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Embracing Tradition Christine Chang adds Asian American flair to weddings

‘Full of Surprises’ Masters of Taste brings food and beverage enthusiasts to the Rose Bowl

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New Restaurants Publishes April 11, Artwork due April 6 FROM PRESCHOOL TO POSTGRAD

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Urban Marketplace returns with infrastructure focus

By Jack Skelley LA Downtown News Contributing Writer rban Marketplace, traditionally one of Downtown’s popular business and development events, returns to an in-person format Tuesday, March 29.

Created by ULI Los Angeles, a district council of the Urban Land Institute, this 22nd anniversary conference features Stephane N. Wiggins, chief executive officer, LA Metro; Tony Salazar, president, McCormack Baron Salazar; Danny Bakewell Jr., executive vice president, The Bakewell Company; KeAndra Cylear-Dodds, executive officer equity and race, LA Metro; Mia Lehrer, FASLA, president, Studio-MLA; and Jason Lombard, managing director, The Lombard Circle.

The interactive event is at the historic Trust Building, 433 S. Spring Street. Its theme is “Advancing Equity Through Infrastructure,” including the historical impact of infrastructure investments on underserved neighborhoods and communities of color.

“Infrastructure is one of the most powerful and necessary tools for revitalizing struggling neighborhoods. And yet, past projects have caused harm to communities through infrastructure investments that overlooked adverse, long-term impacts to these communities,” said Urban Marketplace Chair and Ashurst counsel Shmel C. Graham.

Founded by Michael Banner, president and CEO of Los Angeles LDC, and other leaders of ULI Los Angeles in 2000, Urban Marketplace includes Roundtables that offer direct access to development decision makers.

Representatives of the public sector, the design and planning community, neighborhood advocates, small-business owners, neighborhood-focused developers, and attendees interact to ignite ideas and connections.

Banner — who is a past ULI Los Angeles chair — specified that evaluating the housing needs of underserved communities requires careful attention to gentrification and community-based growth.

“As housing scarcity grows, less commercially desirable neighborhoods become financially attractive to affluent renters,” he said. “The market then catches the attention of investors and developers, spurring surges in rents and displacement that further harms residents and smaller-business owners. Urban Marketplace makes sure ULI is at the table to deliver changes, even in homeownership. The ef-

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fect of the event can now be seen in Los Angeles neighborhoods such as Downtown and in cities such as Inglewood.”

Among those recognizing Banner’s role at the event are Ed Rosenthal, the broker poet of DTLA, who coined the event tagline, “Make a Deal, Make a Difference.”

Urban Marketplace 2022 will include a special Fireside Chat, Plenary Panel and interactive Roundtables.

Fireside Chat Dale Bonner, executive chairman, Plenary Concessions America; and Stephane N. Wiggins, chief executive officer, LA Metro.

Plenary Panel Tony Salazar, president, McCormack Baron Salazar; Danny Bakewell Jr., executive vice president, The Bakewell Company; KeAndra Cylear-Dodds, executive officer equity and race, LA Metro; Mia Lehrer, FASLA, president, Studio-MLA; and Jason Lombard, managing director, The Lombard Circle.

Roundtables Microtransit & Community Development: Rani Narula-Woods, senior director, LA Metro.

Equity in Motion: Elizabeth Carvajal, senior director, LA Metro; KeAndra CylearDodds, executive officer, equity and race, LA Metro.

West Santa Ana Light Rail – Development Without Displacement: Shannon Heffernan, Studio One Eleven, senior studio director of Urban Design; Karina Macias, Huntington Park city councilmember.

Housing Innovations: Dafna Kaplan, Cassette, chief executive officer; Norma Dominguez, Excelerate Housing Group, chief financial officer.

Replicating Supportive Housing Efficiently & Humanely: Mark Oberholzer, KTGY, associate principal; David Rubin, EDJCO, lead construction manager.

Complete Streets – Transitions to a Walkable Region: Wajenda Chambeshi, transportation planner, LADOT; Alex Fisch, Culver City city councilmember.

Food Infrastructure Where It’s Most Needed: Clare Fox, Everytable, vice president of strategic partnerships.

Accelerating Equitable Housing Near Transit: Michael H. Anderson, AIA, NOMA, ULI, founder and principal architect, Anderson Barker. Wells Lawson, deputy ex-

Urban Marketplace founder Michael Banner speaks at a past event. ecutive officer, Joint Development, LA Metro.

Make It Rain: State & Regional Funding: Jenna Hornstock, SCAG, deputy director land use; Hannah Brunelle, SCAG, senior regional planning, planning strategy; Thomas Bellino, SCAG, senior regional planner, mobility planning and goods movement.

Property Management & Development – Pandemic-Resilient Healthcare: Moe Goudarzi, Arup, associate principal; Joey Kragelund, HKS, Pacific Region Health Director, principal.

Expo Park 2020 Master Plan – A Unified Vision for Parks, Arts & Community: Vanessa Esparza, Office of Exposition Park Management, acting general manager/ assistant general manager; Neal Payton, FAIA, FNCU, Torti Gallas + Partners, principal.

LA 2028 – Park Infrastructure, Capital Investments & Partnerships: Joel Alvarez.

Freedom Plaza Case Study – Jordan Downs Retail Revitalization: Leandro Tyberg, Primestor, president/co-founder.

Destination Crenshaw – Inclusive Action on Commercial Displacement: Jason Foster, Destination Crenshaw, president and chief operating officer; Rudy Espinoza, Inclusive Action for the City, executive director.

LA 2028 – Inglewood Renaissance & the Inglewood Transit Connector: Chris Robert, The Robert Group, president and founder; Lisa Trifiletti, Trifiletti Consulting, principal.

Jack Skelley/ULI/Submitted

Community Benefits – Equity in Jobs: Francisco Zepeda, SoLa Impact, vice president construction; David Kersh, Carpenters/Contractors Cooperation Committee, executive director.

Harnessing the Surplus Land Act: Brian Moncrief, Kosmont Companies, senior vice president; Larry Kosmont, Kosmont Companies, chairman and chief executive officer.

Planning the Crenshaw Corridor: A Community-Centric Approach: Reuben N. Caldwell, AICP, senior city planner, community planning, city of Los Angeles, department of city planning; Faisal Roble, chief equity officer and principal city planner, city of Los Angeles, department of city planning.

Park Equity – Quimby Fees & the 10-Minute Walk to Greenspace: Darryl Ford, superintendent of planning, city of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Event sponsors Rising Realty, The Trust Building, Metro, JP Morgan Chase, PNC, Banc of California, Ashurst, KTGY, SCAG, Grand Central Market, Berkadia.

Roundtable sponsors HKS, KTGY, Studio One Eleven, and Thomas Safran & Associates. Exhibitors: Budlong, GGLO, Kastle, IBI, Primestor, RADAR, RLB.

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Covered NEWS California will help Mayoral candidate Karen Bass fighting for social, economic justice

By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor orn and raised in the Venice/Fairfax area of Los Angeles, Rep. Karen Bass joins the race for mayor of LA with over a decade of experience in state and federal offices and a love for the city and its people.

Bass became interested in community activism while watching the civil rights movement on TV with her father. Their strength encouraged her to dedicate her life to continuing their work.

“It was a time of great activism in the world and also in the United States, so I grew up with an international perspective that made me very interested in the world,” Bass explained.

Bass defines herself as a Democrat and an activist who founded the Community Coalition, a nationally lauded social justice organization in South LA that empowers African American and Latino communities across generations to address substance abuse, poverty and crime.

She has also represented the city of Los Angeles in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., for more than 14 years, where she served as assembly speaker during one of the worst economic crises in California history.

“I would come into this position with deep ties on the federal level, on the state level, on the county level and on the city level, and you need all of the above to assist the city,” Bass said. “The city’s most pressing problems have been at the forefront of issues I’ve been working on for the last several decades and making progress significantly in the different areas I worked.”

During her time at California State Assembly, the state fast-tracked economic stimulus legislation that aided Californians affected by the national economic crisis, jump-started billions of dollars in

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infrastructure projects, passed legislation to make health care more accessible and affordable for Californians, and pushed efforts to improve California’s child welfare system, a mission that Bass has continued to pursue as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

As a congressmember, Bass not only describes her proudest achievements as the work she’s done toward child welfare, but also toward local hire in Los Angeles, COVID-19 response and the Strengthening of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, a trade agreement between the United States and Africa.

