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‘Walk the Talk’ Archival website honors Skid Row Page 2

Appreciation Rally The public congregates at police HQ to show support Page 8

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RACIAL PROFILING? DTLA couple suing Nike

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JULY 20, 2020

‘Walk the Talk’ archival website honors Skid Row

By Sarah Donahue he legacy of Skid Row’s unsung heroes is being honored with a people’s history website that was created in efforts to challenge the stigma that surrounds the widely misunderstood community.

The Los Angeles Poverty Department, a Skid Row community-based art organization, launched the Walk the Talk website at the beginning of the month to pay tribute to 68 honorees who have devoted themselves to leading active civil engagements and visionary initiatives to better Skid Row. Every other year since 2012, the Los Angeles Poverty Department holds a Walk the Talk Parade during Memorial Day weekend to celebrate Skid Row’s dedicated residents. A New Orleans-style brass band marches through the streets as people carry portraits of the honorees designed by renowned artist, Mr. Brainwash.

Due to COVID-19, the parade didn’t happen this year, which prompted the organization to take the celebration online.

“We started working on this project in the context of COVID because their parade was canceled,” said artist and technologist Robert Ochshorn, who volunteered his craft to create the Walk the Talk website.

“We thought it would be a good opportunity to translate the parade online and also release some of the archival work that we’ve been organizing.”

The website archives interviews and performances of 68 people residing or working in Skid Row who have created a significant, positive change in the neighborhood. Without these civic efforts and initiatives, the community could have been bulldozed a long time ago, according to the Los Angeles Poverty Department.

The initiatives and works highlighted in the honorees’ legacy include fighting to create access for things that many take for granted, like parks, garbage cans, handwashing stations, portable toilets, as well as access to litigation and free community music programs.

“If people look at the website, they’re

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going to see the breadth of the experience and the breadth of the people,” said John Malpede, Los Angeles Poverty Department’s founder.

Malpede was a performance artist in New York before moving to LA where he connected with the people of Skid Row and dedicated himself to building opportunities for the community.

Ochshorn, who resides in Northern California, created the website using his company’s platform, Reduct Video, which offers users an elegant layout to learn the authentic history of the people who have devoted themselves to bettering a struggling community. Each honoree has its own parade performance and interview, where users can simultaneously view and read the typed transcript to learn about the community.

“I t ’s all about the people for me,” Ochshorn said. “I’ve been to many of these festivals for all Skid Row artists that are held annually, and I’m just so blown away by the talent, dedication, commitment, humanity from everyone I meet in that orbit and it’s always humbling and inspiring to witness.”

The site uses cutting-edge technology, where users can search for keywords and can see honorees who have discussed the topic. Users can also easily click anywhere on the transcribed words to be immediately taken to that section of the video, making it easy to search through and view the recordings.

“One of the things I’m most excited about right now is actually this launch as a beginning and seeing what kinds of conversations that we can organize on top of it using it,” Ochshorn said. He mentioned that he hopes this website will be a useful resource in mass communication about Skid Row and the issues that surround it, like police brutality, as well as access to housing, mental health, and drug rehabilitation services.

For the next year, the Los Angeles Poverty Department will invite scholars, community activists and artists to comment on the significance of the archives in a 5-min-

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Skid Row boasts unsung heroes and a local website is honoring them.

File photo

ute video that will be added to the website.

It’s important to control the narrative of Skid Row because what most people see in media coverage doesn’t show the truth that’s told in the honoree’s videos, said Charles Porter in his Walk the Talk response video. Porter is a coordinator for a community-based drug prevention program called United East Coalition Prevention Project and has worked in Skid Row for 20 years.

“It’s really a powerful tool and it highlights the connection between art and history and activism,” Porter said about the website.

The Walk the Talk website is powerful tribute to the movements connected to the people and shows the advocacy, vision, genius and passion of the community that wants to thrive and improve, he said.

“It becomes something that’s timeless;

there are people that are no longer physically here with us that are here with us,” Porter said. “We can extend back in time and listen to how people responded to issues we’re still facing right now, and we can learn lessons about what worked and what didn’t work.”

Since 1985, The Los Angeles Poverty Department has used art to bring the people of Skid Row together. Their efforts include opening a Skid Row History Museum as well as organizing performances, annual art shows and festivals to unite the unhoused individuals with the social workers who dedicate themselves to the community. Their goal is to put forth the notion that Skid Row can be bettered by encouraging and nurturing the power and talent that lies within.

“It’s a special history,” Malpede said, “This low-income residential community has a lot of heart and soul.”

Walk the Talk https://app.reduct.video/lapd/walk-the-talk/

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Six new hires join the Lucas Museum

By LA Downtown News Staff he Lucas Museum of Narrative Art increased its leadership staff by six.

Recently it hired Pilar Tompkins Rivas, chief curator and deputy director of curatorial and collections; Nenette Luarca-Shoaf, managing director of learning and engagement; Amanda Hunt, director of public programs and creative practice; Anais Disla, director of special events; Larissa Gentile, managing director of special projects; and Erica Neal, director of computing and infrastructure.

These positions will guide critical programmatic and operational areas for the Lucas Museum, which is under construction in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park.

“Since I started in January, we have been building the extraordinary physical structure of the Lucas Museum,” said Sandra Jackson-Dumont, director and CEO of the Lucas Museum.

“We have also been building the leadership structure that will shape the programs, policies, and practices of this unprecedented institution. As we strive to become a vital

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source of education, inspiration, and dialogue for our close neighbors around Exposition Park, all the communities of Los Angeles, and people around the world, we could not be more thrilled with the team we have been able to recruit, and we are immensely proud to announce. Their varied points of view, individual expertise, and combined decades of experience will help us realize our efforts to expand the role of art and museums for society through visual storytelling.”

Pilar Tompkins Rivas Rivas joined the Lucas Museum on July 13 from the Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM) at East Los Angeles College, where she has served as director and chief curator since 2016.

As chief curator and deputy director of curatorial and collections at the Lucas Museum, Rivas provides leadership, strategic direction, and managerial oversight for curatorial, exhibitions, acquisitions, collections management, conservation, archives and publications.

Pilar Tompkins Rivas, chief curator and deputy director of curatorial and collections.

Photo by Monica Orozco

At VPAM she spearheaded partnerships between the museum and the Smithsonian, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens, and launched diversity pipeline programs including a museum studies certificate program.

Prior to her tenure at VPAM, she served as the coordinator of curatorial initiatives at LACMA, co-directing the institution’s UCLA/LACMA Art History Practicum Initiative and the Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship Program in addition to co-curating

exhibitions in partnership with the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative. Rivas has also served as the curator and director of artist-in-residence programs at the 18th Street Arts Center, the arts project coordinator at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, and the curator of the Claremont Museum of Art. She is completing a Ph.D. in cultural studies and earned an M.A. in cultural studies from Claremont Graduate University, in addition to a B.A. in Latin American studies and a B.F.A. in Continued on page 9

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Covered help LETTERSCalifornia TO THE will EDITOR

JULY 20, 2020

JUDGE’S OPINION

Pandemic restrictions are annoying Editor: Here we go again, unfortunately. Now that the COVID-19 restrictions on bars and restaurants have been reinstituted, it feels as though we have entered a time warp.

Suddenly we are back to mid-April. No place to go, no place to eat—a life filled with few options and few opportunities.

How did the virus reenergize in California and the rest of the Sun Belt?

One annoying aspect of this COVID-19 crisis has been how one section of the country has been almost mocking the problems of another region or state. When the cases mounted in New York and New Jersey pundits in Florida and Texas largely scoffed at the crisis. Now that Texas and Florida are hit hard, East Coast critics have

taken an “I-told-you-so” attitude. This lack of national purpose, this inability to grasp the full measure of the hospitalizations and death toll, has contributed to our national and regional failure. Sometimes it seems we are engaging in a competition of which state or county can have the lowest death rate. Our country is besieged by this epidemic. The contagion spreads easily from one state or county to another, just as it spreads easily from one person to another.

Perhaps if we stopped the blame game for a few months we might curb the reoccurrences of this virus and in addition ease the unproductive national name calling. After the virus has eased, there will be plenty of time to get back to politics as usual.

Oliver Cutshaw

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Newsom: ‘This virus is not going away anytime soon’

By Matthew Rodriguez ov. Gavin Newsom recently announced rollbacks to reopening as California COVID-19 cases surge.

“This virus is not going away anytime soon,” Newsom said. “I hope all of us recognize that if we were still connected to some notion that, somehow, when it gets warm, it’s going to go away or, somehow, it’s going to take summer months or weekends off—this virus has done neither.”

The governor called for the end of indoor operations of restaurants, wineries, zoos, movie theaters and card rooms across the state. He also ordered all bars to cease operations.

In addition, Newsom ordered 30 counties to rollback reopening and immediately close businesses such as gyms, places of worship, hair salons and malls. Also, within those counties, he ordered all offices with nonessential workers to close.

The 30 counties, which include Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside, roughly account for 80% of the state’s population.

