Tonight's discussion is part of a trio of August panels titled Values Statement (other panels 8/15 "Community" and 8/29 "Politics") here at the Beach House. Writ Large Press convenes local authors, thinkers and organizers to investigate the value of art in society and motivate action around art and current issues. These conversations form a hinge point during the Press’ #90x90LA series, a summerlong undertaking with events in Downtown LA, South Central, and the Westside taking place July through September. All who are interested in literature, arts and culture, and community-building are invited to attend.

8/1: A discussion on the economy of art from various perspectives. Panelists include cultural entrepreneurs Sarah Filley, Kima Jones, Adam Leipzig, and Skira Martinez. Moderated by Writ Large Press founder Chiwan Choi. Bring your perspective and join the conversation.

With an overall directive to Celebrate! Investigate! Activate! #90X90LA invites us all to show up and shed light on the people and cultures thriving locally, and challenges us to hold space for their continued growth at a time when historic neighborhoods are being decimated, displaced, and otherwise erased for a new wave of gentrification. The first 90x90 series in 2014 was a celebration of the passion and talent in our inspiring, sprawling, interconnected city expressed in a marathon of events in Downtown LA. With another 90 literary, musical, and cultural events over 90 days and nights, the 2017 edition brings the same fiery mix out into three historic neighborhoods of Los Angeles: Little Tokyo, Downtown LA, and South Central, with nearly half of the events occuring in South Central's CIELO Galleries/Studios. From the Opening Reception July 5 through open houses, readings, comedy routines, critique sessions, planning workshops, symposia, literary and visual art exhibits, and other events, #90x90LA promises a summer of knowledge sharing and action.

Chiwan Choi (moderator) is a writer, editor, teacher, and publisher. His poems and essays have appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including ONTHEBUS, Esquire.com, and The Nervous Breakdown. His first major collection of poetry, The Flood, was published by Tía Chucha Press in April, 2010. His second collection, Abductions, was published by Writ Large Press in April, 2012. Chiwan has been a featured poet in places such as Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles Central Library, Hunter College, KGB Bar, and McNally Jackson Books in NYC, Elliott Bay Books in Seattle, Make Out Room in San Francisco. His books have been taught in classes at Berkeley City College and Riverside City College. As an editor and teacher, he has helped writers who have had their works published by Simon & Schuster, Penguin, RA, Noon, Bombshelter Press, Full Fathom Five, KCET, and many others. Chiwan received an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the Tisch School at NYU. Once back in Los Angeles, he co-founded Writ Large Press with Judeth Oden in 2008, after a short and beautiful 6-issue run of a literary quarterly called Wednesday.

Sarah R. Filley is an artist, public speaker, and the co-founder and CEO of Popuphood, LLC, a social enterprise connecting building owners and cities with local business incubation programs designed to transform communities from Vacant to Vibrant. The model has now propagated to cities across the US, was featured in the in the 2012 Venice Biennale for Architecture, and the 2013 Venice Biennale in Chicago. Through successful public-private partnerships, Popuphood’s marketing campaigns garner global media coverage. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Sunset Magazine, and other sources highlighted the positive impact of “Pop-up to Permanent Programs.” Her teaching and artistic practice engages the city as a platform for educational, cultural and civic engagement. Filley serves on the Business and Economic Development Advisory Committee for the California State Assembly where she co-sponsored the AB2719 State Bill, and as a judge for the 2014 NEA Our Town Grant. She is regularly consulted for creative approaches to local economic development internationally contributing to a prestigious roster of national organizations through panels, workshops, webinars, policy, and programs focused on the future of cities, real estate, the arts, and placemaking.

Kima Jones has received fellowships from PEN Center USA Emerging Voices, Kimbilio Fiction, Yaddo's 2016 Howard Moss Residency in poetry and was named the 2014-2015 Gerald Freund Fellow at The MacDowell Colony. She has been published at GQ, Guernica, NPR, PANK, Scratch Magazine and The Rumpus among others and in the anthologies Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, Her Own Accord: American Women on Identity, Culture, and Community and The New York Times Best Seller, The Fire this Time, edited by Jesmyn Ward. Her short story "Nine" received notable mention in Best American Science Fiction 2015, and her hybrid poem "Homegoing AD" appears in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2017. Kima is an MFA candidate in fiction and Rodney Jack Scholar in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Kima lives in Los Angeles where she operates Jack Jones Literary Arts, a book publicity company.