As mayor, Bass will look to make a lasting impact on what she sees as the most pressing issues facing Angelenos, namely homelessness and public safety, which she strongly believes cannot be seen as two separate issues.

“The crisis, which I would call an emergency with the 40,000 unhoused Angelenos, has been a problem for a long time, and I’ve been working directly and indirectly on these issues for the last three decades, but over the last year to two years the problem has really exploded into what I believe is a public health and a public safety emergency,” Bass said.

She said she believes that to significantly impact the crisis, the city of Los Angeles should not only focus on housing the unhoused but addressing why they are unhoused to begin with, particularly regarding health-related reasons such chronic illness, substance abuse or mental health.

“I want to pull the city together to address the crisis and for the unhoused to not be viewed as a monolith, because people are on those streets for a variety of reasons, and there needs to be specific strategies for the different categories of people that are unhoused,” Bass explained.

“I think all of the candidates feel that

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Since 2011, Karen Bass has served as the U.S. representative for California’s 37th congressional district.

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the next mayor needs to declare a state of emergency, and I would agree to that, too, but I think that we need to do more.”

Bass insists that it takes too much time to build affordable, temporary or permanent supportive housing and will continue to help encourage the federal government to waive regulations relating to HUD or the Veterans Administration during her time in Congress.

Alongside homelessness, Bass will look to address crime and public safety as mayor by finding ways to get police on the street faster and by analyzing ways in which the police address different communities.

“Different neighborhoods have been clear that they want to see an increased police presence because they do not feel safe,” Bass said. “Not every neighborhood wants that, but for those neighborhoods that do I want to get police on the streets as fast as possible. And I think the best way to do that is to hire civilians and hire new officers at the same time.”

After leading an effort on police reform in Congress, Bass has seen two different styles of policing emerge in Los Angeles that she refers to as “guardian” and “warrior” styles.

“With guardian-style policing, I think it’s pretty evident what that means,” Bass explained. “But when it comes to South,

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Central and East LA in some neighborhoods, police act more like warriors and in some instances treat entire neighborhoods as though they’re suspects.”

After Los Angeles saw an almost 4% increase in violent crime in 2021 compared to 2020, with the city experiencing its highest number of homicides in nearly 15 years, Bass calls for a behavioral shift in how police respond to communities of differing crime rates and hopes that this shift could put the city on a brighter path where there is less animosity between officers and neighborhoods with a history of crime.

In light of the pandemic, Bass has taken a dual-option approach to her COVID-19 response depending on the status of the virus’ spread by the end of the election.

“If it’s behind us, I would want to have a strategic plan and strategy for how we would respond to the next pandemic very early in my administration, and that would involve stockpiling PPE, having outreach strategies for communities that are going to be disproportionately impacted, and establishing a reserve fund to help health and economic impacts,” Bass said. “It would also involve solidifying a strategy with the county, the state and the federal government.”

If COVID-19 is still impacting Los Ange-

les by the end of the election, Bass plans to utilize access as many state and federal resources as possible as well as create a targeted strategy for vaccines and testing in communities where access to testing and vaccine rates are low.

“In both scenarios, whether COVID has passed us or we’re still in COVID, I would be led by science,” Bass said. “And I do have a medical background, so I follow science naturally.”

In addition to monitoring the physical health of the city, Bass wants to help small businesses that have been financially devastated over the past two years by fighting for federal support and linking financial aid with online resources such as technical assistance workshops.

“People tell me that they didn’t get the resources that were there, and what I think is going to happen in Congress before the year’s over is that we will pass another aid package,” Bass said. “I would be very proactive in pursuing that money and linking that with businesses that have been negative. It’s just not enough sometimes to give somebody a website and say, ‘Good luck.’”

From homelessness and public safety to COVID-19 response and economic recovery, Bass is looking to address a plethora of pressing issues impacting communities across Los Angeles today, but insists that many of these problems stem from one root cause: income inequality.

Through lessening the gap between the rich and the poor within LA by bringing in better-paying jobs and more effective public transportation, Bass hopes to fight against the core manifestation of many of the city’s burdens during her time in the mayoral office.

“I’m a lifetime Angelena, and I also have spent a good part of my adult life building coalitions and collaborations across geography, ideology, race, class and gender,” Bass said. “In everything I would do as mayor, that is going to be at the forefront of my thinking.”

The 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election will take place on Nov. 8, while the toptwo primary will take place on June 7.

To learn more about mayoral candidate Karen Bass and her campaign, visit karenbass.com

Karen Bass for Mayor karenbass.com

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KIRK’S OPINION

It’s a dumb blonde world

By Ellen Snortland LA Downtown News Columnist oopla! My favorite brick-and-mortar gift store in Altadena now has pro-Ukrainian and anti-Putin merch. They have a card that says, “(Expletive) Putin! Also… Happy Birthday!” It’s just what I needed, as Ukraine is on my mind and in my heart from when I wake up until I fall asleep. I, like many of you, feel helpless. Besides sending money, what can we do? How about being distracted by the craziness in our own country — insanity that boggles one’s mind? That should work.

Because it’s Women’s History Month, witness the history-making exchanges between brilliant, trailblazing, and pride of intellectual women everywhere, Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson vs. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), a dimwit, nincompoop and card-carrying dumb blonde.

“Oh, but Ellen, I thought you were a feminist! How can you call another woman a dumb blonde?” Easy. I have authority since I’ve been a blonde all my life, and I come from a proud tradition of Norwegian American humor where male blondes are way more asinine than females. In my view, the term “dumb blonde” is gender neutral.

Seriously, I’m amazed that Sen. Blackburn can even read. Sadly, there’s a dark and malicious side to this Republican tool: she’s a member of the C Street Family. If you don’t know who they are, watch the Netflix documentary series “The Family,” which shows their planned destruction of democracy in favor of the United States becoming a Christian Theocracy. It should scare the bejesus out of you, or in “The Family’s” case, The C-Jesus. They are in love with the idea of Jesus as a wolf and not a gentle shepherd. They promote lying, stealing, and seizing political power by any means, at any cost. Maybe Marsha is dumb like a wolf.

Pivoting away from politics and over to the dumb blondes of film criticism, the “What century are we living in?” award goes to CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell.

Blinded by his own white privilege, Sean’s review of the new Disney animated feature “Turning Red” revealed his racism, sexism and stupidity — jackpot! CinemaBlend removed the review a few days

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Hey you! Speak up!

Ellen Snortland later, but its foul stench remains. Does anything ever really die on the internet?

Nope.

In part, it read, “I recognized the humor in the film, but connected with none of it.

By rooting the film specifically in the Asian community of Toronto, the film legitimately feels like it was made for (director) Domee Shi’s friends and immediate family members. Which is fine — but also, a tad limiting in its scope.” OMG… where to even start? Using Sean’s logic, I should not be able to relate to anything other than movies about middle-aged white women. Does that mean he can’t relate to movies about war because he’s never been in one, so the war film would be “limited in scope”? My advice: Be very careful when reading his reviews, as his mental capacity is also extremely limited.

Now, over to the dumb blondes at Chrysler. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall as Chrysler’s lame-brain trust decided that the notoriously defective Pacifica — a hybrid family minivan — didn’t warrant a recall effort.

“With all due respect,” Mr. or Ms. Chrysler exec says, “I don’t think vehicles that spontaneously explode should have anything more than a ‘be vigilant’ sticker on the window. Most people can run pretty fast anyway.”

I’m happy to report there are no dumb blondes at Consumer Watchdog. Their PR headline: “Class action lawsuit filed against Chrysler for defect causing unexplained explosion and fire in Pacifica Hybrids.” Subhead: “Chrysler advises owners of 16,000 minivans their vehicles are potential ticking bombs that should not be charged, parked near other cars or structures.”

Downtown News wants to hear from people in the community. If you like or dislike a story, let us know, or weigh in on something you feel is important to the community.

Participation is easy. Go to downtownnews.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Letter to the Editor” link. For guest opinion proposals, please email christina@timespublications.com.

Full disclosure: I have been a board member of Consumer Watchdog for more than 30 years. We are a small but mighty consumer advocacy group of lawyers and laypeople committed to holding large companies accountable for indecent behavior, damage and death they cause.