In addition to the rollbacks, Los Angeles and San Diego school districts have decided to shift to online-only instruction

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for the upcoming school year. Citing the rise of cases and deaths in California, the two largest school districts in the state released a joint statement announcing the new norm until the coronavirus is controlled.

Since June 12, when the state began to reopen the economy cases have spiked as more and more people left their homes, flocking to bars, restaurants and other businesses to find some respite from the pandemic.

“We’re seeing an increase in the spread of the virus, so that’s why it’s incumbent upon all of us to recognize soberly that COVID-19 is not going away any time soon until there is a vaccine or an effective therapy,” Newsom said.

As of July 14, according to California’s public health department, there have been 330,000 cases and 7,000 deaths.

There are 6,485 hospitalizations, 1,833 of whom are in the ICU. In two weeks, the state saw an increase of nearly 110,000 cases and more than 8,000 cases in a single day. Also, in the last 14 days, over 1,100 people died from COVID-19.

LA county has become an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in California, with

Burbank to LostoAngeles Project Section Burbank Los Angeles Project Section Open HouseComment Project Update PeriodMeetings Extension March 9 July - 13,31, 2020 2020

ALL PROJECT MEETINGSPROJECT WILL BE IDENTICAL WITHDRAFT A THE BURBANK TO UPDATE LOS ANGELES SECTION EIR/EIS PUBLIC REVIEW PERIOD WILL NOW END ON JULY 31, 2020.

BURBANK LOS ANGELES* The California High-Speed recently released the Draft Monday, March 9, 2020 Rail Authority (Authority) Thursday, March 12, 2020 Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIR/EIS) for the 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Burbank to LosVista Angeles (B-LA) ThePark Draft EIR/EISCenter is available for public Buena Branch LibraryProject Section.

Cypress Recreation review and comment at www.hsr.ca.gov.

The Authority has extended the comment period 300 N Buena Vista St 2630 Pepper Ave an additionalBurbank, 15 days, 2020 andCA will close on July 31, 2020.

CA which 91505 began on May 29,Los Angeles, 90065 *English/Spanish Meeting

/ ATWATER The virtual House starts at 5:30 p.m.

In addition toGLENDALE commenting on the Draft EIR/EIS at Open the public hearing, you can submit Wednesday, Marchways: 11, 2020 Live webcast presentation starts at 6:00 p.m. comment in the following 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. http://ustream.tv/channel/chsra Glendale AdultBurbank RecreationtoCenter Via mail to ATTN: Los Angeles Draft EIR/EIS Comment, 355 S Grand Ave, 201 EAngeles, Colorado St Suite 2050, Los CA 90071 Glendale, CA 91205 ForBurbank more information, visit Draft hsr.ca.gov Via web comment form on the Authority’s to Los please Angeles EIR/EIS

website: *English/Spanish Meeting: The Los Angeles meeting will be conducted in English and Spanish. English presentation starts at 6:00 p.m.; Spanish presentation https://hsr.ca.gov/programs/environmental/eis_eir/draft_burbank_los_angeles_comm ent.aspx starts at 7:00 p.m. Simultaneous translation will be offered during both presentations.

Us Via Webcast: The Los Angeles meeting willwith also be offered as a webcast.

Via email to*Join Burbank_Los.Angeles@hsr.ca.gov the subject line “Burbank to The virtual Open House starts at 5:30 p.m. The live webcast presentation Los Angeles Draft EIR/EIS Comment” starts at 6:00 p.m. To participate in the live webcast, go to: http://ustream.tv/channel/chsra.

AND OTHER NEEDS The comment period forLANGUAGES this Draft EIR/EIS began May 29 and now ends July 31, 2020.

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Comments mustInterpretación be received or postmarked on or before July 31, 2020. languagewill requests can beaaccommodated upon request. facilities responses are accessible for with TheOther Authority prepare Final EIR/EIS, whichMeeting will include to persons all comments disabilities. All requests for reasonable accommodations and/or language services must be made three working received. days (72 hours) in advance of the scheduled meeting date. Please call (877) 977-1660 or the Authority’s TTY/TTD number at (916) 403-6943 for assistance.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom announced rollbacks to reopening.

File photo

over 136,000 cases and over 3,800 deaths.

There are also over 2,000 hospitalized with

565 in the ICU. In one day, the county recorded nearly 2,600 new cases of the virus.

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JULY 20, 2020

Joel Stallworth and TaMiya Dickerson Photo by Luis Chavez/LA Downtown News

DTLA couple sues Nike on claims of racial profiling

By Sarah Donahue oel Stallworth and his wife, TaMiya Dickerson, saw it as a milestone moment: a world-class athlete buying his 19-month-old son his first basketball.

