Visionary Fine Artist, Gender Activist ~ HHHAS, MFA, MSW, LCSW

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CECIL FERGERSON GALLERY

Watts Labor Community Action Committee
10950 SOUTH CENTRAL AVE.
LOS ANGELES CA 90059

This exhibition, which runs through March 24, 2012 [in observance of both our Black & Women's history months] is curated by Willie Middlebrook.

This exhibit is being held in conjunction with the modern interpretation [O' Speak, Speak 2] of the historic, 1971 public sculptural artwork, [O' Speak Speak 1] once located near the Watts Towers Arts Center also "celebrates the contributions of women artists . . ."

While it's of great artistic and aestheic significance ~ the most significant highlight of this show is NOT that the works of art in this exhibit are both masterful and diverse in their execution ~ it's MORE that there are so few group shows presented locally [or otherwise] which publicly celebrate/ acknowledge the [often over-looked] contributions of wimmin artists ~ and even fewer which historically acknowledge the contribution and significance of wimmin artists who are of Afrikan heritage or who are Wimmin of Color - singularly or as a group.

Therefore, we should not in any way, take lightly the historical importance of Bros Cecil Fergerson's, John Outterbridge's and Willie Middlebrook's landmark decision to invite 5 wimmin [Of Color . . .] artists to participate in creating the modern public art work . . . O' Speak, Speak 2 . . . with which, this exhibition is being held in conjunction, to offer the public an extra bonus of being able to view additional works of art by these 5 imaginative & illuminating artists . . .

These factors, in and of themselves, simply qualifies this as a show which "should not be missed" . . .

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Phase I:

Pacific Standard Time / Civic Virtue:

Watts Here & Now

Arts Festival, Public Unveiling,

& Artist's Reception

For O' Speak, Speak 2

5 Public Art Works Project . . .**

Watts Towers Arts Center

1727 East 107th Street

Los Angeles, CA 90002
213.847.4646

* A One Day Festival

& Exhibit Event Held At Two Sites:

* The Watts Towers Arts Center :

Saturday, January 28, 2012

~ 10:00 am until 1:30 pm

&

Watts Labor Community Action Committee

* THE CECIL FERGERSON GALLERY [Art Exhibition]

* The Bradley Multi Purpose Center [Concert]

Saturday, January 28, 2012

~ 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm

Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery [Barnsdall Park] and the Watts Towers Arts Center explores the intertwined histories of two of Los Angeless oldest and most diverse centers of artistic activity, both operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) will present Civic Virtue: Watts Here and Now, a one-day event to be held at the Watts Towers Arts Center (WTAC) featuring spoken word, jazz music and public art sculptures in the spirit of important historical works by artists Noah Purifoy, Judson Powell, and John Outterbridge.

Image: "O' Speak Speak 1 ~ 1971.

Image: O' Speak, Speak One & O' Speak, Speak 2 ~ 5 Public Art Works Installation & Exhibit ~ 2012*

Photo: Willie Middlebrook*

This contemporary public art piece by AfraShe Asungi, Margaret Garcia, Toni Love, Dominique Moody, and Noni Olabisi is influenced by the 1971 sculpture, O Speak, Speak 1, created by Dale Davis,Charles Dickson, Nate Fearonce, John Outterbridge, and Elliott Pinkney.

As explained by John Outterbridge, The whole idea of the "Ceremony of the Land" (O Speak, Speak 1) was to get the people in the area to know that they could make decisions about how that land area was used."

This modern interpretation [O' Speak, Speak 2] of an historic artwork, once located near Watts Towers Arts Center also celebrates the contributions of women artists.

Image: "O' Speak Speak 2 ~ TaNubian (tm) Praise Song For Mama Miti Maathai:
7 Seeds of Harambee Cultivates EarthRooted Global SheChange(tm) in the Hearts of Many . . . (tm)" by AfraShe Asungi. C. 2012-20 Asungi Productions.

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This public art work project will be presented in the WTAC Studio Garden, after which the work will be transferred to WLCAC Cecil Fergerson Gallery for

a reception and to be exhibited before being return to the WTAC where it will become a part of the WTAC permanent collection.

