National City’s ARTS—A Reason to Survive— hosted a Jump/Cuts: Creative Playgrounds! event on June 29.
The event, a collaboration between Pacific Arts Movement and South Future’s Creative Career Expo, showcased a variety of creative talents. The expo had breakout sessions-workshops, a keynote speaker, as well as a networking reception at the end of the day.
Other collaborators were Boodle Fight SD and Each One Teach One.
“It’s a creative business career expo,” said Pacific Arts Movement’s executive director Kent Lee. “A collaboration assignment of four different non-profit organizations. We put this together in about 2-3 months and have over 300 people registered.”
“We have visual panels and a culinary panel about food,” he said.
“From all over— Los Angeles, San Diego County, National City, and all ages,” said event staff Robert Bryan Arevalo, of National City, on where attendees came from. “It was totally free.”
Michelle Sugihara, the executive director of CAPE – Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, was the keynote speaker. Opening remarks were by Kent Lee and Sound Futures’ media strategist Ferchil Ramos.
The event started at noon with Sugihara, who spoke on representation in media, then the event broadened out into breakout sessions 1, 2, and 3, with the themes of business, audio, and visual.
Alex Chou explained why he was involved.
“I like the idea of artistic expressions in the Asian community. I came down here to volunteer,” said Normal Heights resident Alex Chou, 26. Chou, a UCSD graduate who works in banking, is also in search of his artistic brand. “”I like to journal and write poems but I haven’t figured out my brand of expression.”
Podcaster Alyssa Mopia, along with Alan Lilienthal, and Fernando Espinosa, populated the podcast panel.
“I heard of podcasts that were bombarded millions of times that were recorded on a phone,” said Mopia. ARTS’ executive director, James Halliday, moderated the panel.
Mopia is a San Diego content creator and lifestyle blogger. Alan Lilienthal is a musician in the bilingual musical hip-hop group Tulengua. Fernando Espinosa is co-host at Loud but Harmless Podcast.
The timed sessions dealt with different aspects of being a creative and the talent behind supporting the artists.
The food for the soul panel consisted of Candice Woo, Allie Cuerdo, Craig Jimenez, Cris Liang, and Ky Phan.
Craig Jimenez is an American-Filipino chef and restaurateurs who participated in Round 1: An Adobo Study for Boodle Fight SD.
Candice Woo is the founding editor of Eater San Diego. Alexandra “Allie” Cuerdo is a filmmaker behind “Ulam: Main Dish” – a film about Filipino-American chefs. Cris Liang is a San Diego restaurateur. Ky Phan is an executive chef and co-owner of Crab Hut San Diego.
Boodle Fight SD’s mission is to unite the masses using art, music, and cuisine by creating a fully immersive food experience. Boodle Fight SD was a collaborator on the event.
A boodle fight, rooted in the Filipino culture, is a meal that dispenses with cutlery and dishes. The food is placed on top of a long banana-leaf-lined trestle table, and in military style, diners do not sit in chairs but stand shoulder-to-shoulder to eat.
Each One Teach One – a creative workshop series, is a series of classes and workshops taught by practicing artists and professionals.
ARTS also handles “ARTS After School” – arts education classes, creative internships with professional mentors, and access to professional support services such as mental, behavioral counseling, college/career readiness advising, and more.
Jump/Cuts’ next event is Blow Fish Remixed, a performance by Year of the Ox on July 25 at The Irenic in San Diego.
