CMD+Y

Hi friends,

Alvin Oei here.

This small community is largely made up of the same group that was once part of the community work we did together as ArtReach in the Pasadena area.

Many of us were students at ArtCenter College of Design. Now we're out in the real world, with the a greater ability to inspire and do good.

A few of us have since turned this initiative into a 501(c)3 so we can continue and grow this work.
https://www.cmd-y.com/ (Lily Lin/ Eduardo Atjian II/ Lori Nishikawa)

Would love to reconnect with some of you around a few local projects we are currently working on, including an art gallery for families who have lost their homes in the Eaton fires. An initiative inspired by Design for Disaster Response's Call to Action.

Hope everyone is doing well! Please stay tuned for upcoming updates, and I would truly love to collaborate with anyone who is interested.

In the meantime, we'll try to post updates when we can.

..and Happy Holidays!

www.cmd-y.com

If anybody will be around LA tomorrow, the Not Impossible Awards is happening at the ACE Hotel. The night will be celebrating inspiring stories and empowering documentaries honoring individuals creating technology for good.

https://notimpossibleawards2019.splashthat.com/?toid=7816004&p=611f3d3ed712a7fa303cd2d1c7a597f82b3e097bbc3b5f365434f7ceb845fb58f87db146&guest-access-hash=MzM4MDkzNnwyMzY4OTIyMjB8MTU1OTM1MjM0NTs0ZDUzY2IxNTJlMzRhOTEyMmU5MWZhYjYxZDA1MzY1NTRmYjc3YThkMzBkYzEzYzkxMjQyMGNiNjk3NjRiNGI3

Code: IMPACT at check out for free tickets and 2 complimentary drinks.

NotImpossibleAwards2019 The Not Impossible Awards Show is a celebratory evening filled with inspiring entertainment and premieres of heartfelt documentaries honoring the people who are creating technology for the sake of humanity. No matter who you are, and no matter what your background is, you can be a part of somet...

We're kicking things back off for the Spring 2019 term with new leadership. Stop by the Club Fair this Tuesday to say hello!

Infosession next Friday at 950 South Campus, Room 231 ArtCenter College of Design.

An hour per week (when you can) to chit chat about design with local students enrolled in Pasadena Unified School District's Mentors for Life program. Giovanni Ayala, who runs the program, will be discussing what it's all about. Hope to see you there.

Calling all designers. Who is available next term for a new ArtReach project with the Flintridge Center? Looking for 4-5 more designers from all majors.

Let's make junk cool.

Anybody that is interested, please tag yourself or shoot our ArtReach page a message. Dates of actual workshops are still TBD but you don't have to go to all workshops.

It's time to disrupt education.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/world/australia/school-tech-lumineer-academy-susan-wu.html

Why This Tech Executive Says Her Plan to Disrupt Education Is Different

Happy to announce that we will be working with the Mentors for L.I.F.E department of the Pasadena Unified School District, launched through their Child Welfare, Attendance, and Safety department.

Our goal as ArtReach will be to have different students visit schools in the Pasadena area to give personal talks and mentor different underprivileged youth groups from foster children to kids that might be failing school. Only certain kids from each school are recommended to join this program at each school so will have direct impact on those we engage with.

I would LOVE and truly appreciate if I can get atleast 5-6 ArtCenter students to be apart of this. We've got work to do in our local communities and this is the best way to do it. The point is *not* to get them to come to ArtCenter, but to engage them in creative thinking that relates back to their life.

Don't worry, it's not going to start tomorrow so there's plenty of time to plan. Please shoot me an e-mail if you are interested or just have questions about it.

[email protected]

Thanks!

Our Environmental Design workshops at the Downey City library, led by ArtCenter Alumni Julian Callanta, are under way. In this quick warm up, 13 students were asked to interpret passages from "The Chronicles of Narnia" into a spatial experience by extracting key words. One student storyboarded every scene and was surprised to learn that it's an actual career.

I feel that what we are trying to do today is more important than ever and I wish other design schools did more. I thank ArtCenter College of Design and Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design for all the support they have given our small little student group because we are the little engine that could and I don't say that lightly.

We are living in a country where our own leaders are actively trying to destroy hope by attacking education. I'm not even talking about art and design, I mean that's been dangling on a thin thread for a long time, but now education as a whole is being attacked for those who need it most as one of the greatest acts of domestic terrorism and it gets a pass. How can we, as designers and creative thinkers, step in to create impact and plant seeds where there are none? It's not an exaggeration to say that the percentage of youth who don't come from privileged backgrounds who are exposed to creative outlets and design thinking is very slim. You might think, "What can I really do? ArtReach is just a bunch of students who are volunteering." I'm not going to try to change your mind but I will say that you are wrong.

I will happily continue to sound like a broken record until we have created enough impact in our community. Right now we are only doing half of what we could be doing because of time. I want to share a small reminder that there is great value in the time that we contribute otherwise I would have quit ArtReach 2 years ago. One single life affected through inspiration is a door way that wasn't there before. Does this mean that everything will be perfect and that the youth we mentor will want to pursue a future in design and that all of these students will get a full ride to any school? No, but now they have a goal and mentors that can help them move toward that dream.

This term, product design student Vanessa Shababzadeh will be president and our advisor will be Heidrun Mumper-Drumm. Please support us and join our continuing cause. One hour of a Handmaiden's Tale or extra sanding could mean an eye opening new experience for a young individual. As Mark Zuckerberg so adequately explained in his commencement speech to Harvard, the reality is that times are different and our success is no longer measured only by how much money we make. Everybody says they're super busy, but we all know that if you really want to do something, you will.

Alvin Oei

Today we wrapped up a special 14 week long ArtReach program for the young girls at the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley run by Julia Altschul with a final presentation of different projects. Thanks to everybody who was a mentor! We look forward to resuming in July with a new team. Please let us know if you are interested.