Downey Symphony and Arts Coalition team up for free cultural showcase
Featured artist Pinchi Michi at the Downey Symphony concert in April 2022.
DOWNEY — For more than a decade, the Downey Arts Coalition (DAC) has partnered with the Downey Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and the Downey Theatre to present art exhibits of local artists, and student art at symphony performances. DAC and the symphony are the two oldest non-profit legacy arts organizations in Downey.
This Saturday, April 12, both the Downey Symphony Orchestra performance and the DAC art exhibit “Live, Love, Art” are free to the public. All you have to do is show up. It’s as thrilling as the Hollywood Bowl, its close, its more intimate, and it’s free.
Doors and the art exhibit open at 5:30 pm. There is a pre-concert talk at 6:15 pm. DSO conductor Sharon Lavery begins the concert at 7 pm.
Pat Gil, Downey Arts Coalition president and board member of the Downey Symphony, won the DSO’s most recent annual baton auction. With that she chose the “Theme from the Game of Thrones” by Ramin Djawadi, and has been tutored by Lavery. She will be the guest conductor as the orchestra performs this opening number.
The “Life, Love, Art” art exhibit in the lobby and upper level of the Downey Theatre is curated by DAC’s Andrew Hernandez who has been working tirelessly as a curator for years. Hernandez earned his BA in Art History from Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Student art work from Griffiths and Sussman middle schools is curated by the equally dedicated Eloisa Ball. The featured artists are the unique visual artists Pinchi Michi, Monique Pucciarelli, and Alberto Reyes, well known throughout the Los Angeles area and longtime participants in DAC exhibits.
Come early for the art exhibit, and check it out during intermission, and after the performance. All of the art pieces are affordable.
FEATURED ARTIST: PINCHI MICHI
Michi Taylor, better known in the art world as Pinchi Michi, is a widely respected artist whose art has always been more than a colorful distraction or casual personal interest, instead it has continually functioned as a life line and refuge through the many wounds and struggles of growing up.
Michi showed interest in art at the young age of five years old. She always used art as therapy and as a creative expression. She studied at El Camino College, Cal State Long Beach, and in Dublin.
She has exhibited her artworks through-out California since 1998. She learned early on that art was meant to reach directly to the people, and that any environment was made fuller and brighter for it. Her art is highly influenced by her Mexican-American culture and she loves to paint with bold colors and representing her passion for music, people, mystery and folk art.
FEATURED ARTIST: MONIQUE PUCCIARELLI
Born in Argentina and now based in Los Angeles, Monica Pucciarelli is a self-taught artist whose work deeply connects to the feminine spirit. Known for her figurative works, she uses acrylics and oils on canvas.
Pucciarelli is currently expanding her creative boundaries by experimenting with fiber art, including painting on burlap and other textured materials. This new direction allows her to add depth and tactile dimensions to her exploration of the female experience.
For her, painting is more than just a medium – it’s her truest form of communication, guided by a belief that creativity flows when we tune out external distractions and tap into something greater. Each brushstroke, whether on canvas or fabric, flows from a place of intuition, letting the stories unfold naturally as she selects colors, textures, and materials.
She draws inspiration from literature, music, and the works of other artists as well as her native roots. Pucciarelli’s paintings are both personal and universal.
Her work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries across Southern California and Argentina, and she has been featured in notable art publications such as Womankind Magazine and Artemisa Cultural, a magazine dedicated to Latin American artists.
Pucciarelli and her husband, Oscar Dominguez, operate Moving Still Pictures Photography in Downey.
FEATURED ARTIST: ALBERTO REYES
Alberto Reyes returns to exhibit his phenomenally sculptured and 3D dragons. Reyes discovered his passion for creating dragons, masks, mystical beasts and figures in 1990. It was the impact of the first Halloween he witnessed in the United States.
He started to assemble the elements of his artistic vision which was to make extraordinary and intense images translated into paper and adhesive. He began drawing pictures with the intention of creating a papier-mâché image. He incorporating color and texture this evolved into his first work using papier-mâché. These are exceptional art pieces perfect to accompany the Game of Thrones performance.
FEATURED STUDENT ARTISTS: GRIFFITHS MIDDLE SCHOOL
DAC is very pleased to continue its partnership with Sussman Middle School and exhibit students work from their art programs.
Griffiths Middle School is a school dedicated to the pursuit of all students belonging, achieving, and growing which is evident when you walk into the art classroom. The visual arts department has a rich history at Griffiths that continues to produce extraordinary artists year after year. For over 25 years, Ed Plant was the art teacher and his dedication to the field laid the foundation for the arts at GMS to thrive. When Mr. Plant became the Dean of Students it left an opening to find a new art teacher.
Lily Seelig, a longtime Downey resident and educator with 18 years of experience, joined the Griffiths staff in 2022. Coming from a family of art enthusiasts, she was named after an artist her parents represented in their art gallery in Minnesota. Being exposed to the arts at an early age through Meet the Masters programs in elementary school, musical theater in middle school, and photography and ceramics in high school sparked a love of all creative pursuits for Mrs. Seelig. She studied Art History and education at UCLA and received her teaching credential from Cal State Long Beach. She loves being inspired by her students in her art design class and providing them opportunities to showcase their gifts and talents.
Her class is a semester-long class and introduces students to the language and history of art, creative processes, exploring various media and techniques while developing skills in visual communication, design principles, and artistic expression. Students gain hands-on experience including drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and digital art. By the end of the semester, students build a portfolio of their best work to showcase their skills and creative abilities.
Seelig says: “It is exciting to be able to exhibit the artwork from Griffiths Middle School students through the partnership with the Downey Arts Coalition and provide students to see the arts as a viable career pathway, as well as, allowing them an opportunity to join a vibrant community of artists to connect with and create art.”
Seelig’s students’ artwork was so popular they sold out at DAC’s Annual Dia De Los Muertos Festival Art Exhibit where they also received a certificate from DAC.
FEATURED STUDENT ARTISTS: SUSSMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL
DAC is delighted to welcome back Vanessa Hernandez who teaches Art Design Ceramics, Art 6, and IB Art at Sussman Middle School. Her students’ art also sold out at DAC’s Annual Dia De Los Muertos Festival Art Exhibit.
“Here at Sussman Middle School, we strive to create a robust and inclusive visual and performing arts program,” she said. “We have established clear, accessible pathways that enable students to engage in meaningful arts education every year, ensuring they retain and build upon their creative knowledge and skills throughout their academic journey at our school.
“A key pillar of Sussman Middle School is raising public awareness of the value of arts within our school and our community; the Downey Arts Coalition has played a key part in our Visual Arts program by sharing our vision of the Arts and showcasing the achievements of our students. We are grateful for the opportunities given to us by DAC and we hope to continue to strengthen our partnership for the years to come.”
It’s been a busy time for the Downey Arts Coalition. In May, DAC will recognize its Volunteer of the Year, Larry Dusich, former artistic director of the Downey Civic Light Opera. Also in May, DAC looks forward to presenting its annual Downey Arts Coalition college scholarship to students from Columbus High School, Downey High School, and Warren High School at the Downey Theatre.