Million Little

A Story from the Field by Ana, Youth Program Facilitator.

Holiday activities in our Creative Mindfulness program!

A Story from the Field by Mateo, Youth Program Facilitator.

Youth in our Creative Mindfulness program trying screen printing for the first time! 🎨

We loved being outside in 2025! Attending community events and hosting our very own music recording workshop kept us connected and inspired.⁠
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Thank you to everyone who has stopped by to show love and support for the heart work that we do! ⁠
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Special shout out to our volunteers - we could not do it without you, thank you!!!

A Youth Program Facilitator and youth in our Creative Mindfulness program collaborating during a music recording session.

Fulton Leroy Washington aka Mr. Wash is a self-taught artist, an educator, and a public speaker. Wrongfully convicted in 1997 for a non-violent drug offense, Mr. Wash learned and refined his craft in oil and acrylic while serving a life sentence, the mandatory minimum that had been set during the era of the War on Drugs. On May 5, 2016, after he had been incarcerated for 21 years, President Obama commuted Mr. Wash’s sentence and granted him clemency.⁠
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Mr. Wash has the unique ability to express human emotions in the form of paintings. His first subjects were his fellow inmates; he created elaborate photorealistic portraits of his cohort from all around the world, often setting them in idyllic landscapes, dressed in civilian clothing and free. Other portraits depicted the inmates' psychological fissures, including large tears drawn on their faces; some portraits were adorned with paintings within the paintings of fears or anxieties the subjects had shared with their portraitist. ⁠
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In 2020, Mr. Wash was selected as one of 30 artists to participate in the Hammer Museum's Made in L.A. biennial, where he was also the recipient of the Public Recognition Award. His exhibited works have been acquired by U.S. museums and national and international collectors. Most recently Mr. Wash’s work has been featured in a solo show, Time Is Your Most Valuable Asset (2024), at Jeffrey Deitch in Los Angeles, as well as group shows including Black American Portraits (2022) at LACMA. Mr. Wash’s exhibited painting of Kobe Bryant was acquired by the museum with funds courtesy of Aubrey Drake Graham a.k.a. Drake.⁠
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Mr. Wash continues to work daily in his Compton, CA studio, infusing his creativity and storytelling into every work of art. He continues his work as a criminal justice reform advocate by way of his 501(c)(3), Help Us Help Wash.⁠
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Bio and artwork taken from his website, www.artbywash.com. Pre-order his new book, Artists in Space (preview on last slide).

We love a small, local business here at Million Little. Where are you doing your holiday shopping this Small Business Saturday? Tag them in the comments!

Youth in our Creative Mindfulness program shared what they are thankful for!

We closed out Spooky Season (and the 2025 Day of Creativity season) with some imaginative costumes and art at .valensrc and the Palmdale Oasis Park Recreation Center. We wish everyone a joyful and art-filled holiday season as we take a break until the new year.⁠
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Thank you to all the DOC volunteers who’ve helped make this program not only possible but so much fun for artists of all ages!⁠
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Rest up, artists, and we’ll see you next year!⁠
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