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January 28, 2012 ~ 10 am~6 pm

Watts Towers Arts Center
Watts Labor Community Action Committee

Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival
CIVIC VIRTUE: WATTS HERE & NOW FESTIVAL

~ O' Speak, Speak 2 Festival Schedule

Presented by

Watts Towers Arts Center Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center
Watts Labor Community Action Committee

AT WATTS TOWERS ARTS CENTER:

10:00 a.m - STUDIO GARDEN - Unveiling of O' SPEAK, SPEAK 2 curated by Willie Middlebrook.

This contemporary public art piece by AfraShe Asungi, Margaret Garcia, Toni Love, Dominique Moody, and Noni Olabisi is influenced by the 1971 sculpture, O Speak, Speak, created by Dale Davis, Charles Dickson, Nate Fearonce, John Outterbridge, and Elliott Pinkney.

This modern interpretation of an historic artwork once located near Watts Towers Arts Center celebrates the contributions of women artists, as did the 30th Annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival and the 35th Annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival.

* O SPEAK, SPEAK 2 will be installed at Watts Towers Arts Center Studio Garden January 22, 2012. The official unveiling is January 28, 2012. ***We preface all of the above with "weather permitting".

11:00 a.m. - From the Ashes Revisited: Short Stories from the Watts Writers Workshop by Sally Shores The New Short Fiction Series in collaboration with
the PEN Center U.S.A. with Dee Dee McNeil, Odie Hawkins, Angela Gibbs, and Tim Hutchinson

11:30 a.m. - The Poet Laureate Program presents The Early Days in Watts, Reflections and Remembranceswith Kamau Daood, Ojenke, Eric Priestly, Wanda Coleman, Otis O'Solomon and Erin Aubrey Kaplan

12:30 p.m. - Jazz Mentorship Program presents BARBARA MORRISON, Master Artist, an intimate talk session moderated by Wanda Coleman

At WATTS LABOR COMMUNITY ACTION COMMITTEE:

2:00 p.m. - Reception, concert, and exhibition of O' SPEAK, SPEAK 2 & 5 Women Artists at the Cecil Fergerson Gallery follows on the WLCAC campus:

BARBARA MORRISON in Concert & Artist's Reception
@WLCAC Bradley Multi-Purpose Center 2pm
10957 South Central Avenue, Los Angeles 90059

Exhibition of O SPEAK, SPEAK 2 Artists****
Five Women Artists @ WLCAC Cecil Fergerson Gallery
10950 South Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90059
January 28, 2012 Artists Meet & Greet Reception 3pm ~ 6pm

****January 27, 2012 Opening Reception 5pm ~ 8pm]

**** March 24, 2012 Closing Reception [Time TBA]

Los Angeles was the key international birthplace of performance art. Engaging the innovative spirit of that period and L.A.s vibrant contemporary art scene, the Performance and Public Art Festival will transform Southern California over eleven days (January 19-29, 2012 ) during Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980.

Featuring more than 30 major performances and large-scale outdoor projects, the festival will include new commissions, reinventions, and restagings inspired by the radical and trailblazing public and performance works that were created by artists during the Pacific Standard Time era.

Performances and projects will be located at institutions and sites throughout Southern California, in close proximity to more than two dozen Pacific Standard Time exhibitions. The festival is organized by the Getty Research Institute and LA><Art; support is provided by the Getty Foundation.

Generous support for the Civic Virtue: Watts Here and Now festival provided by the Getty Foundation, LAXArt, the California Community Foundation, and PEN Center USA.

CIVIC VIRTUE: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers Arts Center

**Pacific Standard Time (PTS) is an initiative of the Getty with arts institutions across Southern California.

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Phase II

~ O' Speak, Speak 1

 [A Representative Photographic Image]

&

O' Speak, Speak 2 ~ 5 Public Art Works Installation & Exhibit*

PST/ Civic Virtue: Watts Here & Now**

CECIL FERGERSON GALLERY

Watts Labor Community Action Committee
10950 SOUTH CENTRAL AVE.
LOS ANGELES CA 90059

323.563.5639

** Pacific Standard Time (PTS) is an initiative of the Getty with arts institutions across Southern California.

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  ~ O' Speak, Speak 2, A Public Artwork Unveiling . . .

Civic Virture: Watts Here and Now.

Pacific Standard Time (PTS)

Performance And Public Arts Festival