It ended, they say, with false accusations of shoplifting and confrontations with a white Nike manager and multiple policemen.

In response, the Downtown LA couple filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against Nike and Wendy Magee, the former manager of the Third Street Promenade Nike store in Santa Monica, for claims of racially profiling and creating a traumatic, potentially life-threatening scene over a $12 basketball they paid for, according to the family’s lawyers.

“That really broke me because if I did steal the ball, it’s a $12 ball,” Stallworth said in a July 9 Zoom press conference. “It was really never about the ball; it was about her racially profiling me as a Black man.”

The incident happened on July 5, 2019.

Stallworth, who owns The Small Shop LA in Downtown, said he was excited when he entered the store. caption When he left after purchasing the ball, he said he heard a commotion and Magee

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was “spewing out accusations” about him stealing the item. She followed the family outside and aggressively asked for him to surrender what she claimed was a stolen ball, according to Stallworth.

Magee reportedly demanded to see their receipt, to which Dickerson, a partner with a prestigious accounting firm, said she stepped in and told the manager to check the computer for proof of purchase.

The family then began to walk away and head to a restaurant, they said.

Magee summoned the police to handle the situation, said Dan Stormer, a lawyer representing the case. Dickerson said she recorded the loud confrontation with the policemen on her phone as the bustling promenade crowd observed. She held her child close in a sling, hoping the situation wouldn’t turn violent, she said.

“I couldn’t believe this was happening to us,” Dickerson said. “I started recording it and also I started announcing that I was recording it because I was worried that the police were going to attack you.”

Frustrated with the situation, the family returned the basketball for a refund, they said. Even after seeing the receipt, the policemen followed closely behind the cou-

ple as they went inside the store to get their refund, Stormer said. This furthered the impression that the couple had done something wrong.

The police never apologized, even after they saw proof of purchase, Stormer noted.

Nike issued a statement to LA Downtown News about the incident, saying: “Nike has clear policies and training in place to ensure the well-being of our employees and customers and prohibit profiling. In this situation, the store manager violated our policy by leaving the store and is no longer with the company. We will continue to work with our teams to ensure we deliver on our expectations for consumer experiences.”

Another of the family’s lawyers, David Washington, said Magee was fired for breaking a policy of leaving the store, not for publicly racially profiling the couple and causing an embarrassing and also potentially life-threatening scene.

Magee had a history of racist practices with her Black employees and customers, according to Washington. Immediately after the incident when the couple was getting a refund, a Black employee confided in Dickerson, saying Magee did this all the time—multiple times that day even—and he knows what it feels like, Washington said.

During Magee’s time as manager, she used the Nike radio system to use cod-

ed language like “Keep an eye on the VIP customer,” as a way to instruct employees to keep surveillance on Black customers, Washington said.

She also required Black employees—but not white employees—to turn their jackets inside out at the end of shifts to prove they weren’t stealing, Washington added.

Since 2017, Nike employees who worked with Magee used their “anonymous” Nike hotline to report her racist practices, but nothing was done to correct her behavior, Washington said.

“Multiple witnesses have established Magee’s racist treatment of employees and customers and multiple witnesses have established Nike’s conscious decision to let it continue,” Washington said.

Magee subsequently filed a lawsuit against Nike claiming she was wrongfully terminated because she was white, according to Stormer.

What is important to note, Stormer said, is that this wasn’t just any family. This is a couple whose families are “exceptional tributes to overcoming discrimination and adversity through athletics,” he emphasized.

Dickerson is the daughter of legendary USC football player Sam Dickerson.

Her late father is famous for scoring a winning touchdown against UCLA in 1969 and leading a defeat against the all-white Alabama Crimson Tide in the 1970 “Game That

JULY 20, 2020

DOWNTOWN NEWS 7

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Changed the Nation,” which helped integrate college teams in the South.

Stallworth and Dickerson grew up in East Stockton, what Stallworth described as “one of the roughest neighborhoods in California.”

Stallworth said basketball was a safe haven. He played with a tight-knit group of family members on a high school team and the skills he learned conditioned him to be ready to run track for college, he said.

Stallworth is a three-time all-American athlete and holds records while on the Nike-sponsored Cal State University-Stanislaus track and field team. He was sponsored by Nike for track again when he won a gold medal for the United States in the 2008 IAAF World Championships in Valencia, Spain.

“Nike wasn’t just a swoosh, Nike was part of his life; Nike was an integral part of his existence,” Stormer said.

The couple said the incident was embarrassing, traumatizing and still has a lasting impact on them as well as their relationship.