“I purchased a Pacifica in 2018 to safely transport my disabled son, Steven. Now I basically have a ticking car bomb that Chrysler is not taking back, one which Chrysler tells me not to charge and not to park near other cars and not to park near my home or any other structure. This is crazy! I filed suit because Chrysler needs to take responsibility for their unsafe minivans today — not next week, not a month from now, today. It is a matter of public safety.” — Plaintiff Scott A. Olsen of Chula Vista, board member Consumer Watchdog. In product liability torts, criminal

chutzpah isn’t in the current list of negligence actions. The whole thing leaves me speechless.

As much as I would like to claim dumb blonde immunity here, I’m afraid I can’t.

Major corporations, “The Family” and bigoted movie reviewers keep misbehaving because they both get away with it and profit from it. Arggh! Please, please, please… someone wake me up when this Upside-Down, which is far weirder than the one in “Stranger Things,” has finally evaporated.

Ellen Snortland has been writing this column for decades and teaches creative writing. She can be reached at ellen@ beautybitesbeast.com. Her award-winning film “Beauty Bites Beast” is once again available for download or streaming at vimeo. com/ondemand/beautybitesbeast.

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Covered California will help FEATURE

Paperback Brewing Co. produces beers with clever names, such as the Imperial IPA Big Trouble in Sexy Town.

Chris Cesnek, left, and Brandon Monroe opened Paperback Brewing Co. in 2021 after a decade of home brewing.

Chris Cesnek/Submitted

Chris Cesnek/Submitted

LA Beer Festival encourages drinkers to imbibe out of the box

By Laura Latzko LA Downtown News Contributing Writer very beer has a story at Paperback Brewing Co., which is known for its clever monikers.

For the second time, owners Brandon Monroe and Chris Cesnek are bringing their products to the LA Beer Festival on Saturday, April 2, at Los Angeles Center Studios. “(The LA Beer Festival) is one of our favorite things to do,” Monroe said. “We look forward to it every year. It was really sentimental for us to finally have our brewery there and also be able to make a beer for it.”

This year’s LA Beer Festival boasts 85 local, regional and national breweries — many of which have participated for five to seven years — and over 200 types of beer, ciders, seltzers and kombucha.

General admission ticket holders receive unlimited 3-ounce beer samples. VIP tickets, also called connoisseur admission, come with access to a VIP

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lounge with air-conditioned bathrooms and a deck overlooking the event, a festival T-shirt, a commemorative glass, and a chance to try rare and limited-access beers.

Produced by Drink: Eat: Play, the event will also feature music from Power 106 DJs and local cover bands; chances to try ax throwing; and food trucks offering Mexican cuisine, Korean barbecue, poutine, dumplings, pizza and deli foods.

“What makes any event unique is the local aspect of it, the local breweries that are LA based as well as the local food trucks,” said Dan Silberstein, Drink: Eat: Play owner.

Silberstein said trends change regularly in the beer industry. Recently, breweries have been making milkshake or super hazy IPAs, seltzers, pastry stouts and fruity beers.

The event attracts connoisseurs and casual beer drinkers who have their favorites but are open to trying new types of beer.

“A lot of people are in their discovery phase of what they do and don’t like,” Silberstein said.

“They are not necessarily set on some style or breweries, and they can make fans out of them.”

Silberstein said the event gives local breweries a chance to potentially expand their customer bases.

“Somebody isn’t going to pick a beer they’ve never heard of necessarily at a supermarket or bar,” Silberstein said.

“Part of it is the exposure and the familiarity.”

To ease that, brewery owners, general managers and sales reps provide information on the products.

“There’s the educational aspect of it, too, if someone wants to know how the beer is made or where they can get it after the event,” Silberstein says.

Flipping pages Located in a restored 1940s airplane

hangar at 422 Magnolia Avenue in Glendale, Paperback Brewing Co. produced the official beer of the LA Beer Festival, a West Coast IPA called Straight Out of Quarantine, with citra hops.

The brewery, which opened in July 2021, is known for producing beers with clever names and designs, such as Bunny with a Chainsaw, Electrical Instruments in Hazardous Locations, Tucked in by Strangers, A Milkshake Orange, The Mad Zambo, Communist Poodles from Connecticut, Big Trouble in Sexy Town, The Office Mummy, Robot Strip Club, The Restless Fugitive, Death of a Disco Dancer, Punk Rock Serenade, Everyday Zombies, The Surrealist, Pog Wars, One Night with Nora, and Attack of the Space Cats.

“We try not to take ourselves too seriously,” Cesnek said.

“We have been very lucky. We have a great group of cult fans who follow our beer, our labels and our names. When people come to the brewery, it’s always a big topic of discussion.”

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Paperback Brewing Co. is known for beers with clever names and labels, such as The Mad Zambo hazy IPA with coconut and pineapple.

Paperback Brewing Co. tries to tell a story with beers such as Golden State, a type of festbier.

(Chris Cesnek/submitted)

Like paperback novels, every beer has a special story.

“We’ve always talked about how some of the best stories in life are shared over a beer or happen over a beer,” Cesnek said.

Cesnek said while the names and designs are meant to stand out, the beer’s

quality is vital.

“The beer comes first for us,” Cesnek said.

“It’s always about the beer. I know we have some cool labels, but it’s really about being a quality product and having a great label attached to it that speaks for the liquid inside.”

(Chris Cesnek/submitted)

LA Beer Festival WHEN: Noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 2 WHERE: Los Angeles Center Studios, 450 S. Bixel Street, Los Angeles COST: $50 general admission, $90 connoisseur admission.

Food sold separately INFO: labeerfest.la

Our gratitude knows no bounds.

Today we thank doctors everywhere.

And, their loved ones who support all they do.

There are a lot of people to thank during Doctors’ Day. Many of whom aren’t doctors at all.

Every doctor has someone who has helped them get to where they are today. People who never stop caring and always offer encouragement. So here’s to the family, friends, parents, children, coworkers, and furry companions who support our physicians. And, to the doctors who give so much of themselves to care for our communities—thank you, thank you, thank you, for all that you do.

Happy Doctors’ Day!

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Covered California will help FEATURE

Christine Chang adds Asian American flair to weddings

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski LA Downtown News Executive Editor s an Asian American, Christine Chang knows well the challenges of planning a wedding with an ethnic twist.

“Growing up in the States, we teeter between Asian and American culture,” said Chang, of South Park. “We don’t know where to put our tradition — even for your special day like a wedding.

“How do you honor both traditions?

They already know their American culture.

They live in it. With the Asian culture, we’re not familiar with it.”

She founded Live Love Create Events to help infuse Asian traditions into Western weddings. Her team is all Asian American.

“I have different team members with different backgrounds, and we help and service couples of color get married with unique cultures in mind,” she said.

“We are a full planning service. Our specialty is bringing in that Asian tradition into Western ceremonies, if needed. Western ceremonies are beautiful in itself. But

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we’re learning as much as we can to bring Asian cultures to life on a wedding day.”

Chang learned about her Korean heritage through friends and family, reading and visiting China and Korea.

“It’s a learning process, but we’re confident about what we know so far,” she said.

A popular way of adding family traditions to weddings is through the Paebaek Ceremony, a traditional tea ceremony held during the cocktail hour.

“The tea ceremony is not about the bride and groom,” she said. “It’s the entire family. When the family comes together, it’s about the bride and groom, ‘Here we are as a couple. Please accept us into his or her family.’

“The elders accept the tea, give words of wisdom and gifts, usually in gold or money.”

Free ceremonies Founded in 2009, Live Love Create Events has been Chang’s full-time job since mid-2017. Previously an event direc-

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Live Love Create Events helps infuse Asian traditions into Western weddings.

JoeKim Studio/Submitted

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Thrive Causemetics helps uplift LA’s homeless

Live Love Create Events was founded in 2009.

JoeKim Studio/Submitted

tor for multiple LA venues, Chang also married and had a child during that time, so the company had a slow start.

“I was ready to start working when the pandemic hit,” she said. “I think this, with conviction, it was a blessing in disguise. I got to see my son for the first year. I gave him my full attention, as I was out of a job.

“It’s coming around now. I feel really lucky that events are starting to pick up again.”

Chang had an office in Koreatown before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Forced to close due to wedding cancellations, Chang felt for those couples. She offered free weddings for those who had to reschedule.

“I was open to those who needed advice and had conversations with a lot of them who didn’t know where to start or restart their planning,” Chang said.

“I was taking any phone call to try to help as many people as I could. I’m still very open to it.”

For Chang, Live Love Create Events is very much a family affair. Her mother, Grace Chang, painted the background for the tea ceremony.

