The 2020 Art competition Winner
WENDELL WIGGINS
“When I paint, I dip my brush in my soul. Being an artist is a life force, not a career choice. Each piece represents a fragment of my life's work. I present the world artistically as I see it, as I wish to see it, and occasionally as I once saw it. You see, it is my identity. Without this expression of self, I am less than I should be. My work reflects my deep interest in the best of human nature, culture, spirituality, the arts and Nature. I use color, composition and motion to express mood, action, energy and my love of the universal positive human experience. I seek to create art which inspires the heart, uplifts the mind and spirit.”
“JAZZFEST IN THE PARK”
Acrylic on Canvas By Wendell Wiggins
“The art I have submitted to visually represent the Leimert Park Jazz Festival titled ‘Jazzfest in the Park’ was inspired by my years of participating in cultural events at Leimert Park during the last 3 decades since moving to Los Angeles. It’s intended to viscerally express the beauty and multi-faceted nature of Jazz as well as the joy and excitement one receives when experiencing the cultural festivities within this historically vibrant African-American community.” – Wendell Wiggins
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The 2020 art competition Finalists
AMANI HOLBERT
“Leimert Park inspires me because its beauty constantly urges me to imagine. This neighborhood is filled with dreamers that strive for a better tomorrow despite all obstacles.
My piece reflects my creative vision for the future, which is for the members of my community to be free to be themselves artistically and unapologetically. I have hopes that art and music will continue to be used as a vehicle for change and understanding of our unique culture.”
“JAZZ FESTIVAL LOVE”
Digital Medium
By Amani Holbert
PERRY “AISE” JACORI
“This is an illustrated narrative that depicts a figure who goes by the name Leimert (who represents the spirit of Leimert Park), who loves to play the trumpet. Leimert wears an African mask that bares a crowning female statue that is a part of the mask known as LadySax (who represents the spirit of Jazz). After Leimert listens to the sound of life overflowing from the park's water fountain, he is inspired to play his trumpet. When Leimert begins to play his trumpet, the statuette carved on the mask comes alive and she plays the saxophone. As the music from Leimert's trumpet and LadySax's saxophone start to inter-play, the Flybird magically appears. The blue songbird loves to land on the rim of Leimert's trumpet to sing and dance to the Jazzy sounds of Leimert and LadySax.”
“LEIMERT ON THE TRUMPET FEAT.
LADYSAX AND THE FLYBIRD”
Acrylic on Canvas
By Perry Aise Jacori
THE 2020 art competition JUDGES
PATRICK HENRY JOHNSON
Artist, Maven, Alchemist
Patrick Henry Johnson is an internationally acclaimed visual artist based in Los Angeles. His work spans from designing colossal murals as a public art form to fine art as the illustrator for May May Ali’s “I Shook up the World” children’s illustrated book about her father, Muhammad Ali. Johnson’s work can be seen in various parts of the city transforming walls and communities. He is the first artist to have a mural sponsored by the city on private property since the mural ban was lifted, a project commissioned by Council Member Curren Price of the Los Angeles City Council. This 72″ x 14″ foot mural depicts the cost of war to the human soul. The piece is titled The Penta-Loom Ode to Soldiers. His latest project is titled The Chronicles Of Subjugation: The Art of Conquer and Divide!, featuring assemblage installations that challenge the presence and the way we react to race and prejudice in our society.
KAREN MACK
Founder & Executive Director, LA Commons
Born and raised in South Los Angeles, Karen Mack is founder and Executive Director of LA Commons, an organization dedicated to promoting the city’s diverse neighborhoods through locally based, interactive, artistic and cultural programming. For eighteen years, LA Commons has implemented creative placekeeping initiatives, grassroots art projects, festivals and tours across Los Angeles in partnership with a range of organizations. Ms. Mack, through the organization, plays a unique role as a facilitator of community engagement in arts and culture as well in other important issues - health, transportation and education to name a few. Prior to work with LA Commons, she served as a Public Service Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where she researched the role of culture in community building and Vice President at Community Partners, responsible for Program Planning and Development. She holds an MPA from Harvard University and an MBA from the John Anderson School of Management at UCLA. She is currently a mayoral appointee to the City of Los Angeles Planning Commission and in the past has served as the President of the City’s Board of Neighborhood Commissioners and of the nonprofit, Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative. She also currently serves as a member of the Advisory Committee on LA County's Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative. In 2019, she was named LA County Woman of the Year in the Arts.
MICHAEL MASSENBURG
Artist, Community Organizer, Activist
Michael Massenburg was born in the city of San Diego and raised in Los Angeles, California. Michael pursued his studies at California State University, Long Beach and Otis School of Art and Design. Massenburg has exhibited in galleries and museums, completed private commissions, and worked on public art projects throughout the country and abroad. His list of public artwork clients includes Metro stations in Los Angeles, American Jazz Museum, and the Forum in Inglewood. He is also the recipient of various grants and awards, including from California Arts Council and the Cultural Trailblazer award from Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Along with his art-making practices, Michael is a teaching artist, community organizer and activist for various organizations and causes.
TERRY SCOTT
Cultural Organizer, Producer & Arts Consultant
Terry Scott has worked at the crossroads of cultural production and social justice all his life, and unlike bluesman Robert Johnson, never had to sell his soul to the devil. He is a recent co-founder of the nonprofit Leimert Park Village, Inc. which facilitates Creative Placekeeping at the intersection of arts, heritage and economic development, elected to the Emerging Arts Leadership Council Los Angeles and is currently at Cultural Policy Fellow at Arts for LA. An independent cultural organizer, producer & consultant for artists and nonprofit arts organizations with 20+ battle tested years in the Nonprofit Arts Industrial Complex, he developed a surreal-like agility to manage fundraising, programming, marketing, and community engagement enterprises across creative disciplines. Terry is formerly the board chair of Lesole’s Dance Project, a South African dance company in Washington DC, research fellow at Provisions Library for Art & Social Change at George Mason University and Managing Director of Junebug Productions Theater Company in New Orleans. While Director of Producer Services and Tech at Black Public Media in NYC, he served as staff producer for BPM funded filmmakers, bringing their projects to fruition and broadcast on PBS. Later, as Senior Coordinator at StoryCorps, he produced their mobile recording studio tour, traveling the country collecting stories of everyday people for NPR’s Morning Edition. Experiences such as these have enabled him to work in a capacity where critical and quality storytelling is valued and not necessarily determined by commercial success.