Claudia drove to LA with Olivia Ting for the EAAT Exhibition and to do some Why Mask Activation with Jesenia. Jesenia joined from Texas and they attended the NETneXt Community Agreements Within Ensembles digital peer exchange event. They hit the ground running and drove to LA Art District. Some spaces said yes to posting the art and others rejected the idea. Jesenia and Claudia did guerrilla installation outside with Why Mask stickers.
They also met with Calling Up Justice collaborators who shared their spaces, and talked about future collaborations. De La Projects produces Trek Table with us and introduced us to their collaboratively shared music space. They loved the COVID cautious supplies the room held and thoughtful management. Damien Burke joined us at the EAAT exhibition opening. They discussed Followers Forever, art, access, and social justice.
Claudia Alick and Edgar Miramontes recently sunsetted their tenures on National Play Project with NEFA. Edgar gave a great tour of CAP UCLA brings the world’s most innovative and dynamic performing artists live to the stages of UCLA’s Royce Hall, and the new UCLA Nimoy Theater. They missed seeing The Theatre at Ace Hotel this trip. Their favorite aspects were the accessible bathrooms, accessible seating, and great quiet library nook at the Nimoy Theater. Claudia also loved that it was a Star Trek related space!
Speaking of Star Trek…Jesenia and Claudia attended the strike at Paramount. They attended to show labor solidarity in person. They were planning to protest at Amazon but then decided to go to Paramount because it had karaoke! It was a surprisingly accessible and supported event. Jesenia helped them pick p their t-shirts and picket signs and they spent the morning marching. Claudia was thrilled to meet Tim Russ a well known actor who has been in several Star Trek properties.
They traveled to Leimert Park to meet Ben Caldwell at Kaos Network. They reminisced about Festival of Masks and talked about Sankofa City. They talked community organizing. jesenia and Claudia explored the neighborhood, park and plaza. They ended by supporting the neighborhood and buying some clothing and lotion from a sidewalk vendor.
The E.A.A.T. exhibition was ambitious, complex, and very cool. Claudia provided some visual descriptions of the space doing writing and video recording. Claudia also led an access training with the assistance of Jesenia. The load in and opening were truly reflections of the themes of the exhibition. Jesenia joined Olivia and Claudia on the drive back to the Bay Area.
The first day back in Bay Area was rest and recovery with bubble baths, self reflection and more applying for grants. The next day they scouted SF Moma and spoke with their manager of visitor experience operations.They walked around Yerba Buena Garden Plaza and the MLK quote Garden. They ran into a tech conference and grabbed potato latkes outside the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Claudia shared a few different styles of videogame in the studio.
The next day they had a brunch meeting with Chelsea House, a universal designer, innovator, and Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies. She is also a Black, neurodivergent, queer, disabled woman who lives with largely non-visible, chronic disabilities. She has attended Justice Producers Collaborative and is working with One Free Community. They had a yummy brunch and equally satisfying conversation.
The next day Jesenia attended a virtual Disability Employment Awareness & meeting with Claudia on accessibility and the LEAD conference. Then Jesenia’s partner Jason flew in from Texas. After a quick tour of the Calling Up Justice Studios they were off to explore San Francisco. They stayed at a hotel closer to their itinerary.
Jason and Jesenia visited the Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of Fine Arts, SFMOMA, Haight & Ashbury and walked through Golden Gate Park to watch the sunset at Shell Beach. They watched windmills at dusk then ate tacos at Otra. They visited Alcatraz & Fisherman’s Wharf. Jesenia joined Claudia from her hotel room for a virtual training with Fresh Meat Productions. The next day she and Jason hiked Muir Woods. Why Mask Activation stickers going all over the city! Stumbled upon an amazing performance by Snow Raven. Then she attended the Disability Doula Workshop.
She attended the Yerba Buena Bay Now 9 Gallery Opening in the evening with Jason and Claudia. It was another wesme access performance from a gallery! They enjoyed some art and made some art. The Drag Show from Clutch the Pearls was something else! They ran into Julius Rea and took a fun selfie. Jesenia had a conversation with artist Indira Alegre under Texere projected upon the wall of the building. Claudia and Indira are working together on Gray Area Metaverse Project. It was an epic way to close out the residency.
