Last night I headed to Highland Park for an evening of animation screenings held at La Culebra Art Park. It's a monthly / summer film series for the community that's been growing as an offshoot program associated with the Highland Park Film Festival and the Tierra de la Culebra Action League, which does a lot of art and education outreach programs for the neighborhood.
I was brought into the event, thanks to festival programmer Marita de la Torre, and was asked to provide past animation work to be screened - so my 'Sisters' LoopdeLoop entry was unearthed, and repurposed into a proper short film - newly dubbed 'Piano Time!' It's always nice when past projects can turn around and be useful in new ways - especially the looping animations I've done, which always seem to awkwardly lie somewhere in between a GIF or small scene, and a fully realized short film... nevertheless, I made it work..this time around at least! Who knows, maybe I can officially lock it down as a short film and attempt a festival run with it.. we shall see!
I also met and shared a Q&A with artist and animator Roderick Smith, who showcased two of his films - 'Ghosts of Frankenstein' and 'Desolation Row - A Marionette Performance.' Check out his work - an amazing tour de force in fine art, charcoal, stop motion, puppetry, and several other mediums I've never dared to attempt!
It's always inspiring when film and animation can bring people and communities together, and offer a whole new dimension to the unifying strengths of the art form - La Culebra Art Park is no exception!
Speaking of communities, there's more to come with an upcoming art show I'll be involved with in Koreatown later this fall. Stay tuned!
-Brian