Watts Community Garden Celebration...
Great Leap's Residency Project Bears Fruit
June 1, 2002 @ 12 noon

	Artwork by Gene Cooke

LOS ANGELES – Great Leap’s “To All Relations: From the Ground Up!” residency project at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee culminates with a Garden Celebration featuring live music, theatrical performances, creative offerings by local youth, and health and wellness lecture/demonstrations. Join Great Leap and friends as we celebrate the growth of our community garden on Saturday, June 1 at 12 noon at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC). Admission is free.

Our celebration will begin with a garden blessing and dedication, followed by theatrical performances and live music. Great Leap artists Alison De La Cruz, Gina Fields, and Monica Sahagun will perform “A Slice of Rice, Frijoles and Greens.” This performance is a humorous and poignant mix of stories that give vivid insights into the Asian, Latino and African American experience. Bassist Nedra Wheeler, percussionist/taiko drummer Danny Yamamoto, and singer Nobuko Miyamoto join together to create live music in celebration of the community garden.

In addition to live performances and creative offerings by WLCAC youth, there will be an emphasis on health and wellness. Krishna Khalsa Kaur, Director of Yoga for Youth, will present a Kundalini yoga demonstration. Adonijah Miyamura El, a practitioner of Food Forestry, will enlighten us about the creation of sustainable environments, including community gardens. Free, healthy and delicious food will be provided.

The WLCAC is a 7-acre complex located in Watts with a focus on art, culture and technology as platforms for community wellness. In November, Great Leap, a multicultural performing arts organization, began a six-month residency at the complex. Weekly workshops led by Great Leap artists were designed to bring diverse communities together to create personal stories and to discover individual perceptions about what is vital to life. During the past few months, WLCAC youth have also witnessed the natural growth of plants in the community garden. Under their care, the garden has flourished, yielding Swiss chard, collard greens, tomatoes, and beans. Come and see how our garden has grown!

This project is made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Los Angeles Times, Ralph’s/Food4Less Foundation, The Aaroe Associates Charitable Foundation, Sara Lee Fresh/International Baking Co., Hitachi, Ltd., FIA Insurance Services, Inc., and Grancell, Lebovitz, Stander, Marx and Barnes. Great Leap, Inc. is a participant in the New Generations Program, funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American Theatre.

To RSVP or for further information, please call (213) 250-8800. The Watts Labor Community Action Committee is located at 10950 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, just south of Century Boulevard. Plenty of secure parking is available at the complex.

Updated: 7/11/02