Premiere Exhibit (Pilot Project) November 8, 9, 10 2016
Then every other month in 2017

Leadership Team

Dr. Robby Gordon, Co-Curator and Project Manager-USA
Gretchen Smith, Co-Curator and Project Manager-Mexico
Leobardo Sarabia, Senior Point of Contact CEART-Playas de Rosarito-Mexico
Ricardo Orozco, Co-Curator and Exhibit Coordinator CEART-Playas do Rosarito-Mexico
Armando Munoz, Advisor to Sculptors-Mexico
Manuel Ramirez Senior Point of Contact, Faculty of Arts at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC)

Non-Profit Partners

Patti Negri, Hollywood Arts Council-USA
Jose M. Navarro, Casa Hogar Jazmin Elizabeth A.C.-Mexico

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Dr. Robby Gordon of the Hollywood Sculpture Garden and Curator Gretchen Smith of ARThouse Rosarito have teamed up with State of Baja cultural managers Leobardo Sarabi and Ricardo Orozco of CEART-Playas de Rosarito and Architect and Sculptor Armando Munoz Garcia of The Mona and the Mermaid Houses and Art Teacher Manuel Ramirez of UABC to develop a cross cultural artist exchange between Baja California Mexico and Hollywood California, USA for both professional artists and students. The project was founded in September of 2016 and the first exhibit will be November 8, 9, and 10, 2016 with ongoing exhibits starting in 2017.

The Cross Cultural Arts Exchange (CCAE) is designed to give artists and students in Baja the opportunity to share their work through a partnership with the Hollywood Gallery (HG) and Hollywood Sculpture Garden (HSG) and for artists in Los Angeles to share their work through Centro Estatal de las Artes Rosarito (CEART-Playas de Rosarito) will be led by Dr. Gordon on the US side and Gretchen Smith on the Mexican side. The non-profit partner in the United States is the Hollywood Arts Council and the non-profit partner in Mexico is Casa Hogar Jazmin Elizabeth A.C., a children’s home in Rosarito.

The project will involve approximately 5 professional artists and 15 students every other month travelling to Hollywood for 3 days to exhibit their work and be on television in Hollywood and artists and students from Los Angeles travelling to Baja to share their work and give workshops. Some of the artists will also participate in the creation of collaborative sculptures.

ABOUT THE VENUES

In Los Angeles/Hollywood
The Hollywood Sculpture Garden, founded by Dr. Robby Gordon, is an amazing sight to see on the path to the renowned Hollywood Sign. With its scenic location and breathtaking views, locals and tourists can’t help but stop and admire the garden which boasts more than 50 sculptures. Artists have a prime opportunity to display their work here as it is often observed by gallery owners and museum curators who have purchased sculptures to show at their various locations.

In Baja/Playas de Rosarito
CEART-Playas de Rosarito is a brand new multi-million dollar art school and contemporary art facility located in Playas de Rosarito just 45 minutes south of the San Diego Border. It boasts 2 large formal galleries, a stage, 3 large classrooms for ballet and dance, visual arts studios, a piazza and more.

Co-Curator and Project Co-Coordinator Gretchen Smith is also an artist and missionary with 20 years of experience in community transformation and she has curated, exhibited, and presented or judged at many international competitions including ART Basel-Miami FL, Creative Environments-Hollywwod CA, the Sharjah Bienale in United Arab Emirates, the Florence Bienale in Italy. She has done award winning projects in Belize, Kenya, Tanazania, the Caribbean, the Middle East, the United States, and now she resides in Rosarito Mexico where she is doing a project called ARThouse Rosarito.
The last community she worked in, called Paducah KY has been transformed from a gang infested, blighted community to being number 5 on National Geographics lists of smartest cities. Smith is an INTJ mastermind which gives her a unique ability to see the big picture and discern what changes need to be made for the community to be able to thrive.
New York Critic Ed Rubin shares that “I first met Gretchen at the 2007 Florence Biennale where I was both Master of Ceremonies and the Biennale liaison between management and 850 international exhibiting artists. During one of our many conversations I asked to see Gretchen’s portfolio. I was both pleased and amazed -- especially given that Smith is virtually self-taught -- to find work that was both inventive and accomplished. What surprised me most was that her original voice spoke to today. Gretchen is a very well-rounded visual artist and business woman with a rare depth of focus as well as the talent and discipline necessary to continue to be successful not only in the USA but also internationally.”
For the Cross Cultural Exchange Gretchen will serve as the project coordinator for the Mexican side of the projects. She will select and oversee artists, arrange shipping and assist artists in applying for visas. She will also work directly with Dr. Gordon on website development, grant writing, promotions and logistics

