Dynamic And Empowering
Stop Telling Women To Smile
Art Project Shines Light On Street Harassment
Coming To Los Angeles March 12 – 18, 2014

LOS ANGELES, CA – March 6, 2014 – Stop Telling Women To Smile (STWTS) is a public art project and exhibition that addresses gender based street harassment created by Brooklyn, NY based artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. The work attempts to address gender based street harassment by placing drawn portraits of women, composed with captions that speak directly to offenders, outside in public spaces. Coming to Los Angeles in March (12th through the 19th), a variety of activities will be conducted including group discussions in Santa Monica, South LA, East LA, Downtown, plus the capturing of LA women’s stories via real-time drawing during Fazlalizadeh’s residency in LA and a special signing event at Downtown LA’s Art Walk for which she is a Featured Artist for the month of March. See event details below. For more information on the artist please visit http://www.tlynnfaz.com. To learn more about this project, please visithttp://stoptellingwomentosmile.com and https://www.facebook.com/StopTellingWomentoSmile. For updates on the LA events please visithttp://stoptellingwomentosmile.com/Los-Angeles-March-12-19th.

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is an illustrator/painter based in Brooklyn, mostly known for her oil paintings. Having recently branched out into public art as a muralist, STWTS was born out of the idea that street art can be an impactful tool for tackling street harassment.

STWTS started in Brooklyn in the fall of 2012. It is an on-going, travelling series and will gradually include many cities and many female participants. Having launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013, the project is now able to move to various cities across the U.S. and hopefully, around the globe.

Featured in various media from NPR, and the New York Times to Upworthy and Huffington Post, the project aims to raise the level of awareness about street harassment and empower those who confront it.

The project is glad to have Hollaback, Women, Action & Media (WAM!), UN Women, Feminist Majority and others as supporters of the effort.

Street harassment is a serious issue that affects women worldwide. This project takes women’s voices, and faces, and puts them in the street – creating a bold presence for women in an environment where they are so often made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

In Los Angeles, from March 13 – 18, there will be a number of ways to participate (see updates here):

March 12 – LA Chapter of UN Women presentation 6:45 PM
(11674 Gateway Blvd, Suite C, Second Floor, West Los Angeles)

March 13 – Downtown Art Walk  5:30 – 9:30 PM
Mini Exhibition at Art Walk Lounge (648 Spring St.)
Window Display and Lithograph Signing at Nopal Press (109 W. 5th St.)

March 14 – Wheat Pasting in Arts District 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon (corner, 7th and Mateo)

March 15 – WAM! Discussion at Santa Monica College 4:00 PM
(HSS 152, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica)

March 16 – Wheat Pasting at Fame Yard, 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon (near 7763 Melrose Ave.)                                                                   Group Discussion at Grand Park (exact location avail. by email)

March 17 – Action/Speak Out at Santa Monica College (on the Quad)
Lecture at Santa Monica College (1900 Pico Blvd.)
(both events on the 17th presented with Hollaback, WAM! And Feminist Majority)

March 18 – “Sisterhood Empowerment” presentation and discussion
Hosted by Brotherhood Crusade (advance media notice required)

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For more information, photos, to schedule an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or
lynn@greengalactic.com.