Artists At Work

This culminating exhibition recognizes the community engagement work of Artist Taylor Griffith in partnership with AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, and Poet Nancy Lynée Woo in partnership with SBCC, Strength Based Community Change. During their 2022 residency, the Griffith and Woo led community programming while focusing on their professional creative practices, sponsored by the Artists At Work program in Los Angeles County. Artists At Work is a workforce resilience program designed to support the rebuilding of healthy communities through artistic civic engagement.

Taylor Griffith’s practice combines his ocean-dive research with methods of photography and sculptural installation, to examine the state of oceanic ecosystems. During his 10-month artist residency, Griffith worked from studio space at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles in order to develop his large-scale cyanotype series of kelp species. Griffith encouraged public discourse about the state of coastal ecosystems in the limited series, Intertidal Encounters. Facilitated by Griffith and hosted by AGCC, this series invited artists and scientists to engage in public discourse about the impact of human activity upon our oceans and planet. Griffith also created a participatory installation project, inviting members of the community to make sculptural objects resembling lures from reclaimed ocean plastic debris, calling to attention the destructive nature of unsustainable commercial fishing practices. Griffith will be displaying his current body of work and community created sculptures in the Artists At Work exhibition at AGCC.

Nancy Lynée Woo is a poet based in the greater Los Angeles area. Her work is largely inspired by the magic and power of the natural world. As an AAW Artist Fellow, Woo developed writing and poetry centered programs that raised awareness for food sustainability and helped participants develop their creative voice. Partnering with SBCC (Strength Based Community Change) in Wilmington, Woo led after-school and summer programs in poetry and painting for local youths and their families. In her Poems & Produce program, she organized with volunteers to create poems for SBCC’s community garden produce program. Woo also developed two online poetry workshop series that developed writers in a supportive, community-oriented environment. The AAW program supported Woo’s individual writing practice, while enabling free, public programming for the Wilmington and AGCC communities. The AAW exhibition will highlight participants’ poems from Woo’s various engagement opportunities.

Artists At Work (AAW) is a workforce resilience program designed to support the rebuilding of healthy communities through artistic civic engagement. THE OFFICE performing arts + Film has partnered with the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to implement the AAW initiative in Los Angeles with the goals of supporting local cultural organizations, paying participating artists a living wage, and building healthy communities through partnership. Organizational partners with Angels Gate Cultural Center include Wilmington-based SBCC (Strength Based Community Change) and AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, delivering free and engaging programming to the local communities in the South Bay Harbor region.