“My mom is a traditional Korean folk artist,” she said. “She helped me make the decorations on the table out of Korean paper clay. I didn’t know too much about the ceremony because I wasn’t born there. It was nice to learn from my mom.

“She’s technically retired, but she’s willing to show her art. She inspired me. I wouldn’t have been interested in any of this if I hadn’t seen her work and dedication to bringing the Korean arts culture to the States 30-plus years ago. This has been a great journey.”

Christine Chang livelovecreateevents.com instagram.com/christineschang

By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor The last time Los Angeles’ homeless population was counted in 2020, 66,436 people were found to be living on the street.

While LA is home to one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, it is also home to myriad selfless nonprofits whose mission is to empower the homeless community and help Angelenos off the street.

It’s this mission for a brighter future that CNN’s 2021 Hero of the Year Shirley Raines wants to achieve through her nonprofit Beauty 2 the Streetz.

After the loss of her son, Demetrius, Raines used the trauma to help others by volunteering on Skid Row. She found that many of the women were interested in her hair, makeup and nail color, and so she decided to start offering makeovers to the homeless.

“I found there’s dignity through beauty,” Raines explained. “The choices are ripped from this homeless community. These women have absolutely no choice in where they’re going to shower, whose clothing they’re going to put on for today or where they’re going to use the bathroom, but they can choose how long they want their eyelashes or they can choose their hair. Those little steps lead to huge empowerment.”

Raines faced criticism at the start of her journey with Beauty 2 the Streetz, with some brands questioning the homeless community’s need for beauty supplies.

“The response from the community has been amazing,” Raines said.

“It doesn’t matter where you are. It matters how you feel. I’ve had wom-

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Luke Netzley/Staff Photographer

Shirley Raines of Beauty 2 The Streetz and Karissa Bodnar of Thrive Causemetics have partnered to help bring beauty supplies as well as warm meals and showers to the homeless of Skid Row. Luke Netzley/Staff Photographer

en get jobs, get off the street and go to interviews, whether they got the job or not. Quite frankly, if they did nothing else but go and sit in that tent where they came from, at least they went and sat in that tent feeling a lot better than they came out.”

Along with the support of Thrive Causemetics, Raines feeds, bathes and uplifts hundreds of homeless residents in Downtown LA. Thrive Causemetics CEO Karissa Bodnar wanted to donate the company’s products to LA’s homeless community.

Bodnar connected with Raines through social media in 2018, and Thrive Causemetics has since become one of the largest giving partners to Beauty 2 the Streetz.

“We create really game-changing formulas, but we wanted to get it directly into the hands of people who could really benefit from the confidence that beauty gives you,” Bodnar said.

At the launch of its 3-in-1 invisible priming sunscreen product at Redbird in Downtown on March 24, Thrive Causemetics gifted Raines and her team a $10,000 check to support Beauty 2 the Streetz’s work.

“It was organizations like Beauty 2 the Streetz and Shirley who saw the vision of what we were doing from the beginning,” Bodnar said.

“We are so filled up by the work that Shirley is doing, and we can’t do what we do without Shirley and her team.

Thrive Causemetics and Beauty 2 The Streetz thrivecausemetics.com beauty2thestreetz.org

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MARCH 28, 2022

Covered California will help FEATURE

Masters of Taste is ‘full of surprises’

By Annika Tomlin LA Downtown News Staff Writer os Angeles’ best chefs will return to the Rose Bowl to raise money for Union Station.

More than 3,000 food and beverage enthusiasts will visit the 100-year-old stadium from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 3, and taste fare from over 100 culinary “masters” and restaurants.

Beverage “masters” will mix handcrafted cocktails from more than 25 spirit brands and bars. The lineup also includes wineries, local craft breweries, cold-pressed juices, cold brew coffee and live entertainment. Tickets to the 21-and-older event includes unlimited food tastings, wine, craft beer and cocktails.

Rob and Leslie Levy co-created the event seven years ago to showcase LA County’s variety of flavors and to help Union Station. The 2022 Masters of Taste event chair, Rob Levy owns The Raymond, 1250 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena.

Levy was inspired to raise money for Union Station after being invited to serve on its board.

“We had been to one too many galas,” he said. “You get in a room with 400 other people, and you raise your hand. You get dressed up and give money. It’s the same old thing every time.”

The event’s fifth anniversary introduces the first female host chef, Vanda Asapahu, who helms and owns Ayara Thai at 6245 W. 87th Street, Los Angeles. She has participated all five years with the collection of LA’s best restaurants.

“It is one of the best food events in LA because of the cause it goes to and for the work of the Union Station and homelessness,” Asapahu said.

“And it’s on the iconic field of the Rose Bowl. It’s just an amazing all-around event.”

Asapahu was thrilled to “do more for my community” after connecting with the Levys and public relations coordinator, Lawrence Moore.

“As women, we always try to challenge ourselves and raise the bar even higher for those from the previous year,” Asapahu said. “This year I’ve been really diligent about getting involved with the organizing, planning and sponsorship.

“I’ve also involved my community. One of the contacts that I have is Thai Trade Center, which is an entity of the Thai government. It is this year’s gold sponsor, and it will sponsor a Thai Pavilion at the end of the Rose Bowl field.”

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This year, Masters of Taste falls in April, which is when Thai New Year, Songkran, is also celebrated. Asapahu invited three additional Thai restaurants and industry friends to participate in the Songkran Thai SELECT Pavilion, a celebration spanning the Rose Bowl’s end zone.

In response to a culinary challenge, the Thai restaurants will prepare a dish, dessert and or cocktail using sahm kler, a paste with white peppercorn, garlic and cilantro root. “Not the stem, not the leaves, but the root,” Asapahu emphasized.

“I will be making a baked scallop, and it is based off of a family recipe that was made with prawns in a clay pot,” Asapahu said.

“I want to mimic that experience with something that is a single serving size, so on a scallop shell I will be grilling with (the sahm kler paste). I really wanted to highlight this paste as being an essential paste in Thai cooking.”

Asapahu said her pastry chef sister, Cathy, will use the paste to make ice cream in her tent.

“We really want to highlight a bit of our culinary culture for people who may have not dove deep into Thai food before,” she said.

Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat of Holy Basil, 718 S. Los Angeles Street, and The Base, will be in the Thai Pavilion.

“I learned about (Masters of Taste) by chef Vanda, who is my friend, another Thai chef,” Arpapornnopparat said. “She invited us to cook for Masters of Taste because she is the head chef of the event this year.”

Arpapornnopparat is excited to educate folks who don’t know much about Thai food.

“I am personally doing what they call ‘young clam,’” Arpapornnopparat said. “It is going to be a clam with crispy vegetables and chili oil and, of course, the main three ingredients combined.

Arpapornnopparat explained is it an honor to help customers taste Thai flavors in one place.

Participating for the first time is chef Jean Valcarcel of Little Llama Peruvian Tacos, 222 S. Main Street, Suite 101.

“We are in great company,” Valcarcel said. “I know a bunch of chefs who have been doing it for quite a few years. So it was really nice to be asked and be able to participate.”

Valcarcel said he feels like he’s serving as “an ambassador for the food of my country and the flavors.”

“At Little Llama Peruvian Tacos, we do

Chef Vanda Asapahu helms Ayara Thai and will serve as the first female host chef for Masters of Taste.

Submitted

Peruvian flavors in vessels that are familiar to Angelenos, like tacos, burritos and tostadas,” Valcarel said. “We will be making a classic Peruvian true ceviche on a blue corn tostada with guacamole, pickled red onion and salsa.”

He enjoys watching customers take their first bite and “seeing their eyes light up and their whole demeanor change.”

Returning from hiatus During the COVID-19 pandemic, Masters of Taste canceled its 2020 event and, subsequently, put it on hold. Levy and his team were determined to bring it back in 2022.

Not all the chefs returned due to staffing or business issues, but many are ready to participate again.

“Interestingly when we canceled the event, we went to all of the sponsors and said, ‘Hey we will give you all of your money back and we will call you again in the future,’ and they said, ‘No, keep the money, we want to be part of this,’” Levy said.

“Now, they not only said keep the money for the one that we canceled, but we are going to give you some more. People are really supportive and excited about the event, so we are even more energized.”

‘Full of surprises’ Levy wants first-time attendees to “be ready for surprises and a day that nobody really knows how it will evolve.”

“The first year there was this sort of magical thing that happened. We have a DJ playing every year, and the music comes through and just spontaneously 200 people started line dancing in the middle of the field.”

