAPES MUSEUM! CAFAM Launches Innovative Community Initiative FOLK ART EVERYWHERE

Los Angeles has long been known as a sprawling city lacking broadly shared experiences. Folk Art Everywhere offers a new way to build common ground. Think of it as a cultural treasure hunt that releases beautiful and curious art objects from private collections and installs them in unexpected public spaces—restaurants, parks, coffee shops, bookstores, cultural centers—places where people naturally gather.

Folk Art Everywhere is designed to inspire exploration of diverse communities and neighborhoods in Los Angeles through art and culture. To get the adventure started, CAFAM has partnered with 25 diverse and novel art venues throughout Los Angeles County. Together with our collaborators, CAFAM has placed stunning cultural objects that tell quite a tale, in surprising locations that will rotate every three months. The first rotation is April 19 - July 15). These attention grabbing artworks represent cultures from around the world, and are drawn from the museum, local artists and private collections.

With engaging objects as a jumping off point, Folk Art Everywhere attempts to coax audiences beyond casual curiosity to deeper cultural wisdom. A fuller experience of culture is planned through a series of “Happenings” -- poetry readings, documentary film screenings, intimate musical performances, and festive cultural block parties that bring folks together in an artful exchange of stories.

“I, like many others, grew up in a household immersed in art, culture and ritual. Culture was part of my daily life and an extension of my identity,” explains CAFAM Executive Director, Maryna Hrushetska. “The notion that art is only found on white walls or in an institutional setting is actually a manufactured one. Folk Art Everywhere aims to remind us of the artistic beauty that naturally occurs in our daily midst and to spark a larger conversation about how we celebrate and transmit culture in our cosmopolitan metropolis.”

Folk Art Everywhere Locations, April 19 – July 15:

Boyle Heights

La Casa del Mariachi

Downtown

Little Tokyo Branch Library

East Hollywood

Panos Pastry
Thailand Plaza Fine Thai Cuisine

Echo Park

Edendale Branch Library
Nahuí Ohlín

Exposition Park

24th Street Theatre
Mercado La Paloma

Highland Park

Figueroa Produce

Historic Filipinotown

Pilipino Workers Center
Remy’s on Temple
Tribal Café

Koreatown

Pio Pico Branch Library

Leimert Park

Adassa’s Island Café
Eso Won Books
Lucy Florence Cultural Center


MacArthur Park

Mama’s Hot Tamales

Mid-City/Mid-Wilshire

Craft and Folk Art Museum
Little Ethiopia Restaurant
Levantine Cultural Center
Saturn St. Elementary School
St. Elmo Village

San Fernando/Sylmar/Pacoima

Pukúu Cultural Community Services
Tía Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore

West Hollywood

Plummer Park Community Center

The Journey begins! To start your cultural adventure, visit www.folkarteverywhere.com for a map and location information. Spend an afternoon exploring a few sites in one neighborhood or visit one site on your lunch hour. Maybe even try to visit all 25 during one weekend tour!

Location hours of operation are listed on www.folkarteverywhere.com. Calling to confirm opening and closing times in advance is recommended.

Admission is free to all sites. Visitors are encouraged to patronize participating businesses in exchange for their generosity hosting Folk Art Everywhere.

When you arrive, look for the Folk Art Everywhere emblem:

For info: www.folkarteverywhere.com provides more information about the sites, including a map. We will post short written and photographic profiles about each site, surrounding neighborhoods, and related themes during the course of each three-month presentation.

Happenings: Folk Art Everywhere is planning tours, workshops and performances to encourage deeper understanding of the cultures and neighborhoods highlighted. Please visit the website for updates as programs are confirmed.

About CAFAM
…because a shrinking world requires an expanded mind.

In a shrinking world, CAFAM believes in building common ground. As the twenty-first century brings global cultures ever closer together, we often find ourselves traveling in unfamiliar lands. This mapless new landscape requires inter-cultural fluency and frequent trips to CAFAM.