“This experience has been a dark cloud over our family,” Stallworth said.

Dickerson said since the incident she has felt anxious, helpless and struggles to sleep.

As a mom, she said it was mortifying because she didn’t know whether to guard her husband against the police or protect her child and record the incident from afar.

“It has stolen my joy and consumed my life,” said Dickerson, who added recalling the incident makes her feel ill.

Whenever Stallworth hears the word “receipt,” he said he is taken back to the moment.

“I’m constantly feeling like I have to prove myself as innocent when I’m already innocent and that’s not fair,” he said.

Dickerson and Stallworth want accountability from Magee and Nike, the latter of which, they said, profiting from a deceitful ad campaign claiming that Black Lives Matter. Stormer said they want a jury to analyze Nike’s behavior so it cannot “functionally gaslight” its employees or customers any longer.

“What we are now seeing is the filing of this lawsuit caused by this insensitivity toward African Americans and the use of them as a way of making money but in reality, not really supporting them,” Stormer said.

No monetary damages have been specified, according to the statement from lawyers. This lawsuit includes causes of action for unlawful detention, false imprisonment, slander, the denial of equal rights under the law, and various other violations of state and federal law, the statement said.

“Discrimination is deep-seated in our society, it has to be addressed,” Stormer said.

“Racism was fundamentally at the bottom of what took place on July 5, 2019.”

Joel Stallworth and TaMiya Dickerson with their son Samuel Stallworth.

Photo by Luis Chavez/LA Downtown News

PROCUREMENT

PROCUREMENT

Family Source Center – Echo Park/Cypress Park Area

El Centro Del Pueblo Family Source Center – Echo Park/Cypress Park Area

Seeking a Collaborative Partners to provide Immigration Legal Services for City Funded Family Source Center

Seeking Collaborative Partner to provide Financial Literacy and Coaching for City Funded Family Source Center

El Centro Del Pueblo is currently seeking Non-profit organizations to apply as possible collaborative partners to provide Immigration Legal Services for the Echo Park and Cypress Park Family Source Center program. Please submit a letter of intent with a mini proposal stating Non Profit History, Programming and service capabilities, as well as management and fiscal capacities. Also, include a line item budget with the amount of $50,000 per year for these services, which includes a minimum of $5,000.00 for the cost of client application and processing fees. El Centro will close this process by July 29, 2020. Please contact Fernando Chacon Family Source Program Director (FSC) at: fcecdp@yahoo.com for the bid package and budget forms.

El Centro Del Pueblo is currently seeking Non-profit organizations to apply as possible collaborative partner to provide Financial Literacy and Coaching for the Echo Park Family Source Center program. Please submit a letter of intent with a mini proposal stating Non Profit History, Programming and service capabilities, as well as management and fiscal capacities. Also, include a line item budget with the amount of $60,000 per year. El Centro will close this process by July 29, 2020.

Please contact Fernando Chacon Family Source Program Director (FSC) at: fcecdp@yahoo.com for the bid package and budget forms.

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JULY 20, 2020

LAPD appreciation rally at police headquarters

By William Bergholz os Angeles police officers and their supporters rallied in front of the LAPD Headquarters at 100 W. 1 Street in Downtown Los Angeles on July 11.

The rally was organized by the community for the community, and its successful purpose was to defend, support and celebrate the LAPD’s police reform.

A brochure promoting the event read, “Come show our officers how much we need and appreciate them. We want to show officer appreciation and make a positive impact.”

More than 500 people—including officers, their families, clergy members and Angelenos—were there. Becky Martin, a director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), was at the rally.

“The rally was very positive, very upbeat. Policing is important in the City of LA. We’re headed in the right direction,” Martin said.

Supporters cheered and waved signs reading, “Blue Lives Matter,” “LAPD Mom’s Support You!,” “Proud Immigrant Parents From Ecuador. My son has served: 8 years in USMC. 12 years in LAPD. I’m here for my son! LAPD deserves respect,” “LAPD Protects Our Families & Our Communities,” “God Bless the LAPD,” “Defend the Police,” “I Support Our Cops,” “Show me backing LAPD,” “Blessed are the Peacemakers Matthew 5:9,” and “United We Stand Divided We Fall,” and chanted, “LAPD.” Police Chief Michel Moore was at the rally and addressed the supporters.

“There’s work for us to do, but we’re committed to reform, and it’s good to take a moment to remind ourselves of the progress that has been made in areas like diversity, use of force, and training,” Moore said.

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A Downtown LA rally celebrates and defends the police.