Co-Curator and Project Co-Coordinator Dr. Robby Gordon founded the Hollywood Sculpture Garden and Hollywood Gallery and is an active member of the Hollywood Arts Council. Dr. Gordon studied art at the University of California Irvine, Irvine Valley College and Golden West. He also studied in the University of Bologna and UCLA. He spent his first 21 years in Israel and was active in the Peace Movement from age 14. As a co-chair of the Cousins Club, Dr. Gordon went with Rabbi Learner from Tikun to Washington DC to discuss conflict resolution and peace dialogues with member of congress. He has also served on the board of the Israeli-Palestinian Confederation, Peace Now, Seeds of Peace (Al Amal), and Rabbis for Human Rights.
Robby paints with oils and acrylics to create a fantasy of color. His paintings and sculptures reflect his feelings at a particular moment - be it joy, sorrow, empathy or pity – and are influenced by the ageless words of sages. He might contemplate a work for a long time before commencing.
For the Cross Cultural Exchange Dr. Gordon will serve as the project coordinator for the US side of the projects. He will select and oversee artists from the US, provide exhibit space and a reception for artists from Mexico, host artists on his TV show and coordinate opening receptions in the USA. He will provide transportation and host a reception every other month at the Hollywood Gallery and Hollywood Sculpture Garden. He will provide a formal letter of invitation to help artists from Mexico get their visas (3 day only). He will host some artists in his home and facilitate homestays for the other artists. He will also work directly with Gretchen Smith on website development, grant writing, promotions and logistics.

Leonardo Sarabia is a Mexican writer, editor and cultural manager from Baja California and he is currently serving as director of CEART-Playas de Rosarito which is a state run agency. He graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. He served as director of cultural magazines including Esquina Baja, Escenarios, Tijuana Metro. He is the author of In the La Línea de Fuego (Line of Fire), a series of border detective stories and literary chronicle book: Zona de Turbulencia (Zone of Turbulence). He was a founding member of the Cultural Association Río Rita. He has served as professor of literature at Universidad Iberoamericana del Noroeste y en el Centro Universitario de Tijuana. He was director of Library and Publications Department of El Colegio de la Frontera Norte. He founded the Municipal Institute of Art and Culture of Tijuana (IMAC) where he served as director from 1995-2001. He has been representative of the Instituto Mexicano de la Radio in Tijuana and manager of cultural radio station Stereo Frontera. He also presented projects in San Francisco, California from 2002-2004. Sarabia is a member of Foro Cultural Ciudadano (FOCUC), and Consejo Fronterizo de Arte y Cultura (COFAC). He also taught seminars in culture as a factor of social cohesion at CECUT, UABC, SEGIB. And the Group of Reflection for Economics and Culture. He has published several books including Tijuana Polaroid and Survival Manual in the City T. For the CCAE Leobardo will serve as the senior point of contact at CEART-Playas de Rosarito and facilitate the exhibition of art by project participants. He will also work closely to help oversee project components specific to Rosarito and will assist in the selection of artists and provide an official letter of reference for the artists selected to travel to the US

Ricardo Orozco is currently program director at CEART-Playas de Rosarito. Previously he served at CECUT in Tijuand and CEART-Tijuana. Ricardo is well known for his ability to work with a wide variety of people and for his excellent discernment when selecting artists. For many years he worked as an artist creating some of the most amazing fine art glass and lamps in the tradition of Lalique and Tiffany.
For CCAE Ricardo will serve as point of contact for CEART and he will make recommendations of artists and he will facilitate the exhibt at CEART for the artists who come to Rosarito.