In another instance, patrons stuck around as severe rains traveled through the area.

“It is full of surprises and an incredible opportunity to not only meet but try the food and cocktails of places that you probably would never have an opportunity to go,” Levy said.

Masters of Taste WHEN: 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 3 WHERE: Pasadena Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena COST: $135 INFO: mastersoftastela.com

MARCH 28, 2022

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MARCH 28, 2022

Covered ARTS & California CULTUREwill help

‘Blues’ is called ‘heartfelt,’ ‘beautiful’

By Jeff Favre LA Downtown News Contributing Writer ija Okoro — a kid from the Bronx whose single working mother put her in acting class to keep her busy — knew even at 10 years old it was a bit strange to be traipsing the boards as the cockney flower girl Eliza in “My Fair Lady.”

But as someone who has found most things come naturally to her, acting — particularly in complex and uncomfortable roles — is what she finds most challenging and most fun.

Okoro’s continued headlong dive into artistic danger will be on display at Downtown’s Mark Taper Forum, when she stars as Angel in a revival of the Pearl Cleage’s “Blues for an Alabama Sky.” Directed by famed actress Phylicia Rashad, who was Angel in the 1995 world premiere in Atlanta, the show opens Wednesday, April 6.

It’s 1930 Harlem (a world created by scenic designer John Iacovelli) and Angel is trying to survive after being fired from her singing gig at the legendary Cotton Club. Her best friend is designer Guy (Greg Alverez Reid), who dreams of them leaving New York for Paris, where he will make outfits for star Josephine Baker.

While it’s never had a Broadway run, “Blues for an Alabama Sky” has appeared at many regional theaters — and this may be its highest-profile production to date.

“I’m very motivated by story, and if the story doesn’t speak to me, I don’t even want to audition for it,” said Okoro, who first read the play soon after graduating from The Juilliard School.

“I loved it. Ms. Cleage writes these full, wonderful characters that you know immediately. And when the offer came, and I started reading it from the perspective of Angel, it was daunting and scary … and just yummy.”

A key relationship for Angel, who is trying to find sense in her chaotic world, is with the ever-optimistic Guy. Offstage, Okoro and Reid had never met. But, like his co-star, Reid had long been familiar with “Blues.” He even appeared as a different character in a previous production while attending Howard University.

“The themes I think are very relevant to today,” Reid said. “They’re talking about Black women’s health, and they’re talking about abortion. On

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Nija Okoro stars as Angel in a revival of Pearl Cleage’s “Blues for an Alabama Sky.”

Submitted

the surface, you might think it’s a simple play.

But once you dive into it, you see it’s deep, it’s heartfelt, it’s educational.”

It wasn’t hard to persuade Center Theatre Group, where Rashad is an associate artist, to mount a major revival, according to CTG Associate Artistic Director Tyrone Davis.

“It’s a gorgeous piece. You think about Harlem in the 1930s, and I know for me, it’s the music, the feel, everything. It was a no-brainer for us,” Davis said. “It’s poetic. The characters pop, and the set pops.”

That set is the latest for Iacovelli, who has a 30-year working relationship with CTG. As a period piece, the designer delved into the décor and the architecture of the time.

“It’s such an interesting time period,” he said.

“And just trying to find the environment that supports the character, that’s always a challenge.

And Phylicia, coming from primarily being an actor, she’s so interested in the characters and what’s the right thing for them.”

Okono echoed the sentiment and said it’s a huge help to have a director who not only understands what it’s like in the spotlight but what it’s like to step into the role of Angel.

“I’ve worked with Phylicia five times, if you count a reading,” Okono said. “It’s funny, because people said to me, ‘Oh, gosh, she originated the role,’ like that must be the most terrifying thing in the world. But I have found it comforting. I trust her so much. So far, I haven’t asked any Angel-to-Angel questions, but I know that the possibility is there. I’m doing my best to figure out what I need to for myself, but I know I can always ask her.”

One thing Okono has found by herself is a key moment, one that connects her to Angel, to the story and to the audience — even if it’s so small they don’t consciously notice it.

It comes when Angel and Guy are getting dressed up for a night out in the middle of what has become their confused lives.

“Angel looks at Guy and says, ‘We are beautiful, aren’t we?’ On the surface it just seems like a simple, ‘Oh, we do look good,’ but I think of it as a world under that one line. It’s like, despite it all, despite where we came from and all the beatings we’ve taken, we’re still here.”

“Blues for an Alabama Sky” WHEN: Various times Wednesday, April 6, to Sunday, May 8 WHERE: Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles COST: Tickets start at $30 INFO: 213-628-2772, centertheatregroup.org

MARCH 28, 2022

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Covered ARTS & California CULTUREwill help

Japan House unveils new ramen exhibit

By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor y delving into the rich and often overlooked history of ramen, one of the most popular dishes across Asia, Los Angeles’ Japanese cultural destination Japan House explores how food can influence human society in ways never imagined in its new exhibit, “The Art of the Ramen Bowl.”

The exhibition traces the history of ramen from its origins in mainland China to its explosive popularity in Japan, including the “wheat diplomacy” utilized by the United States during WWII that influenced the consumption habits of the Japanese population.

“Ramen was originally cheap, nutritious food for the working class served from food stalls or carts,” Japan House Art and Cultural Director Meher McArthur said. “It’s seen as the food that helped build Japan in the early 20th century and then rebuild Japan after WWII.” After the war, Japan faced a major rice shortage. Ramen, however, is a wheat noodle, and as the American forces occupied Japan, they carried a surplus of wheat with them.

The United States also implemented kitchen cars across Japan to help teach different communities how to make numerous types of wheat-based foods, thus encouraging wheat purchase and consumption. It was an economic strategy that both created a novel market for American wheat but also saw ramen consumption skyrocket across Japan as a result.

Alongside the cultural and political analysis of the dish’s history, Japan House’s ramen exhibit also highlights the craftsmanship behind the ramen bowls themselves, known as donburi, through a gallery display of donburi designed by some of Japan’s most significant contemporary artists, like Akira Minagawa, Hisashi Tenmyouya, Keiichi Tanaami, Tabaimo, Tadanori Yokoo and Taku Satoh.

“I think that the experience of eating ramen can be more than just eating the food, it can be something very visual as well,” McArthur said. “It can be something that stimulates multiple senses, and it’s also a way of learning more about Japanese culture. The way that the Japanese decorate ceramics is meant to enhance your experience of a meal. There’s a very interesting relationship between the food and the vessels that the food is served in. It’s gone on for centuries, and it’s an important part of the eating experience in Japan.”

The donburi display presents a uniquely Japanese approach to decoration and its placement in everyday ceramics, and promotes the idea that utilitarian vessels can also be works of art, as seen by the Kintsugi Donburi Bowl made by designer Kenjiro Sano.

It’s a dish whose design presents an insight into a unique Japanese art style.

“I’m very partial to Kintsugi, which is this Japanese technique of repairing broken ceramics with gold lacquer to make them become even more beautiful than they were before they were broken,” McArthur explained. “I just love that idea that in life your scars can add to your beauty.”

At the end of the gallery space, the exhibition investigates the origins of the donburi and touches upon the history of the Mino Province, which has acted as a major Japanese ceramics center for over 500 years.

Throughout its history, Mino evolved from exporting tableware and tea ceremony ceramics to mass producing porcelain and donburi.

The exhibit pays homage to the province, whose kilns are said to have begun producing pottery over 1,300 years ago, by outlining Mino’s importance to ancient and modern Japan.

“Mino produces 90% of Japan’s ramen bowls,” McArthur explained. “If you go to a ramen restaurant in Japan and you’re served a porcelain ramen bowl, it’s probably from Mino. Even if you’re at a ramen place here, chances are that porcelain bowl was made in Mino, too.”

The overall mission of “The Art of the Ramen Bowl” is not only to share insights into the cultural history of ramen and both the anatomy and artistry behind ramen bowls but to also inspire curiosity about the many ways that a meal can be experienced and the role that food can play in communities around the world.

“We want to introduce people here to the innovations, technology and products

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The Skull-Spider Ramen Bowl designed by Japanese pop artist Keiichi Tanaami is part of Japan House’s 30-bowl porcelain donburi display highlighting the work of world-renowned Japanese artists and designers.

Japan House/Submitted

The Kintsugi Donburi Bowl by designer Kenjiro Sano was inspired by the Japanese technique “kintsugi,” the repairing of broken ceramics by gluing the joints with lacquer mixed with gold power to create a work of art.