Photos by Brandon Juezan

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Covered SPORTS California will help

Bellinger not looking to duplicate the 2019 season

By Dave Hogg ody Bellinger is the reigning National League Most Valuable Player after a monster 2019 season that saw him lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a seventh straight NL West title.

He’s a two-time All-Star, played in two World Series and he’s got a Jackie Robinson Award next to his MVP trophy on the mantel.

That’s a good career haul for most players, but Bellinger only turned 25 on July 13. He might be the best baseball player on the planet not named Mike Trout, and he could just be getting warmed up.

With the addition of former Red Sox star Mookie Betts and one of baseball’s best products in Gavin Lux, the Dodgers’ everyday lineup already looks unstoppable.

What happens, though, if Bellinger gets as hot for the 60-game schedule as he did for the first two months of the 2019 season?

On June 2, 2019, the Dodgers were 41-19 and already had a nine-game division lead over the Colorado Rockies. Bellinger, who played in 58 of the 60 games, was hitting .376 with 20 homers and 52 RBIs—the equivalent of 56 home runs and 146 RBI in 162 games.

“I don’t know if anyone will hit 20 this year—that would be crazy—but I saw someone predicted 17 would lead the National League,” Bellinger said in a Zoom call with the Dodgers media. “That seems like a good target.”

Bellinger didn’t exactly slump after the first 60 games—he finished the season with a .305 average, 47 homers and 115 RBI—but now he’s had three extra months to get ready to defend his MVP. “There are always small things you want to fix about your swing—not major adjustments, but stuff you want to do on a more consistent basis,” he said. “With all of this extra time, I decided I was never going to have a better chance to work on them in a stress-free environment.”

Bellinger thinks the work has paid off, but he’s not trying to duplicate the 2019 season.

“I don’t want to be the identical player I was a year ago, because you always want to be growing and evolving as a hitter,” he said. “I tried to remember how it felt and build off that. Right now, I’m feeling really good about where I am.”

Obviously, Bellinger’s extra workouts came because his sport had been shut down to the COVID-19 pandemic. He wasn’t worried about his own health, even as things got worse in his home state of Arizona, but he acknowledged it was strange not knowing when or if the season might get underway.

“It was hard to stay focused every day when all I was hearing were the notifications about things between the owners and the union,” he said. “You have to be mentally prepared to go out and work out not knowing what was going to happen.

I’m just glad it finally came to a conclusion.”

While he was excited to get back to Dodger Stadium, he was disappointed it wasn’t in time to start the season with the All-Star Game scheduled to be played in his home park. The game will now be played in Los Angeles during the 2022 season.

“I’ve gotten to play in two All-Star Games, and they’ve both been awesome, but everyone will tell you there’s no bigger rush than playing in one at your own stadium,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get that chance in a couple years.”

Bellinger got used to wearing a mask while working out in Arizona, but nothing could prepare him for the other strangeness of the 2020 season—playing Major League baseball without fans.

“I think it is going to be fun, because it is such a unique experience,” he said.

“We’re obviously taking it very seriously, but we’re still having some fun with it.

“It’s never going to happen again, but it is almost bringing the game back to when we were kids.”

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DOWNTOWN NEWS 9

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LUCAS MUSEUM, 3 studio art from the University of Texas at Austin.

“It is an honor to be joining Sandra Jackson-Dumont and the team at the Lucas Museum,” Rivas said. “I look forward to contributing to this innovative institution at such an exciting time of its development. I am thrilled to partner with new colleagues to shape how the museum will serve its diverse communities as well as its contributions to the broader field of art history.”

seum. At the Lucas Museum, Disla is responsible for developing and guiding the strategy for all event planning, including future opening events, production, and venue operations.

Prior to joining the Met, Disla worked as an event producer and designer for the Light of India Awards, event sales and design manager at Floralia Decorators, and event production director at MME Entertainment. Disla earned a B.A. in philosophy from Stony Brook University.

Larissa Gentile

Nenette Luarca-Shoaf Luarca-Shoaf is the Lucas Museum’s managing director of learning and engagement, where she is charged with establishing a vision for innovative educational and public programs that will foster creativity, inspiration and civic engagement.

She is also tasked with building a team to engage the museum’s diverse constituencies, including adults, K to 12 students, educators, scholars, teens, and families.

Luarca-Shoaf was previously the director of adult learning and associate curator of interpretation at the Art Institute of Chicago.

She has held fellowships at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Minnesota and curatorial and education roles in a number of museums, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Luarca-Shoaf earned a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Delaware, and her major area of study is the art and visual culture of the United States.

Amanda Hunt Amanda Hunt is the director of public programs and creative practice at the Lucas Museum. She came to the Lucas Museum from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), where she served as the director of education and senior curator of programs.

