Youth today are left to alternative ways to express their talents, pains, dreams, and visions

ARTS & CULTURE FEATURE CONSIDERATION
Contact: Marla Dennis 805.492.4155    

Man One, Los Angeles International Muralist/Graffiti artist, walks his talk.

Los Angeles, CA – January 30, 2001 - "In California, they've taken away art programs and after-school programs, and left them on the streets. What are we going to do to change that?" Man One said in a recent article from filmmaker Bob Bryan's website, www.graffitverite.com by Joanna Franco. Youth today are left to alternative ways to express their talents, pains, dreams, and visions. Currently, Los Angeles HeArt Project is a proactive solution to this dilemma. Man One, Los Angeles native and international muralist/graffiti artist, often prefers offering his talents to youth projects. He walks his talk. The HeArt Projects purpose is to bring multi-disciplinary art workshops annually to community schools typically void of art programs within the L.A. Unified District. Taught by professional artists in community, Man One is one of a few chosen mural artists to participate in the 2000-2001 project. January – March 2001 he is orchestrating, coordinating, and assisting in designing and painting a mural with high school and grade school youth for The Accelerated Elementary School, a LAUSD charter elementary school in South Central Los Angeles. The project is in four parts culminating in a blessing/opening celebration of the garden and mural located at the Accelerated School.

Man One Encourages Youth Through Art

Man Ones personal and artistic platform acts as a voice for the youth experience to break down social barriers that portray young people as the enemy. His artwork has served as a valuable tool spreading knowledge and acceptance of

youth culture on a universal scale. Man Ones intentions are to validate the thoughts and expressions of our youth and their culture as he helps empower their visions and talents. Furthermore, assisting them in emerging as leaders who will bring about positive change to the world. Coca-Cola's "Art of Harmony" program reflects just that. The program provides a stage for Man One to help instill pride in Los Angeles high schools art students (similar programs are offered across the nation) with an art competition and collaborative project. The program is brainchild of Frank Ros, Director of Corporate Latin Affairs for Coca-Cola.
The message is creativity, youth, and commerce can co-exist.

Filmmaker Offers Real Graffiti Perspective

The Joanna Franco article continues, "There's a lot of stress in contemporary society all over the world-people dying, making money," said filmmaker Bob Bryan. He produced three documentaries on graffiti. "The pressures filter down to the lower common denominator, and extend to the younger people. They find a way to vent; it's a stress reliever. Thank God for rap and graffiti, because otherwise people would blow up or break apart."
‘Bryan fell into graffiti in 1995 when he noticed smoke billowing out from behind a building. He discovered graffiti artists were working on a backdrop for an opera directed by Peter Sellars. His curiosity gave him his next documentary idea. He ended up not with just one film,Graffiti Verite', but with
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three, the other two being GV2: Freedom of Expression?, and the newly produced GV3: A Voyage Into the Iconography of Graffiti Art. They write on the walls because that's the only way they can be heard, Bryan said. He continues, Graffiti artists who work on the street endure a lot of pain. For poorer people, graffiti allows them to express themselves. They're artists who don't feel they have a place to speak, so they take to the walls, and speak to an anonymous public," Bryan said.
Man One turned his passion into a business – Man One Art. It only took the first few commissioned murals seven years ago to allow Man One to realize his art could transcend beyond the streets and into the world of commerce. His bright and colorful
murals made their way into the underground urban art movement pioneering the evolution of graffiti as an art form, not a negative statement of culture. Today, his artwork now reaches internationally having been featured in venues throughout the world. To date, his artwork has been showcased in over 20 group exhibitions domestically and internationally, five one-person shows, and displayed at several museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
   Commercially, Man One's commissions include murals, designs and concepts for MTV, Coca-Cola, and Sony, as well as scenic visuals for feature films and music videos. Several of his illustrations and artwork have appeared in a number of magazines including Backspin (Germany), Rap Pages, Airbrush Action, New York Magazine, and Aelle (Italy) to name a few. His success as a freelance artist has allowed him to travel extensively throughout the world.
The Joanna Franco article adds, ‘"although his illegal days are over, city programs designed to combat graffiti still frustrate him. He thinks kids get pegged as criminals, when all they want is a safe environment. Programs like LA's Adopt-A-Wall gloss over the issues of youth delinquency and violence, he said. Why don't they adopt a kid instead of adopting a wall? You're not solving the problem by painting over it. We need to deal with humans, not with walls that are going to fall with the next earthquake," Man One said. #