See you at the Los Angeles Premiere of 'Mele Murals'

Friday, August 5 at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.



Los Angeles! Mark your calendars. You do not want to miss the upcoming LA premiere of Mele Murals, the latest documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Tad Nakamura. Mele Murals is a story about the transformative power of modern graffiti art and ancient Hawaiian culture for a new generation of Native Hawaiians.

Set against the resurgence of Hawaiian language and culture of the past twenty years, Mele Murals follows two former illegal graffiti writers turned community artists -- Estria Miyashiro (aka Estria) and John Hina (aka Prime) -- and their quest to connect people and place through mural making. The film shows how public art rooted in underground graffiti unexpectedly but powerfully fuses with Native Hawaiian traditions and contemporary life to impact local youth, the rural community of Waimea, and most of all the artists.

The Los Angeles premiere will include a screening of the film and Q&A with the filmmaker and featured artists Estria and Prime. It's happening Friday, August 5 at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.

Here's the trailer:

Dragons in Oakland Chinatown!

Dragon School is a neighborhood youth project to paint 99 golden dragons in Oakland's Chinatown.



Have you heard about the dragons in Oakland? I recently about an awesome community project happening in Oakland Chinatown called Dragon School. Founded by artist Luqman Lin, the project empowers local youth to reclaim their own neighborhood by teaching kids to beautify the walls with 99 golden dragons.

Luqman, who has been doing street art in Oakland and elsewhere for years, came up with the idea to paint 99 dragons in Chinatown to reclaim the community and walls. So he teaches young people how to paint dragons, offering templates and instructional YouTube videos. Like this one: