Shades

NOMADS Mix It Up, Make It Up On Human Rights Day

The NOMAD Lab Art Project for children celebrated Human Rights Day on December 10 by envisioning a world – real or imagined – that they would like to live in. Multimedia artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle and musician/composer Kevin Robinson led the event, held in an apartment complex at the Valle del Oro Neighborhood in Santa Clarita, CA., where the children live.  The Trailer Trash Project organized the event in collaboration with NOMAD Lab founder Evelyn Serrano, who uses art to encourage children to work together build a peaceful, tolerant multi-cultural neighborhood.
Musician/Composer Kevin Robinson with NOMAD kids

Tenor Saxaphonist Kevin Robinson, who is a firm believer in the power of music to heal, demonstrated how the sound that comes out of his instrument is influenced by his stance, breath, emotions – even the rate of his beating heart.  He showed how musical instruments can be fashioned from found objects such as hat stands, lamp stands and shades. Even the voice, hands and feet can be effective instruments, he said. A lesson in learning about how the music becomes one with your body came with Kevin encouraging the kids to clap their hands to a set beat, while he riffed and a NOMAD kid repeated sounds to a tune.This winter, the Kevin Robinson Ensemble (KREation) will be on tour in New York City and Baltimore this Winter (see dates)

For her part, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle recounted tales from her Kentifrica homeland, providing maps and drawing of the people who live there and the instruments they play.  She encouraged the NOMADS to draw maps of their own home country (real or imagined) and then asked them to describe what life was like there.

Artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle's shows her portrait of a fellow citizen of Kentifrica to kids with the NOMAD Lab Art Project

Kevin Robinson, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle and the NOMAD Lab Art Project collaborate with Sam Breen’s Trailer Trash Project in its mission to foster creativity and a sense of community through a program of art performances, exhibits and residencies in local Los Angeles neighborhoods.

NOMAD Lab founder, artist and CalArts faculty member Evelyn Serrano

In recognition of Human Rights Day, two international human rights lawyers based in Geneva, Switzerland joined the group.  Tom McCarthy and Anna-Lena Svensson McCarthy who were in California on a family trip, provided an opportunity to explain to that shelter is a human right.

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housingand medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” (article 25(1))  Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Thanks to Whole Foods of Valencia and  Steve’s Valencia Florist for their donations. 

This post is part of a series documenting Sam Breen’a Spartan Restoration Project. Please see his first post here and check out the archive here. The CSPA is helping Sam by serving in an advisory role, offering modest support and featuring Sam’s Progress by syndicating his feed from http://spartantrailerrestoration.wordpress.com as part of our CSPA Supports Program.

Taxidermy on Trees


(A deer mount on a tree, by Jim Baughn of Air Capital Taxidermy in Wichita, KS.}


A comment on an older post led me to a site by a Wichita taxidermist with unusual photos of mounts hung on trees. Maybe they are outside for good lighting, but outside is specifically the place we don’t expect to see taxidermy.While I’m not a hunter myself, nor do I have any stuffed animals at home, I am continually fascinated by this practice. Why? Well, a good taxidermy animal allows us the same possibility as a portrait or realistic sculpture of a person, i.e. the chance to get up close and really investigate something that we might not be able to experience in other ways.

Taxidermy is also a way return some dignity to an animal, especially overly numerous animals like deer. I wouldn’t say the same about an endangered animal, like grizzlies or wolves, so it’s sort of shades of gray for me here.


Finally, I’m interested in taxidermy because of the obvious skill and attention it demands as a craft or artform. And understanding the many ways people appreciate wild animals is one way to what I hope is the eventual formation of voting bloc composed of environmentalists, hunters and farmers. I think we all want generally the same thing (preservation of existing species, protection of wild places, good quality of life for humans and animals, etc) so if we can get these groups united, it would be an unstoppable political force.


–> More at aircapitaltaxidermy.wordpress.com

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