Into The Valley

On May 17, we held our 2nd annual Inspired Art Fundraiser at the Bank of America Plaza in Downtown LA. There was food. There were drinks. There were old friends getting together and new friendships being created. There was a poetry chair. There was a dj. There were many wonderful works of art depicting many interpretations inspired by the poetry written by the kids in our program. It had everything one could ask for in a fundraiser. We would like to thank the superb people who helped make this event a success: Brookfield, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Hogan Lovell, Xerox, and the LA Scores Development Board. This event would have been impossible without all of those excellent people. We would also like to thank all the artists who contributed their time and talent to this great cause. It is these kinds of occasions that helps to remind people what community is all about. And as we descend the mountain of Inspired Art, we see the next peak looming on the horizon. We will ascend the approaching mountains as we have all the others: with the help and support of friends and family, though it is getting more and more difficult to tell the difference between the two.

Two Days Away!!!

We are officially neck-deep in the art of local artists and hammering out the final details of the event. Venue: check. Art pieces: check. Food, drinks, guests: check, check, check. Barring some natural disaster resulting in the utter destruction of Los Angeles, the event should go off without a hitch. Well...that's not entirely true and I refuse to be the person who jinxed LA Scores. Hitches happen despite the level of planning and development that goes into putting together fundraisers of this magnitude. But we come equipped with an excellent staff who are more than willing to face any challenge that would dare to show its face. If you have yet to get your tickets, you may do so at inspiredartla.org. A good cause is a good cause and Karma will not forget you.

Countdown: Inspired Art!

Formulating and executing the Inspired Art fundraiser takes patience, time, and a certain measure of resilience that is fulfilling, yet exhausting. But with the event less than a week away, we suddenly find ourselves surrounded by the beautiful pieces donated by local artists. Every time a new work arrives, we scramble to read the poem that inspired the masterpieces and often find ourselves moved, or grateful, or pensive, or outright happy. America Scores LA would like to take this opportunity to thank our Americorps Vista, Shannon Huang, for all the hard work she has done to get Inspired Art ready.

Inspired Art 2012!!!

We have broken into May with our Inspired Art Event looming ever so gloriously on the horizon. To be held on May 17 (almost 2 weeks away to the day) at the Bank of America Plaza in Downtown LA at 6:30 p.m. Up for silent auction are 30 pieces of art from 25 local artists, all of which were inspired by poetry written by our students during our after-school program. If the evening bears even the slightest resemblance to last year's fun, then this night will be one to remember. See you there.

Words Are Winds

The world is not an intelligent place. Though it may be filled with havens of knowledge, oases of wisdom, and back-alleys of common sense, none of these are permanent enough to be written on a map. And yet, I implore you to be not dismayed. Words are winds, able to travel great distances without tiring, able to enter inaccessible hovels of secret hearts on the backs of whispers, capable of surviving well beyond the hands that wrote them, the lips that spoke them. They build magnificent cathedrals stone by stone, sentence by sentence, decorated with all the pretty punctuation, tapestries of patchwork metaphors coloring the walls, grand gardens blooming with inimitable opening lines and glorious fountains of sculpted dialogues. Villains perched on ledges, with hideous faces and monstrous features, all hidden beneath the lights of the cities yet to be created. There are a thousand cosmos to bring forth. Words are winds.

There are two months until the end of the school year. Boom! Mind blown.

National Poetry Slam!!!

The plans are being finalized. The poems are ready for recital. The kids are jazzed. The 6th Annual Poetry Slam is just about here. Congratulations to the LA Scores participants Preston Anchang of Palms Elementary and Cynthia Flores of Braddock Elementary. They will be headed to New York City and will join many great artists of present and past when they perform their poems at the world famous Apollo Theater. We, at LA Scores, have no doubts that they will have a wonderful time. And we are ever proud of all of out students.