In her new role, Hunt will devise a roster of programs to bring people into direct and often unlikely engagements with works of art, foregrounding the relationship between creative practice and community engagement. Her past appointments include curatorial roles at The Studio Museum in Harlem and at LAXART, where she helped coordinate the 2012 Pacific Standard Time Public Art and Performance Festival. She also served as co-curator of the 2019 Desert X Biennial in Palm Springs. She earned an M.A. in curatorial practice from California College of the Arts.

Anais Disla Anais Disla is the Lucas Museum’s director of special events, joining the museum from The Metropolitan Museum of Art where she served as the acting head of special events.

There she managed a department that produced more than 400 annual events and held the distinction of being the first woman of color to produce the famed Met Gala for the mu-

Gentile is the Lucas Museum’s managing director of special projects. In this role, she serves as a crucial bridge between the construction team and the museum staff, supporting the development and implementation of the under-construction building. Gentile most recently served as a project manager with Day’s End, working with the Whitney Museum of American Art to realize a permanent largescale art installation located in New York State’s Hudson River Park. She has also served as the project director for the building of the Whitney Museum of American Art in its current location in downtown New York City. She earned a B.A. in Italian and French from the University at Buffalo.

Erica Neal Neal is the Lucas Museum’s director of computing and infrastructure where she is responsible for overseeing strategy and administration of desktop and mobile computing, network design, and administration of cyber security tools and response. Most recently, Neal served as the senior manager of IS Infrastructure at CALOPTIMA. In her 13 years at CALOPTIMA, Neal held numerous positions from working directly with users supporting networks and telephony systems to designing, building, and managing complex data centers.

Neal earned an M.B.A. in technology management from the University of Phoenix and a B.A. in law and society from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Founded by philanthropist and filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and president and of Ariel Investments, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will present permanent collection and rotating exhibitions for diverse public audiences and will feature illustrations, paintings, comic art, photography and an in-depth exploration of the arts of filmmaking (including storyboards, costumes, animation, visual effects, and more).

Extensive education programming designed for all ages will explore innovative ways for visitors to engage with narrative art. Designed by renowned architect Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, the museum will feature expansive galleries, state-of-the-art cinematic theaters, a research library, new public green space, event spaces, numerous spaces for onsite education, restaurants, and retail.

Info: lucasmuseum.org

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Covered California will help ARTS & CULTURE

JULY 20, 2020

Dance DTLA goes digital for its 2020 series

By Brandie Bosworth he Music Center’s annual Dance DTLA series returns for its 16th year, but this year it’s virtual. From Bollywood to hip-hop and K-Pop to salsa, the nineweek free program grants viewers 45 minutes of beginner-level dance classes taught by local, esteemed LA instructors.

“It is a staple of The Music Center to have this program every summer,” said Lucy Zepeda, the assistant manager of community relations and partnerships at The Music Center.

In previous years, Dance DTLA welcomed local bands and DJs to play live following a class. This gave participants the chance to practice what they just learned and enjoy the music. Food and art elements added to the festivities. The 2019 series had 18,000 participants during the summer.

Zepeda said this year she was especially looking forward to dancing on The Music Center’s “The Plaza for All” stage. According to The Music Center website, the $41 million renovation of the 53-year-old space lasted 20 months and reopened in August 2019.

However, The Music Center moved Dance DTLA to a virtual format for 2020 because COVID-19 hit and gatherings are no longer safe. The digital series will still keep the essence of the program, Zepeda said, but viewers can participate at their leisure alone or with friends and family at home.

“Our teachers are the hearts of this program and I’m grateful I get to do this program with them,” Zepeda said.

Several of the program’s teachers have been instructors with Dance DTLA for years. This year’s series is intimate, as some lessons are broadcast from the teacher’s home. The Argentine Tango instructor is teaching a partner dance with her husband, Zepeda said, who is also a tango dancer. The classes are recorded throughout Los Angeles—including Highland Park, Manhattan Beach, Balboa Park and North Hollywood—which allows the audience to see a variety of settings.

Zepeda said she and her colleagues attend different classes to find new instructors for the program. In fact, she tried Brandon Juezan’s class before he joined Dance DTLA last year as the hip-hop instructor.

“As a grown woman going to a class with a lot of teenagers that could move...it was a little bit intimidating,” says Zepeda.

Juezan said hip-hop is the dance and movement made by the youth for the youth, and he has to stay up to date with the newest moves. However, he asks participants to be open minded as he includes moves from the 1980s to now.

