The event celebrates the women of color ARTivist collective’s 13th Anniversary and 8th poetry and arts publication, and is in honor of International Women’s Day, and Women’s Herstory month.  Mujeres de Maiz has a month of events that will also include two group art exhibits, a poetry night as well as possible workshops and other events happening throughout March 2010.  The event is also part of an other Month long series of events; “A Prayer for Juarez.”

Sunday, March 7th

Schedule of Events
3pm – 5pm
Public Live Art Show (FREE)

Mariachi Plaza
E 1st St & N Boyle Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90033

featuring all women performers: Danza Azteca, Cihuatl Ce, Guerrilla Queenz, In Lak Ech, Las Ramonas, Raquel Salinas, and The Sirens.
3pm – 9pm

First Street “Mujeres de Maiz”
Art Walk Exhibitions (FREE)

Exhibit at Primera Taza
1850 East 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033

Mujer Mercadito Vendors
Primera Taza back parking lot

Mujeres de Maiz Live Art Show

Casa Grande Salon
2708 East Cesar Chavez Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90033

Limited Seating available 6:30 p.m.
$20 General Admission
$15 for Students w/ ID

Performers include:
D’Lo, Happy Frejo, Hermanas Canto Cura, Indigie Femme,
Josefina Lopez, Las Bomberas de la Bahia, Martha Gonzalez from Quetzal, Claudia ‘Cava’ Gonzalez from CAVA, La Santa Cecilia and Special guest of honor SUSANA BACA

MdM Anniversary Celebration

Eastside Luv
1835 East 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033

Parking is only on local streets at this time.
We strongly recommend you take the Metro Gold line
(Mariachi Plaza stop is right in front of the 1st event).

Muchisimas Gracias… (special thanks to…)
The Peruvian Community, Supervisor Gloria Molina’s office, Casa0101, Corazon del Pueblo
Primera Taza, East Side Luv and the Local First St. businesses & community organizations. Also thanks to our Comadre Circle CSULA Chican@ Studies professsor: Professora Dionne Espinoza, CSUN Professoras: Sirena Pelarollo (Spanish), Marta Lopez Garza (Womens’ Studies), Mary Pardo & Lara Medina (Chican@ Studies), Mujeres Activas En Letras Y Cambio Social de CSULA andMECHA de CSUN.

CORAZON DEL PUEBLO presents…
Flowers of Fire: Poesia de Lucha y Amor

Join Boyle Heights Bards:
BUS STOP PROPHET, KRISTY LOVICH & JOHN CARLOS DE LUNA
for a FREE Bi-Monthly Poetry, Performance, & Open Mic Event

January 13th
8:00pm-Midnight
Early Sign-Ups for Open Mic: 7:30pm-8:00pm

@ Corazon del Pueblo
2003 E. 1st St.
Los Angeles 90033

JANUARY 13th
Featured Poets:
Matt Sedillo
John Carlos de Luna
Luluminous

Featured Musician:
Calix Reneau

JANUARY 27th
Featured Poets:
Abel Salas
Christy Ramirez
Dora Magaña

Featured Musicians:
City Terrace’s own Original Rock Sons
I.A.M.U.
Willie Herron lll (Los Illegals)
Sid Medina (The Brat)

FLOWERS OF FIRE scheduled for January 13th & 27th
EVERY 2ND & 4TH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH @ CORAZON DEL PUEBLO

This year, Self Help Graphics & Arts celebrates its 36th Annual Dia De Los Muertos in a new location–the East Los Angeles Civic Center, in Belvedere Lakeside Park. With so much space we are able to expand SHG booths to accommodate more of our faithful vendors, increase the kid’s arts space, and expand the entertainment area. This year, we need many more volunteers than ever before. As an experienced Day of the Dead volunteer, we are asking that you join our efforts by giving us your time to make our signature event a dynamic and memorable evening for all who participate. Our main event will take place on Monday, November 2, 2009 between 5 PM-11 PM. We can use your help with event set up, event design and décor installation, face painting, vendor assistance, entrance guardians and event breakdown. For those who cannot assist in the main event, other opportunities to volunteer at Self Help Graphics & Art (in the Upper Level of the building located at 3802 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, 90063) are:

