Whittier Time Bank has joined with Catalyst Network of Communities, a 501c3 nonprofit social impact organization. Both organizations share common goals in achieving positive change through social justice, sustainability, and community-building initiatives. In recent years, Whittier Time Bank has expanded into a variety of activities beyond its core neighborly skill-sharing time bank project. These projects, which include skill building workshops, local food projects, a community newsletter, leadership training, and the Whittier Free Store (coming Summer 2015), are now initiatives under the Catalyst umbrella. This move, where the two organizations have combined forces, is part of a bigger trend throughout the region, where small like-minded community initiatives are growing stronger by collaborating and connecting with each other.  Read the rest of this entry »

Bootleg Theater is excited to announce the brand new Ken Roht’s Same-O, A 99¢ Only Electric Ballad – once again bringing together the award-winning creative team of Roht, John Ballinger and Ann Closs-Farley for an outrageous holiday production. Previous 99¢ Only shows have been critically acclaimed as a “bedazzlement of theater action and peanut gallery voyeurism” (LA Times) and “mix of heady surrealism, marvelously inventive choreography, unabashed camp, and delightful whimsy” (Backstage West).  Costumes, sets and moving sculptures in this progressive multimedia music event will once again incorporate traditional 99¢ Only Store fare, with the addition of recycled and sustainable materials this year. The interdisciplinary extravaganza, with a cast of 18 diverse performers, runs from December 4 to 19, 2010 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00pm nightly with Sunday matinees only at 3:00pm.  Performances have been extended, now running January 6 to 30, 2011 on the same schedule. Read the rest of this entry »

Overtone Industries is engaged in a massive community arts project, currently underway, to create props and costumes from recycled materials for their July site-specific contemporary opera, Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands directed by O-Lan Jones. In May and June, creative volunteers are invited to Overtone’s “Songs & Dances Craftacular Weekend Workshops,” a series of free public art workshops where donated recyclables are being transformed into sets and costumes for the innovative music theater production. Overtone Industries is looking for crafters, artists, knitters, and the general public of all ages to collaborate on the project by participating in the art-making process via the community workshops. Workshops are being held Saturdays and Sundays, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., through June 20, 2010 at the Songs & Dances Warehouse, 8840 Washington Street, Culver City, CA 90232.

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