Japan House/Submitted

from Japan, and this is the perfect exhibition for that,” McArthur said.

The complimentary exhibit will run through July 5, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will also offer guests the chance to peruse Japan House’s new store, Waza, that stands within the exhibit’s entrance.

Waza features an eclectic mix of modern and traditional products in a unique showroom that acts as physical space and digital hybrid retail concept. Visitors can shop through curated items reflecting several facets of Japanese culture, including dining, home and fashion, and all items are available for purchase online.

“The Art of the Ramen Bowl” WHERE: Japan House Gallery, Level 2, 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Tuesday, July 5 COST: Free INFO: japanhousela.com

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MARCH 28, 2022

Covered ARTS & California CULTUREwill help

Actress and first-time playwright Holland Taylor stars in one-woman show “Ann,” making its West Coast debut March 22 at Pasadena Playhouse.

Pasadena Playhouse/Submitted

Holland Taylor brings inspiring Ann Richards to life

By Bliss Bowen LA Downtown News Contributing Writer t the top of “Ann” — actress and first-time playwright Holland Taylor’s acclaimed one-woman show about legendary Texas Gov. Ann Richards — the politician is seen addressing the 1998 Democratic convention.

At the time, she was Texas’ state treasurer.

Richards establishes her spitfire bona fides while invoking the memory of Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who delivered a historic keynote address in 1976.

“Two women in 160 years is about par for the course,” Richards quips, jabbing at sexism in politics while noting she was only the second woman to give the keynote address.

“But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, she just did it backward — and in high heels.”

It’s a winning introduction to both Richards — a recovered alcoholic, divorcee, and mother of four (daughter Cecile later became president of Planned Parenthood) — and Taylor, whose savvy portrayal is as earthy as it is elegant.

It’s also deeply informed by the three years of research Taylor conducted before the play’s first production in 2010.

“I could have researched for 10 years more and been happy as a clam, because learning her at the deepest possible level was one of the great pleasures of life,” the Philadelphia-born actress recalled during an animated phone discussion of the play.

From its Galveston debut, the play eventually wound its way to the Kennedy Cen-

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ter in Washington, D.C., and then Broadway’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre, where Taylor earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance in 2013.

“Ann” was scheduled to receive its West Coast premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2020, but COVID-19 had other plans.

Directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein, it finally landed on the Playhouse stage Tuesday, March 22. It runs through Sunday, April 24.

“She is timeless, and her values are always necessary. The homespun truths that she lived by will always be true,” said Taylor, who channeled her sorrow over Richards’ 2006 death into the play.

“People found it very timely in New York in 2013 — some of the themes she discusses and also what she stood for. During Trump’s presidency in 2016, we took the play to Austin, and audience members who had seen it in New York said, ‘You did good little rewrites.’ I said, ‘No, there’s nothing new in the play.’ ‘But it’s so timely,’ they said. I said, ‘She’s timely.’”

Richards’ pride in establishing an administration reflecting the Lone Star State’s demographic diversity echoes the Biden administration: “More important than legislation, more important than vetoes and the bully pulpit, was our promise that we would put together a government of citizens that for once looked like the population of this state, where there would be no persons in all of Texas who did not see others serving in office who looked just like them.”

Life isn’t fair, but government should be, Richards reminds the audience more than once, a mantra Taylor’s script shows arising from Richards’ modest background.

“The person who holds this office really must have a conscience to know that how they direct this government dramatically affects the lives of real people who are counting on them,” Richards insisted.

“This play is not political; it is not partisan,” Taylor emphasized. “It isn’t really that much about politics; it’s about a woman. Now, she happens to spend part of her time as a politician. Full-time human, part-time politician.”

Taylor, whose sharp comic timing has distinguished her work in film (“Legally Blonde,” “Romancing the Stone”) and television (“Hollywood,” “Two and a Half Men,” an Emmy-winning turn in “The Practice”), recounts the one time she met Richards at a hilarious lunch at Le Cirque in Manhattan with gossip columnist pal Liz Smith and a roomful of awed society doyennes and business hotshots.

“I’ve said this a thousand times in interviews because it’s true: She could have been Mick Jagger. People were like, ‘Oh, my God!’” Asked what she considers Richards’ greatest legacy, she cited the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders and Richards’ talent for lifting people up: “She knew how to live. She lived a meaningful life that was very full of joy.

“She had no training to be a great leader,” Taylor said.

“There was nothing to make anyone think she would achieve anything special in life from what she came into in this world. So, it’s good to see somebody who has human faults and wonderful characteristics and came from an unassuming background who reaches for the stars and who also has a purpose to their life. I think that is the thing that inspires people.”

At 79, Taylor said the prospect of “serving something bigger than myself” persuaded her to commit to such a taxing show.

“It takes two months to learn the play; it’s a very, very long text. There’s no ad libbing. It’s very complicatedly written. It is very precisely written. I do not change a word,” she explained, adding that she repeats words to replicate Richards’ speech patterns.

“I have two hours a day with somebody on FaceTime watching the script while I am doing it from memory. So, by the end of the two months leading up to rehearsal, you’re doing half the play every day. … It is a spiritual adventure, which is funny when you consider I’m not particularly spiritual. But it is definitely a quest, and it is a heartfilled quest.”

“Ann” with Holland Taylor WHEN: Various times through Sunday, April 24 WHERE: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Avenue, Pasadena COST: Tickets start at $34 INFO: 626-356-7529, hollandtaylor.com, theannrichardsplay.com, pasadenaplayhouse.org

MARCH 28, 2022

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Estonian muralist paints iconic Continental Building

By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor s the city of Los Angeles continues to grow and new development changes the Downtown cityscape, LA-based muralist Svetlana Talabolina looks to breathe new life into one of the city’s first skyscrapers.

Built in 1903 by John Parkinson, famed architect of the Memorial Coliseum, Union Station and LA City Hall, the Continental Building stands as a 175-foot, 12-story Beaux Arts-style tower on Spring Street and was the tallest building in the city for more than 50 years.

Talabolina lived in the Continental Building for six months until fall 2020, and with her mural will look to add a splash of thought-provoking creativity to an often-overlooked part of the building.

“The building is an architectural treasure,” Talabolina said. “Inside of the building is a courtyard with three walls that are connected and have windows to apartments, but there is one wall that’s really dark and goes nowhere. My whole point was to take this darkness and to make it light and bright.”

The mural pays homage to the work of French artist Henri Matisse, whose classic childlike figures are depicted within a clock on the courtyard wall. Talabolina titled the work “Inside of Time,” as the viewer’s perspective is from the clock’s interior.

“Every day we are only given so much time, and the clock represents the time that we have,” Talabolina said. “Whatever you do, it always has to be done with love, and our relationships among people should be better than they are. Time will never stop. It’ll always keep going, and the more time we spend on love, the better.”

Talabolina fell in love with art at a young age inspired by her mother, who would paint fairytale characters on the walls of her childhood home in Estonia, until she slowly lost inspiration as an artist in high school.

“I stopped drawing, because I didn’t know what to draw,” Talabolina explained.

“I wanted to say something, but I had nothing to say because I was way too

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young, and I didn’t have enough experiences.”

Talabolina moved to the United States when she was 23. The emotions of love and heartbreak she experienced amid the highs and lows of life as a traveler in a country so far from her home reignited the spark for artistic expression that she felt as a child.

In the United States, one of Talabolina’s friends started a company staging houses and asked her if she would make a painting to hang inside of a house. Artwork can be an important tool in making a house’s interior more attractive to buyers, so Talabolina agreed to help her friend and to try painting again.

“It was horrible,” Talabolina said. “She asked me for such a simple thing, just a few lines, and believe it or not I couldn’t do it. I was shaking.”

In her head, Talabolina knew what the painting would look like, but it was as if she had forgotten how to achieve that vision.

A few weeks after her failure, however, she read an article about the iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and suddenly felt the urge to paint. She painted a portrait of Kahlo, but in black and white with half of her face pushed to the side and a gun in her hands. It was a piece of art that was completely different from what she had attempted for her friend, but it was a success and has been regarded by many as her best work.

“Her vision was a completely different vision of the world, and I was able to paint a portrait in such a dark way as she actually felt,” Talabolina described. “At that moment when I painted Frida Kahlo, I realized what I was capable of.”

