CONEXIONES: Cultivating Community Action is a collaborative and informational meeting space for the community partners where members of the public, artists, and activists intersect with one another, create dialogue, exchange ideas, and build solutions for the future. Art, film, photography, creative writing, and oral histories will guide the storytelling inviting community members to share their own creative expressions through interactive stations.

Louis Verdad: TONÁNTZIN  features a commissioned artwork by Mexican-American fashion designer Louis Verdad, who built a 9-foot visage of the Mesoamerican goddess Tonántzin, a multimedia presentation of Mama Tierra, who greets the public with tales of duality, of creation and destruction, a telling of her shifting identity throughout history, and her call-to-action for environmental justice.  

With atmospheric lighting and sound elements, this installation offers a powerful and contemplative space that invites the public to gather around the goddess-mother on meditation cushions to consider the meaning and reciprocal role our communities have as protectors and stewards of the Earth.  

Fashion designer Louis Verdad’s studio is based in Los Angeles, and his designs have adorned celebrities such as Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Cate Blanchett, Cher, Paris Hilton, Halle Berry, Oprah Winfrey and others. Much of his style bridges fashion and sculpture, and he is currently developing new works that address his Mexican roots that embody and celebrate his cultura with historical and symbolic references. Tonántzin, is curated by LA Plaza’s Curatorial Department, and this is its debut in Los Angeles. The exhibition also documents, through film, Verdad’s artistic practice and the process of making the installation.

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