As a founding member of Project 51, an interdisciplinary LA-based arts collective, I helped create Play the LA River—a public art project that set out to reframe this notorious urban waterway as a multifaceted ecosystem and cultural space with the power to connect the city's diverse communities. The project won a major national grant from ArtPlace America, among others.
Project 51 worked in partnership with dozens of cultural, arts and environmental organizations to engage communities in a year of programming aimed at reimagining the 51-mile-long river, channelized and encased in cement in the mid-20th century by the Army Corps and often depicted as an urban wasteland. At the project's center was a collectible, playable card deck—a game of urban exploration that showcases fifty-two sites along the river, from the headwaters in Canoga Park to its mouth in Long Beach, along with four wild card sites that are nearby and river-related. The team also developed and launched a digital platform that featured an interactive, mobile-friendly version of the card deck, a dynamic social media stream, a community-generated events calendar and a virtual exhibition space.
Among other roles, I served as art director for the project, including design of the visual identity, card deck guide and website, which I also built.