Talabolina began painting artwork for her friend to stage in houses, and then began searching for projects as a muralist. Today, she paints stories on the walls of Los Angeles as her mother once did on the walls of her childhood bedroom.

Within her work, Talabolina often seeks to express her passion for emotions with color and understanding of language.

“You can see emotion in colors or shapes, and I personally believe that the

Talabolina’s mural on the Continental Building was inspired by the iconic figures of Matisse and covers a slice of the interior courtyard wall.

Svetlana Talabolina/Submitted

connection between several bodies can tell a story,” Talabolina said.

Her process often begins by drawing different bodies and postures on a canvas, then draws inspiration from both watching the performances of dancers and reflecting upon her own personal experiences, the emotions of which have become infused in her work.

“I am painting what I feel or what I went through,” Talabolina explained. “I’m still perhaps discovering my philosophy.

The style that I developed is only 2 years old, it’s a baby, so I still have a lot to learn

and to understand.”

Talabolina is a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. It was fate that brought her to the Continental Building to both live in and paint upon.

“I was moved there by the universe just so I can do that mural, and I can’t wait to show it to everyone,” Talabolina said.

On March 19, Talabolina finished painting the mural, “Inside of Time,” and it is now on display at the Continental Building at 408 S. Spring Street.

Svetlana Talabolina instagram.com/svetlana.talabolina

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MARCH 28, 2022

Covered SPORTSCalifornia will help

Twyman communicates importance of sharing Rams’ news

By Jeff Moeller LA Downtown News Contributing Writer aron Donald, Johnny Hekker and Rob Havenstein. They were the last three Rams players to lift the Super Bowl trophy at SoFi Stadium in February who played for the franchise when it was located St. Louis.

And Artis Twyman was with them every step of the way.

“These three guys are great players, but even better people,” Twyman said.

“To see them win a championship was something really special. I’ve seen firsthand the work and sacrifice they have put into this game for a very long time.”

Twyman did not make a tackle or catch a ball at the Big Game, but he seemingly was just as active. In his 11th year as senior director of communications for the Rams — Twyman oversees the media relations staff — he was front and center for the organization as the team took to

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the big stage during the franchise’s most pivotal moment.

“One of our organizational goals was to win the LA Super Bowl. This wasn’t just on the field, but in communications, it meant to take advantage of this opportunity to tell every story we could to a larger audience. The NFL playoffs and Super Bowl are national stages where only a few teams are highlighted,” he said.

“This was the time for us to promote the team, the stadium, the iconic moment, in ways we may not have been able to do throughout the regular season.”

An NFL’s communications department is responsible for working with media as they cover a team. The public relations staff works hard to craft media messaging for the organization and to assist players, coaches and staff during their media presence. All those cameras and microphones directed as those in the Rams locker room? Twyman and his team

there play a huge role, which basically serves the fan who wants to follow every move of their favorite team.

Twyman has earned his championship ring. He broke into the NFL in 2001 as a public relations intern for the expanded Houston Texans and he also worked two years as a public relations assistant for the Seattle Seahawks. From 1995 to 2001, he worked in the Tennessee State University Public Relations Department serving in several capacities, including three years as public information officer.

Content is king. Bill Gates in 1996 wrote the famous essay with that title, and it is something that permeates in the world of sports and entertainment in particular. The value a big-time sports program brings to their community is unmatched, as is the public scrutiny which comes with being a National Football League member. There is an insatiable appetite to know everything, and on the

rare occasion the world’s largest single sporting event is in your backyard, it put a unique pressure on Twyman to help the organization produce its best effort.

“It was the Super Bowl, the largest single sporting event. And to have the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl in your home stadium, the first-time fans were allowed back into stadiums, it was a unique moment. It had only been once that a team played in a Super Bowl in their home stadium, and that was just last year. We wanted to be sure to capture this moment and tell our story to an audience that spanned across the globe.”

Twyman’s professional background helped him be prepared.

The 2022 season will be Twyman’s 20th season with the Rams. After being named a finalist in 2017 for the Pro Football Writers Association’s Pete Rozelle Award, which is given annually to the NFL club public relations staff that con-

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DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

sistently strives for excellence in its dealings and relationships with the media, the Rams won the award following the 2018 season.

In 2016, the Rams moved back to Los Angeles, where Twyman had to establish new relationships with key media members. He has been active in his new community, too, as Twyman last year served as chair of the dean’s advisory council at California Lutheran University.

It also takes a certain skill set to do the job, which includes around-the-clock team coverage — think 24-hour news cycle — and, in Twyman’s opinion, one key word: adaptability.

“You have to be able to operate in an ever-changing media landscape,” he said.

“What we did last year may not be as effective in the future, and you must be comfortable adjusting to some aspects of what we do to remain ahead of the curve. You also have to treat people with respect.

“Tim McVay, coach (Sean) McVay’s father, says, ‘You compete with your product, but you win with your people.’ I wholeheartedly believe that. How you treat people that you work with on a regular basis is very important to me. Everyone deserves respect.

“Lastly, there is no substitution for hard

work. When I talk to students, I tell them there are no shortcuts to get where you want to be in life. The Bible says ‘faith without work is dead.’ No matter how much you believe in yourself or the talent you may have, you have to work to succeed.”

Twyman, one of only two public relations officials throughout the 32-team league chosen to work the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, is now truly at home in Los Angeles. His roots elsewhere laid the foundation.

Twyman earned his undergraduate degree in speech communications from Tennessee State University in Nashville.

He then garnered a master’s degree in mass communications from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

And, again, he made that move from St. Louis to this nation’s second largest media market. The St. Louis Rams are no more.

“To be honest, I haven’t heard much of that talk in the first place,” Twyman said when asked if the thrilling victory over the Bengals solidified this franchise’s move west. “I think because the Rams played in Los Angeles nearly 50 years before moving to St. Louis, it was more like the Rams returning home when we came back in 2016 than relocating to a new city.”

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a Advertising is Keep Great Way to rs Your Custome Informed The Los Angeles Downtown News publishes a wide array of special sections and quarterlies throughout the year on topics like Health, Education, Nightlife and Residential Living.

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As director of communications for the Rams, Artis Twyman oversees the media relations staff.

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SPECIAL ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

■ CALIFORNIA AREA RESIDENTS CASH IN: It’s hard to tell how much these unsearched Vault Bags loaded with rarely seen Gov’t issued coins that everyone will be trying to get could be worth someday. That’s because each Vault Bag is known to contain nearly 3 pounds of Gov’t issued coins some dating back to the 1800’s including all those shown in today’s publication. In addition, after each bag is loaded with over 200 rarely seen coins, each verified to meet a minimum collector grade of very good or above, the dates and mint marks are never searched to determine collector values. So you better believe at just $980 these unsearched Vault Bags are a real steal.

Rarely seen United States coins up for grabs in California -zip codes determine who gets them

Unsearched Vault Bags loaded with rarely seen U.S. Gov’t issued coins some dating back to the 1800’s and worth up to 50 times their face value are actually being handed over to residents who find their zip code below and beat the 48 hour order deadline CA RESIDENTS: IF YOU FIND THE FIRST THREE DIGITS OF YOUR ZIP CODE BELOW. CALL: 1-800-869-3164 UV32852 900 901 902 903 904

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“The vaults at Federated Mint are going empty,” said Laura A. Lynne, Director of Coin and Currency for Federated Mint.

That’s because a decision by Federated Mint to release rarely seen U.S. Gov’t issued coins, some worth up to 50 times their face value, means unsearched Vault Bags loaded with U. S. Gov’t issued coins dating back to the 1800’s are now being handed over to U.S. residents who find the first three digits of their zip code listed in today’s publication.

“But don’t thank the

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Government. As Director of Coin and Currency for Federated Mint, I get paid to inform and educate the general public regarding U.S. coins. Ever since the decision by Federated Mint to release rarely seen Gov’t issued coins to the general public — I’m being asked how much are the unsearched Vault Bags worth? The answer is, there’s no way to tell. Coin values always fluctuate and there are never any guarantees, but we do know this.

Each unsearched bag weighs nearly 3 pounds and is known to contain

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rarely seen Morgan Silver Dollars and these coins alone could be worth $40 - $325 in collector value each according to The Official Red Book, a Guide Book of United States Coins. So there’s no telling what you’ll find until you search through all the coins. But you better believe at just $980 these unsearched Vault Bags are a steal, “said Lynne.