· Workshop assistants on Saturdays in October between 12 PM – 4 PM

· Noche De Ofrenda, Saturday, October 24th, 2009 5 PM to 10 PM

· Deadly Stylish Art Exhibit Opening, Sunday, November 1st 4-8 PM

· Deadly Stylish Art Exhibit Docent, Tuesday, November 3-28*

*Additional training required, Docent schedules to be determined upon availability. As you can see, there are many opportunities for you to participate in. We are requesting:

· A three-hour commitment per shift and

· Attendance to one brief Volunteer Training Session at Self Help Graphics on:

Tuesday, October 20, at 7 PM or Thursday, October 22 at 7 PM. If you’re interested in volunteering, please read and fill out the attached volunteer form, email it to volunteer@selfhelpgraphics.com.

Muy Agradecidos,
Day of the Dead Volunteer Committee
Self Help Graphics & Art

~ Pics are from last year ~

It’s that time of the year again where everything that is evil is fun again. That also means that Universal Studios Hollywood is ready to scare the crap outta you with their yearly horror nights. There’s nothing like some pig faced, seven foot goliath scaring the crap out of you with a chain saw buzzing over his head. Yes, Halloween is the most wonderful time of the year.

Last year the scaremazes based on the Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm St and Texas Chain Saw Massacre movies gave everyone a good scare. We can all use a good scare or a good laugh from watching people get scare. For this year, the movies Saw, Halloween, My Bloody Valentine, Shaun of the Dead and Child’s Play. They’re also including some lives shows based on the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure. Not only that but you’ll be able to go on all the regular rides at night with special twist to them and walk around the Halloween’ed out back lot while riding the terror tram. This will all be ongoing every weekend starting this Friday until Halloween. Event dates are: October 2-3, 9-11, 15-18, 23-25, 28-31. It starts off at 7:00 p.m.; closing hours vary by night throughout the event. If anything else, it’s a great date night because chances are your date will get freaked out and run into your arms. Strangers will also be running into your arms too. trust me on this.

Engaging the audience in multiple facets of the immigration debate, playwright and attorney Evangeline Ordaz has crafted an amazingly powerful story in “Visitors Guide to Arivaca.” This powerful, emotional and thought provoking play highlights the numerous viewpoints that are intertwined with one another when people cross the border, protect it and when it lands at their front door as Ordaz ingeniously shows how one simple act, can cause a butterfly affect.

The play focuses on the journey Valente, who is played by Justin Huen and his wife Linda, played by Marissa Garcia make crossing the border from Mexico to the U.S. via the Arizona border. The hardships and tribulations Valente and Linda face all mirror the same experiences other immigrants face when crossing the border through the desert, which includes carrying enough food and water, knowing which trails to take, dealing with criminals and surviving the arduous trek alive and healthy. This sets off a chain reaction of problems that begin to trickle down to near by residents who live near the border and how the act of people immigrating from Mexico to the U.S. causes numerous live to be intertwined.

Originally commissioned in 2007 for the Borderlands Theater Company in Tuscon, Ordaz spent time with the humanitarian group, “No More Deaths,” which is composed of volunteers who provide medical aid and nourishment to immigrants crossing. The play came as a response to two activist being arrested on the grounds that they helped smuggle an immigrant across the border when they actually drove the person to a hospital to get them immediate medical help. During her time in Arivaca, Ordaz participated the various forms of help the volunteers provide to people crossing whether it was keeping an eye out for people that needed help, setting up water stations or carrying supplies. She also interviewed various volunteers, residents and immigrants crossing to get a better understanding of the reasons why everyone does what they do. This influenced the characters found through out the play.

The desert where the play is set is also part of the Tohono O’odham Nations land, which highlights how the native American tribes that live on or close to the border manage with people crossing and dying on their lands. It also touches on the ethical and legal ramifications that residents face when trying to provide immigrants with aid.

