TINAG is donating multiple artworks to Homeboy Industries that will all be on display at The Other Art Fair in Los Angeles Mar 29-31 2019.

Info here.

WE RISE is a festival of art and community building, uniting our collective efforts to stand up and help create a city, state, nation and world that fosters empowerment of health and wellbeing as a civil right. Through powerful programming, live performances, immersive workshops, inspiring wellness events and a world class art exhibition, together we will manifest an era where youth are supported to reach their fullest potential and our communities can thrive.

WE RISE challenges us to see that creativity, community and collective action has the power to change the culture, climate and systems. People need support to heal and thrive. Individual and collective traumas can tragically manifest as addiction and gang affiliation, anxiety and suicide. It’s time to take action and reimagine what’s possible. 

This generation is demanding more from their schools, their doctors, their government each other. At WE RISE, we come together, artists and activists, students and workers, to join to create a healthier and more just society.

Artists help us make sense of the world around us. They help us challenge injustice, question what we accept as normal, manifest new futures and inspire us into action. When artists and activists come together, when creativity and organizing combine, lasting answers emerge.

INTO ACTION is a large scale pop-up art exhibition, cultural gathering and community organizing action hub in Los Angeles featuring hundreds of inspiring works of art. INTO ACTION will also house dozens of professionally crafted installations by world-renowned artists, as well as over 25 hours of live performances, symposiums/panels, and workshops.

Over the course of a week, that includes Martin Luther King Day, the anniversary of the Inauguration of President Trump, and the commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March, INTO ACTION brings together hundreds of our nation’s most prolific and talented visual artists, young activists, musicians, poets, policymakers and community leaders to face the pain and beauty of the year past, while we plan and organize for the year to come.

INTO ACTION is FREE and open to the public. Please check the calendar page for the gallery address and full gallery hours. We encourage you to come visit us in person or follow the live streams on our social media accounts.

The INTO ACTION exhibition and event space is designed specifically to welcome all of our beautiful brothers and sisters. In addition to fully accessible facilities, the space features male, female and gender-neutral restrooms. For those who would like a tour conducted via ASL, please email us at info@into-action.us to schedule an appointment.

Guns to Art Benefit Show

November 7-17, 2017
Reception & Live Auction: Friday, November 17, 4-7 pm

NOTICE: The Guns to Art Benefit Show Live Auction begins on Friday, November 17 at 5:30 pm.

RSVP on Facebook.
Preview the artwork.

Decommissioned firearms aren’t the most pliable artistic medium, but that hasn’t stopped faculty and students at Santa Fe Community College from reshaping them into stunning artworks. They’ve been hard at work bending, slicing, shredding and melting old guns into sculptures, jewelry and even apparel. This fall, the art will appear at a special reception, live auction and silent auction in support of art and welding scholarships at SFCC and the 501(c)3 non-partisan organization New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence (NMPGV), along with juried works by artists from across the world that reflect on gun violence prevention. The Guns to Art Benefit Show runs November 7-17 at form & concept, with a reception and live auction on Friday, November 17 from 4 to 7 pm. The live auction begins at 5:30 pm sharp.

“When we first started, people would slam doors in our faces,” says Miranda Viscoli, co-founder and co-president of NMPGV. “They’d say, ‘You guys are not going to take our guns.’ This event is a culmination of our efforts to shift the conversation towards responsible gun ownership and gun violence prevention.” In August 2016, NMPGV launched a gun buyback program that invited gun owners to anonymously turn in unwanted firearms to New Mexico law enforcement. The Santa Fe Community College Art Department offered to turn part of the stockpile into art, and a collaboration with the Colorado-based RAWTools project called “Guns to Gardens” transformed the guns into gardening tools. Creations from both programs will appear in the live and silent auctions at the Guns to Art benefit.

NMPGV formed in 2013, the year of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Not long after the tragedy, a group of concerned citizens came together to face some tough realities about gun violence in New Mexico. They learned that in 2013, the third leading cause of death for New Mexican children was homicide, with 74% of those deaths occurring by firearm. Faced with this troubling statistic and others like it, the group leapt into action, designing programs that could curb firearm injury and death and promote responsible gun ownership through public health, education, advocacy and public awareness efforts.

“Over the years, we’ve developed a multipronged approach to build trust in the community,” says Viscoli. “We know the police, we know local politicians on both sides of the aisle, we know the press, and we know community members.” The programs they’ve launched include Murals to End Gun Violence and the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence, both of which engage  Santa Fe public school students. Since these initiatives started, there has been a 54% drop in local students bringing weapons to school. NMPGV also maintains an interactive map documenting incidents of gun-related violence and death in every New Mexico county. “Guns to Gardens” and the collaboration with Santa Fe Community College are also ongoing projects.

“We love the way NMPGV takes an intersectional approach to their projects and programs,” says Frank Rose, Gallery Director at form & concept. “Guns to Art brings so many of these local stories together, and also invites artists from across the world to express powerful viewpoints on gun violence prevention.” The Guns to Art Benefit Show opens November 7, coinciding with the launch of an online and in-gallery silent auction. Bidding for the silent auction will continue during the Guns to Art reception on November 17, and a live auction moderated by Jake Lovato will also take place at the event.

NMPGV, SFCC and form & concept would like to thank Mayor Javier Gonzales, the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe Police Chief Patrick Gallagher for their support of this exhibition.