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circulating U.S. coins dating back to the 1800’s so we won’t be surprised if thousands of U.S. residents claim as many as they can get their hands on. That’s because after the bags were loaded with nearly 3 pounds of Gov’t issued coins, each verified to meet a minimum collector grade quality of very good or above, the dates and mint marks were never searched to determine collector values and the bags were securely R1054R-2

(Continued on next page)

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DOWNTOWN NEWS 21 SPECIAL ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ISSUED COINS SEALED IN EACH BAG:

Silver Morgan Dollar 1878-1921

Silver Liberty Head 1892-1915

■ UNSEARCHED: Pictured above are the unsearched Vault Bags being handed over to California residents who call the National Toll-Free Hotline before the 48-hour deadline ends. And here’s the best part. Each Vault Bag is loaded with over 200 Gov’t issued coins, including all the coins pictured in today’s publication, some dating back to the 1800’s and worth up to 50 times their face value. Each coin is verified to meet a minimum collector grade of very good or above before the bags are securely sealed and the dates and mint marks are never searched by Federated Mint to determine collector value. If you find your zip code listed, call 1-800-869-3164 EXT.UV32852 immediately.

(Continued from previous page) Silver Walking Liberty 1916-1947

Silver Peace Dollar 1921-1935

Silver Ben Franklin 1948-1963

sealed. That means there’s no telling what you’ll find until you search all the coins,” said Lynne.

The only thing U.S. residents who find their zip code printed in today’s publication need to do is call the National Toll-Free Hotline before the 48-hour deadline ends.

This is very important. After the Vault Bags were loaded with over 200 Gov’t issued coins, each verified to meet a minimum collector grade quality of very good or above, the dates and mint marks were never searched to determine collector values. The Vault Bag fee has been set for $1,500 for residents who miss the 48-hour deadline, but for those U.S. residents who beat the 48-hour deadline the Vault Bag fee is just $980 as long as they call the National Toll-Free Hotline before the deadline ends.

“Remember this, we cannot stop

collectors from buying up all the unsearched bags of coins they can get in this special advertising announcement. And you better believe with each bag being loaded with nearly 3 pounds of Gov’t issued coins we’re guessing they’re going to go quick,” said Lynne.

The phone lines will be ringing off the hook beginning at precisely 8:30 a.m. this morning. That’s because each unsearched Vault Bag is loaded with the rarely seen coins pictured left and highly sought after collector coins dating clear back to the 1800’s including iconic Morgan Silver Dollars, a historic Peace Silver Dollar, stunning Silver Walking Liberty Half Dollars, the collectible Silver Eisenhower Dollars, spectacular Silver Liberty Head Half and Quarter Dollars, rarely seen Silver Franklin Half Dollars, high demand President Kennedy Silver Half Dollars, beautiful Silver Standing

Liberty Quarter Dollars, American Bicentennial Quarters, rare Liberty V Nickels, one cent Historic Wheat Coins including 1943 “Steel Cents”, one of the beautiful Winged Liberty Head Dimes, scarce Indian Head one cent U.S. coins and the last ever minted Buffalo Nickels.

“With all these collectible Gov’t Issued coins up for grabs we’re going to do our best to answer all the calls,” said Lynne.

Thousands of U.S. residents stand to miss the deadline to claim the U.S. Gov’t issued coins. That means U.S. residents who find the first three digits of their zip code listed in today’s publication can claim the unsearched bags of money for themselves and keep all the U.S. Gov’t issued coins found inside.

If you find your zip code listed, call 1-800-869-3164 EXT.UV32852 immediately. Just be sure to call before the deadline ends 48 hours from today’s publication date. ■

FEDERATED MINT, LLC IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE U.S. MINT, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, A BANK OR ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY. IF FOR ANY REASON WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM SHIPMENT YOU ARE DISSATISFIED, RETURN THE PRODUCT FOR A REFUND LESS SHIPPING AND RETURN POSTAGE. THIS SAME OFFER MAY BE MADE AVAILABLE AT A LATER DATE OR IN A DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. OH RESIDENTS ADD 6.5% SALES R1054R-2 TAX. FEDERATED MINT, PO BOX 1200, MASSILLON, OH 44648 ©2022 FEDERATED MINT

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Covered SPORTSCalifornia will help

USC lacrosse’s Kait Devir has had a lax career

By Jeff Moeller LA Downtown News Contributing Writer ait Devir won two awards in her first two weeks in her new role as USC’s lacrosse goalie.

That number — two — is a bit ironic for the New Jersey native, who is nicely settling into her job with the Trojan family.

After all, she just transferred to USC after two years at Boston College where she appeared in two games.

Named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after season-opening wins against San Diego State and No. 18-ranked Jacksonville, this is just how the ultra-focused Devir pictured her sports-playing career evolving after making the decision to leave a championship squad.

“Boston College’s win in the final game was because of the work from every member on the team, including the ones who did not play,” Devir said.

“Our team grew as a unit, and it took every player to be victorious in the end. I am proud to have been a part of something so special. … Very few athletes share that accolade.”

Pictured and focused are also words familiar to Devir away from the lacrosse field.

When the 5-foot-5 sophomore is not tracking vulcanized latex rubber balls at a high rate of speed, the netminder is at home with a camera, working hard toward her dream job: sports photographer.

“While I was competitively ski racing in middle school, I used a GoPro so I could study my form to improve my race times,” she said.

“Not only did I see benefits in my performance, but I also began to capture amazing memories skiing with my family, friends

K

and teammates.”

In capturing content, Devir sees many benefits.

“My dream assignment is to capture the big play in a big game but also capture the little moments which inspired me to play sports at such a young age,” she said.

“Seeing photos and videos of amazing, powerful and strong athletes helped formulate my dreams of becoming that, too. I want to give young athletes content to inspire them to play sports.”

Athletes are used to having their photo taken. Devir, of course, takes it one step further. A communication major at USC, time management is a critical skill she learned early on to balance books and lax. It keeps her busy.

Her work ethic is what caught the attention of the USC coaching staff who signed the transfer goaltender in November after entering the transfer portal.

The decision to leave Massachusetts was not automatic for Devir. She had committed to Boston College out of high school, where she was a three-time New Jersey High School All-America selection. Boston College won the school’s first NCAA championship in 2021, after topping No. 1-ranked Syracuse. Devir was in uniform, but despite a lacrosse team fielding 12 players at a time, only one goalie plays.

Devir acted.

“There were days where I didn’t believe in myself or my abilities,” she admitted, “but I would not stop working to achieve my lacrosse goals. I spent countless hours doing extra training with our fitness coach, extra shooting with teammates, watching film and focusing on my diet. I knew my time would come.”

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Kait Devir was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.

USC Athletics/Jenny Chuang/Submitted

Less than two months after her college team earned its greatest prize in Towson, Maryland, Devir garnered work as a freelance photographer with Athletes Unlimited — a startup league featuring the best players in the country — in nearby Gaithersburg. Devir’s work as a content creator — live posts, highlight videos, live tweeting — gave her a sideline seat. She went from stopping shots to taking them.

“It was cool for me to know that, at 19 years old, I was making an impact on the sport and helping it grow. Now, I’m just so excited to be part of the USC team and help raise the profile of lacrosse in California, whether I’m playing or taking photos.”

Since moving here in January, Devir is getting acclimated to a new environment.

USC is one of a handful of Division 1 lax programs along the West Coast. The sport is growing rapidly but can be discarded by those in lacrosse hotbeds in the upper East Coast.

Devir and her teammates, highlighted by Kelsey Huff and local product Shelby Tilton (Westlake High School alum), compete at McAlister Field. The Women of Troy play 16

games in the spring. Among the remaining home games: April 8, April 10 and April 30.

“My dream school when I was a kid was USC, but when you’re a goalie, it can be tough, because if a school has a goalie a year older than you in that position, they’re not going to be looking at you,” she said.

“A couple of years ago, that was the situation at USC: They already had a goalie, so they didn’t need me. I ended up committing to Boston College, and I was beyond excited about that opportunity. Our first season came to an end because of COVID, and my sophomore year we were national champions. It was phenomenal and an experience that I will forever cherish.

“While there, I immersed myself into photography, taking pictures and shooting any possible athletic event. I discovered it was what I wanted to do careerwise, so I went into the NCAA transfer portal looking for a school that would better fit for my athletic and academic career.

“Reflecting on my dream in eighth grade, I was really excited that I was now being given the chance to fulfill my dream and ‘fight on’ as a goalie for the Trojans.”

MARCH 28, 2022

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