The story is carefully crafted like a hand knit sweater as the focus goes from one character to another, while at the same time giving each character enough time to develop throughout the play. This adds to the multiple layers found in the play that synchronize with one another, never getting tangled up or confusing the audience.

This makes it easier to see some of the critical points Ordaz and Director Armando Molina make about the events in the play and the personal ethical judgments characters encounter when they become involved. This is because they are all linked together by their passions whether it’s trying to work for a better quality of life, fulfill their patriotic duty, clear their conscience or just trying to stay out of it all together.

The design and lighting crew has done an amazing job of creating a small patch of desert inside the Alexandria’s black box theater. Half way through the play the audience will forget that they’re in the middle of downtown and that they’re actually there in the dessert crossing over with Valente and Linda. Especially when the play can take an emotional toll on the audience as the subject matter can hit close to home for audience members who have family members who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico.

The rest of the cast does an amazing job helping craft the over all story and bringing their own characters to life with vibrant passion and enthusiasm. “Visitors Guide to Arivaca” continues on through October 4 with performances at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 7 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for students. As a special promotion, LA Taco readers who buy their tickets online can get a discounted price by using the code: randomhero. The Company of Angeles Theater Company is one of Los Angeles’ oldest non-profit theater companies and is celebrating their 50th anniversary this October.

From the press release ~ “On the evenings of June 7, July 12, and August 16, GREGORIO LUKE AT THE FORD, LIFE SIZE MURALS unfolds on the Ford Amphitheatre’s outdoor stage. Though Mr. Luke has performed extensively in the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, which he directed from 1999 to 2007, this would be the first time he brings his mural presentations to a Los Angeles venue. This series of three spectacular multi-media presentations by Gregorio Luke showcases the work of famous Mexican artists. Murals are projected life size using the most advanced projection technology that gives viewers the sensation of being in front of
the original murals.

“We have always known that murals do not move” says Luke, “and yet modern technology allows us to project these murals with absolute fidelity.” Gregorio Luke is a pioneer in these multimedia presentations; he has offered hundreds of lectures in Mexico, Europe and the United States.

Mr. Luke is an engaging speaker and gifted story teller. His talent and knowledge have earned him a worldwide following. Gregorio Luke’s presentations blend the visual and narrative into seamless, intriguing productions. They combine the scale of film, the excitement of story telling and the exhilaration of learning. A curator and lecturer for more than 20 years, Mr. Luke has brought a new way of combining the visual with the narrative.

When prepares for lectures he completely immerses himself in the subject matter in a similar way that an actor preparing for a role. And when Mr. Luke presents his lectures, he does so without notes and using a clear and entertaining communication style. The series will begin Sunday, June 7, 8:30 pm with the work of Diego Rivera. Diego Rivera is the most well

known of the Mexican muralists. Throughout the presentation Luke will explore all aspects of Diego Rivera’s life and career; it will include samples of his cubist paintings, and follow Diego to his return to Mexico and his artistic experiences in the U.S. Ten of his murals will be projected life size, including the controversial Man at the Crossroads, destroyed by Rockefeller because Rivera refused to remove the portrait of Russian revolutionary leader Lenin and masterpieces such as The Dream of a Sunday Afternoon at the Alameda Park, and his murals in Mexico’s Palacio de Bellas Artes.

On Sunday, July 12, 8:30 pm the focus will be on the art of Rufino Tamayo, considered the great art dissenter in Mexico. He challenged Diego Rivera and his colleagues and refused to include politics in his art. Instead he found inspiration in Mexico’s Pre Hispanic and popular art. Tamayo became one of the most respected contemporary artists of the 20th Century and is considered one of the master colorists of all time. Murals to be shown are México Moderno y Nacimiento de Nuestra Nacionalidad at the Instituto
Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Prometeo for the Library of the University of Puerto Rico, Israel de Ayer e Israel de Hoy for the Israeli oceanliner Transatlántico Shalom and Dualidad,at the Museo Nacional
de Antropología, Mexico City.