The Music Center Continues FOR THE LOVE OF L.A. Digital Series

The Music Center's digital series, For the Love of L.A., celebrates the creativity of Los Angeles and supports L.A.-based artists representing the disciplines of music, dance, visual culture and more. In its first season, For the Love of L.A. provided more 35 L.A. artists with a platform to express their views of Los Angeles that are relevant and reflective of the current time.

The initiative's new season continues The Music Center's commitment to present new artwork through video (e.g., documentation of a dance or music performance), photography (e.g., art photography, photo essay or documentation of another visual artform) and creative writing disciplines. The new art is featured each week on both The Music Center's social channels and The Music Center Offstage, the organization's virtual platform offering newly curated programming including the commission and presentation of original artwork.

For the Love of L.A. continues with four new guest curator collaborations who helped identify local artists, including Jason Arimoto and Petrice Oyama (U-Space co-founders); Leeav Sofer (artistic director and co-founder of the Urban Voices Project, and Mostly Kosher frontman); The Women's Center for Creative Work; and Eva Recinos (journalist/writer).

Beginning Tuesday, February 2, 2021, The Music Center will premiere the second season of artwork from more than 15 additional artists newly named to the program. Music is a part of the identity of the first three artists whose original soundtracks and visual storytelling offer an artistic lens in discussing socioeconomic issues affecting Angelenos:

• Christine Araquel-Concordia and Johneric Concordia, the Park's Finest restaurateurs, share scenes of community resilience and empowerment, captured along their "Feed the Frontliners" delivery route to hospitals;

• Following the cancellation of Las Cafeteras' tour, musician Daniel French, creates a narrative portrait with his mother, Alicia, and their family business, Alicia's Costumes; and

• Shaloha, a jam ensemble of musicians and creative professionals, reunite in a virtual performance on instruments made available through contactless delivery support from their local 'ukulele store.

Additional artists and their artwork will continue to appear weekly through April 20, 2021, including the three finalists of "L.A.'s Feminist Idols", a competition by the Women's Center for Creative Work that is calling for creative projects representing the experience of gender marginalized people.

Since August 11, 2020, For the Love of L.A. has profiled new works by photographer Rafael Cardenas; visual artist Yaneli Delgado; painter Manuel López; photographer Stephanie Mei-Ling; artist Amani Holbert; sculptor Dominque Moody; musical performances by Ethiopian musicians Kibrom Birhane and Etsegenet Mekonnen; DJ/musician/composer Mark de Clive-Lowe, and Brazilian jazz vocalist Thalma de Freitas; musical performance and visual art collaborations from: San Cha and Maria Maea; Daniel T. Gaitor-Lomack and AKUA; Neil Frances, Emmy Pickett and Harrison Schaaf; Lee Anne Schmitt and Jeff Parker; and Peter J. Harris, Artyom Manukyan and Jesse Gilbert; dance premieres from Pacifico Dance Company; Versa-Style Dance Company; Syncopated Ladies; Rangoli Dance Company; L.A. FUSION Dance Theater; and JazzAntiqua; photographer Valerie Bower; graphic artist Christine Hipolito; multi-disciplinary artist Anna Luisa Petrisko; puppeteers Audrey Densmore and almighty Opp; theater organist Edward Torres; movement artist Brianna Mims; singer-songwriter X'ene Sky; interdisciplinary artist Jasmine Monsegue; and two of The Music Center 's Spotlight finalists: tap dance champion Maya Alvarez-Coyne, and singer/DJ Teira Church.

Previous guest curators have included, Marvella Muro (director of programs for Self Help Graphics & Art); Ed Barguiarena (musician/composer/producer); Raélle Dorfan (executive director, Dance Resource Center); Karen Mack (founder/executive director, LA Commons); Lottie Rippon (events and special projects, DUBLAB) in collaboration with Max Rippon and Kate Emery (co-founders, Quarantine Gallery); Dexter Story (multi-instrumentalist/composer/ producer); Jennelyn Tumalad (arts program producer); Winona Bechtle (director of development and community partnerships for the Bob Baker Marionette Theater); and Pierre Davis (founder and lead designer for fashion house No Sesso).

The Music Center will post new works of art on The Music Center's Instagram every Tuesday through April 20, 2021. The public can get a closer look at each artist through biographies and statements alongside the complete version of the artwork in a digital library on The Music Center Offstage. In addition, the initiative also aims to inspire the public to engage and participate directly by contributing their own For the Love of L.A. creative projects; some audience-generated content has been selected and shared on The Music Center' social channels. *All artists are subject to change.

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