Manuel Ramirez Gonzalez, has over 20 years experience as an artist in the disciplines of drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking. Since 2004 he has been teaching at the Faculty of Arts at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC). He has participated in various solo and group exhibitions.For CCAE Manuel will recommend students at the college who might be good candidates for participation and he will ensure that all future arts leaders are equipped to participate not only as artists but as leaders in the arts as well.
Armando Munoz is a self-taught sculptor turned architect who dropped out of school when he was just 11 years old and will be sharing his work in 2017 at The Getty as part of the Pacific Standard Time Exhibit. He is best known for two larger than life sculpture that also function as homes in Tijuana and Rosarito, Mexico.For CCAE Armando will function as advisor for sculptors in Mexico providing them with guidance as necessary to complete large scale projects.

Armando Munoz originally envisioned his female form follows function architectural tour de force as a statue to mark Tijuana’s 1989 centennial. With aims to have it placed in the already statue saturated central part of the city, where everyone from U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to Aztec ruler Cuauhtémoc is monumentalized, and nearly every episode in Mexico history is commemorated, often times garishly so, Muñoz approached city officials with his idea. To no one’s surprise, they roundly rejected him. Undeterred, Muñoz not only ignored Tijuana’s establishment, he crafted the city a statue on a scale even grander than the one initially proposed, and he built it in his own backyard.
Early on in the process, Muñoz realized that his construction methods would leave the statue hollow, creating a space that would allow him to live within his masterpiece.
The statue was completed in 1991—two years too late for the city’s centennial [hey, it’s the thought that counts]. Though Muñoz gave her the graceless name “Tijuana III Millennium,” in time she became known simply as “La Mona,” or “The Doll.” Muñoz’s belated birthday present to his hometown has become something greater than just another of the innumerable civic monuments dotting Tijuana’s cityscape. It’s a contemporary urban fairy tale about a man who, against all odds, built himself a home in the shape of woman, and then lived inside her. And with outreached arm pointing skyward and pinky finger raised to indicate Tijuana’s geographic location on the upper left hand corner of Mexico’s map, La Mona has become the unofficial symbol of this city.

About the Non-Profit Partners for the Cross Cultural Arts Exchange

The Hollywood Arts Council was founded in 1978 as a grassroots membership organization open to all who believed that the arts and culture of Hollywood must play a role in the lives of residents and visitors. With more than 500 community based member (individuals, businesses and organizations) and many successful projects, the Council has an impressive track record of service. As the only Arts Council in the city of Los Angeles, the Hollywood Arts Council offers a strong, independent voice for promoting a vibrant cultural community by empowering, facilitating and advocating for the arts. We are guided by the belief that the arts revitalize people as well as communities. Los Angeles born and raised, Pati Negri is the secretary of Hollywood Arts Council and she is also the founder of Brain Brew Entertainment which has the best interactive and custom created Sketch Comedy, Murder Mysteries, Hollywood Screen Tests, Team Building Events, Musical Parodies, Game Shows and more. Patti has 20 years experience in the arts and entertainment industries. As a performer Patti has enjoyed numerous stage, film, and television roles and has had the honor of working with such actors as Martin Sheen, Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Chevy Chase and Sylvester Stallone. She has danced with Gregory Hines, choreographed David Hasselhoff and entertained famous celebrities on scavenger hunts, photo safari’s and toga murder mysteries across the Greek Islands. For CCAE Patti will be the main point of contact for the Hollywood Arts Council and help facilitate the artist exchange by providing official invitation letters for the artists and helping to select student artists on the US side of the border.

Casa Hogar Jazmin Elizabeth, A. C

Jose and Irma’s natural born daughter Jazmin Elizabeth got sick and died which was a life changing event for them and so they started a children’s home in her honor. The mission of Casa Hogar Jazmin Elizabeth A.C. is to care for children at risk, offering comprehensive care focused on family and social reintegration in a healthy and timely manner. They are a registered non-profit in Mexico (A.C.) and through a partnership with Way of Life Church in Salem Oregon they are able to receive tax-deductible donations from the USA. With the help of Way of Life they have built a classroom which is temporarily being used as a dormitory for some of the children until additional housing can be built. Living quarters currently consist of a shared dormitory with 12 beds. They are building a new building so that they can pass the standards set by the State of Baja to host up to 30 children.The children at Casa Jazmin will participate in the exchange in the future.