COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
Below is a collection of collaborative projects that Cocina Abierta is involved in both past and present.
Delicious Reality, 2013-2014
Ensemble Members
In the spring of 2013 Christina Sanchez and Cayetano Juarez joined the cast of Delicious Reality, a devised theater piece that asks, "Who really cooks your meal?" Produced by TeAda Productions and directed by Corky Dominguez, Delicious Reality presented tantalizing and provocative tales from LA’s restaurant scene. In stark contrast to cooking shows on reality T.V., this new ensemble theater performance uncovered the untold experiences in the kitchens and dining rooms of restaurants. The multicultural ensemble mixed together a series of tasty images, stories, and mythology from the front and back of the house, with a healthy dose of worker and immigrant perspectives.
Delicious Reality was presented at the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica May 10th-19th, 2013.
Social Design Collective, 2012-2013
Teaching Artist
The Social Design Collective LLC is an innovative design team comprised of artists, architects, urban planners, media professionals and educators. Collectively we have designed and implement a range of projects that have taken their shape in the form of permanent public art works, exhibition designs, marketing campaigns, educational platforms and civic engagement projects. We are interested in using creativity to generate long-term community, public and social benefits. We create solutions through bridging cross-sector partnerships between community organizations, academic institutions, residents, youth and local municipalities. Our Core Collaborative Design Team has a history of working well together. The Social Design Collective LLC was recently awarded a 100,000 public art commission in Santa Ana funded by *Related LA. As an aspect of this community engaged public art project we are also working with Garfield Elementary School to provide an arts based curriculum to 700 elementary school students. This is part of what makes our team dynamic.
The Biggest Recovery Community Anywhere, 2012
Teaching Fellow
Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) and students from Otis College of Art and Design's Graduate Public Practice Program team up with downtown residents to throw a surprise birthday party for Alcoholics Anonymous Los Angeles in celebration of AA’s long-term commitment to recovery in the area. January 26th marks the day 72 years ago of the first public meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in downtown, and the celebration will take place at the site of that first meeting - the Cecil Hotel, 640 S. Main St. The event is part of LAPD's yearlong project, “Biggest Recovery Community Anywhere,” focusing on Skid Row.
Download newsletter designed by Christina Sanchez in collaboration with the Los Angeles Poverty Department here.
Dismantled, 2010 - 2011
Collaborative Artist
Graduate Public Practice at Otis College of Art & Design, working with artists S.A. Bachman and Krista Caballero present DISMANTLED, an innovative visual arts collaboration. At a time when students across the state are facing tuition hikes, emerging artists from Otis are participating in this exploration of public education, critical pedagogy, and the privatization of our school system.
DISMANTLED encompasses a series of outdoor projections and performances addressing debates surrounding the current educational crisis. This statewide project acknowledges California’s unique history while questioning what the future holds if our institutions of learning are no longer shaped by the core principle of affordable education for all. California educators including Peter McLaren, Gilda Haas, Janna Shaddock Hernandez and Ricardo Dominguez have informed this project.