Portable City Present: The Transforma Book Launch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 July 20, 2010                       
 call 323.957.1777 for more info                                                                         
 Portable City Projects Presents
 TRANSFORMA PUBLICATION RELEASE PARTY
 Thursday Aug 12th (7 – 9:30 pm)
 6522 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, Ca
 (Portable City Projects Residency at LACE) 

  
 Portable City Projects is proud to present the Transforma Publication and conversation. Portable City Projects is a LACE Public Interest Residency project.
  
 On Thursday Aug 12th, from 7– 9:30 pm the Transforma team, Jessica Cusick, Sam Durant, Jess Garz, Rick Lowe, and Robert Ruello will host an open-house event to celebrate the release of the 96-page, color publication that documents the initiative’s five years of activity in New Orleans. The event will be held at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) located at 6522 Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles. The publication contains two essays that look critically at the Transforma initiative, which strategically supported socially-engaged art project with direct financial assistance, technical assistance, and networking opportunities. One essay, written by Aimee Chang, manager of public programs at the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, looks at Transforma through the lens of art history and pedagogy. The other, by Maria Rosario Jackson, senior research associate at the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Center at the Urban Institute, considers the initiative within the context of community development and urban planning. The publication also contains profiles of the supported pilot projects; Home, New Orleans?, Paydirt/Fundred and Plessy Park and the 27 Creative Recovery Mini-Grant Recipients. The intention is for the publication to encourage engagement in, and discourse about, art, creativity and community.
  
 ABOUT TRANSFORMA
 Transforma supported public and socially engaged creative practice through direct project support in the post-Katrina landscape, and also through broader resource development and knowledge transfer. Financial support was provided to New Orleans-based projects on large and small scales through two programs: the pilot projects and the Creative Recovery Mini-Grant program. In addition to monetary resources, Transforma made contributions by hosting a website- a digital forum- and convenings- physical forums. The multiple structures of support allowed for a great diversity of individuals and projects to engage with the Transforma initiative- some on a one-time basis at a convening, some on multiple occasions through the website, and some on a daily basis through direct project support. www.transformaprojects.org <http://www.transformaprojects.org/>