“I do like to pick and choose a couple of moves and talk about the movements and where they came from,” Juezan said.

He wants the audience to have a better understanding of hip-hop, so he teaches around preserving the culture and history authentically.

This year’s hip-hop class format has been slightly modified from last year’s live event. The biggest change, Juezan said, is the lack of audience participation.

“As I talk and as I teach, I’m giving tips and things viewers can work on at home to get comfortable with it,” Juezan said.

He said he has a high-energy, aggressive and diverse approach to dance, which earned him the nickname “BeastBoi,” an ode to the DC Comics character Beast Boy. “I want the audience to be ready for the energy and ready to put out, dance big and vibe out with each other,” Juezan said.

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Brandon “BeastBoi” Juezan teaches hip-hop dance and said the audience should be ready to “dance big.”

Photo courtesy Brandon Juezan

Digital Dance DTLA 7 p.m. Fridays through September 4 musiccenter.org Closed captioning is available

JULY 20, 2020

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DOWNTOWN NEWS 11

Self-described ‘loner’ Greg Dulli hosting two virtual shows

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski reg Dulli has long admired fellow musician Laura Marling. When the Afghan Whigs frontman saw her perform virtually, he had to follow in her musical footsteps.

On Saturday, August 1, Dulli appear live from Gold Diggers in Los Angeles, performing a solo set of material culled from his first solo record, “Random Desire,” as well as other songs from throughout his career. Dulli will perform two sets that day—8 p.m. GMT for fans in the United Kingdom and Europe, and 6 p.m. Pacific for those tuning in from North America. Tickets are $12.

“Watching Laura’s show, I loved it,” Dulli said “I smoked a joint and laid back in my chair and watched a beautiful performance in a room I played in before.”

Dulli is working on about 25 songs for the shows, both of which will be different.

“I’ll be able to change the second show in case people want to watch both shows,” he added. “A bunch of people have bought tickets to both of them. Whenever, for instance, I do a two-night stand in New York or Chicago or New Orleans, I always do different shows.

“That just means I have to learn more songs. I was ready to go on my solo tour. I had rehearsed. I knew all the songs back in March, but I tell you, you put the instrument down for three months and it’s like, ‘How does this go again?’ I’ve got some surprises; somethings that are cool to watch. I’m twisting it up a little bit. You’ll have to watch it to see what happens.”

Dulli said the quarantine and COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been too difficult on him. He dubs himself a “loner,” who prefers to hang out by himself.

“It hasn’t been a giant stress for me,” he said. “I do it on my own terms. Having it forced upon me wasn’t my favorite way. I certainly miss meeting people on a regular basis. I have gone for walks and hikes, and I play golf with a couple guys. I ride my bike, shoot basketball. I get out there as much as one can safely get out there “I’m also very aware that this is a very persistent and dangerous enemy that is floating around in the world. I’m very careful to make sure that I don’t get sick.”

“Random Desire” was released before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The first under his own name, the record, he said, was a consequence of timing. The Afghan Whigs just finished their “In Spades” tour and drummer Patrick Keeler headed off to tour with his band, the Raconteurs. Bassist John Curley went back to college.

Dulli keeps busy with The Short Stop, just blocks from Dodger Stadium; Footsie’s Bar on North Figueroa Street; and R Bar and Inn in New Orleans.

“I don’t run them,” he said with a laugh. “I just own them. I design them. I’m very involved in them but I don’t do day-to-day. I’m not built for that.”

But he found something else to do—record “Random Desire.”

“I hadn’t made a solo album and I had a great time,” Dulli said. “I did it mostly in Joshua Tree, where I’m going this weekend with Christopher Thorn. We have such a great rapport and working relationship. He’s one of my favorite collaborators.”

Thorn is a founding member of Blind Melon, whose singer, Shannon Hoon, was recently remembered in the documentary “All I Can Say.” “I met Shannon before I met the rest of the band,” he said. “I met him in ’92 and I didn’t meet Christopher until ’96. I met Christopher and Brad (Smith, bassist) in ’96, Glen (Graham, drummer) in ’96 and I didn’t meet Rogers (Stevens, lead guitarist) until last year.

“I never saw Blind Melon until last year. I met Shannon, though. He was a great guy; a really fun, cool cat.”

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Greg Dulli 8 p.m. GMT Saturday, August 1, for the United Kingdom and Europe 6 p.m. Pacific Time Saturday, August 1, for the United States Tickets start at £12 and $12, respectively https://dice.fm/bundle/greg-dulli-live

Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs recently released his first solo album, “Random Desire.”

Photo courtesy Greg Dulli

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JULY 20, 2020

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