Adam Leipzig is COO of CreativeFuture.org, a non-profit organization that advocates for the creative community. He is also the CEO of Entertainment Media Partners and the publisher of Cultural Weekly. Adam has overseen more than 25 movies as a producer, executive, and distributor, including March of the Penguins; Dead Poets Society; Julie Taymor's first film, Titus; Cherien Dabis's first firm, Amreeka; Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni's first film, The Story of the Weeping Camel; Joe Johnston's first film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and Jon Turteltaub's first film, 3 Ninjas. He has worked with legendary directors Robert Altman, Peter Yates, and Peter Weir. He served as the president of National Geographic Films and senior vice president at Walt Disney Pictures, and in each of those positions was responsible for the most profitable film of the year. Adam is a sought-after keynote speaker and corporate adviser. He teaches at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and in the film program at Chapman University.

Skira Martinez was born in Los Angeles, spent her childhood living off the land in a remote region of Ontario, Canada, and most of her adulthood living in Toronto, Canada, before returning to LA eight years ago. She is a visual artist, poet/story teller and activist/organizer. Skira is co founder of Corazon Del Pueblo, Liberation School Los Angeles, The Blk Grrrl Book Fair and the owner of Cielo galleries/studios in Historic South Central LA, where she holds and shares space centered on Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Planting seeds of resistance, supporting and joining with peoples who are actively doing the same, Skira hosts various educational and artistic situations that challenge white supremacy/anti-Blackness, hetero normative practices/theories, capitalism and patriarchy. She has shared her poetry and stories at various open mics and featured as a reader at Beyond Baroque, Speak It Easy, Flowers of Fire, Los Angeles Central Library, Val Verde Music & Cultural Celebration and La Palabra.

#90X90 was probably the most pure form of literary citizenship I’ve seen...a reminder to exist and to keep going.

— Janice Lee, author of The Sky Isn’t Blue; editor/publisher of Entropy

To this day, #90X90 is the most ambitious reading series I’ve seen attempted in Los Angeles, not to mention one of the most inclusive. In 2014, by presenting 90 events in 90 days, Writ Large Press created this kind of “whole picture” of the city, which is no easy task.... As a poet, reader, and citizen, I couldn’t be more excited, and as an arts organization leader, I couldn’t be more grateful.

— Michelle Franke, Executive Director of PEN Center USA

Beach=Culture rounds out August with a reading by Red Hen Press and the third Out of the Blue project, a fifteen-foot rendition of WR Hearst's infamous steam-powered yacht, the Oneida, assembled in cardboard with the help of Beach House visitors August 11-18. For info about this and another Beach House events check the website.

By registering for this program via this eventbrite page, you consent to receiving occasional email about Beach House events from beachhouse@smgov,net. You can unsubscribe, or change your preferences at any time using the “unsubscribe” or “manage preferences” links on these emails. Beach=Culture is made possible by the City of Santa Monica, Cultural Affairs Division. #ArtSaMo

Stop by early to save your seat and check out the historic site. Picnickers welcome (no pets, alcohol or glass permitted onsite.)

Tickets are free but space is limited and reservations are required. Arrive by 15 min before start time to retain your reservation. Late seating, even for reservation-holders, is not guaranteed. To adjust or cancel your reservation for this event, email culture@smgov.net. We appreciate your keeping in touch!

Getting Here: The Beach House is located at 415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica, CA 90402 on the west side of Pacific Coast Highway. Enter off PCH at the Beach House Way traffic light.

Parking: The parking rate is Apr - Oct: $12/day or $3/hour; Nov - Mar: $8/day or $3/hour, payable at the park and pay machines in three areas of the ACBH parking lot. Credit cards or exact change only. Handicapped placards and Senior Beach Permits are accepted. For other parking info and lot hours, please check the website for details.

Other events: To view & make reservations for future free Beach=Culture events, check annenbergbeachhouse.com/beachculture.

General Info: For hours, events and more, visit annenbergbeachhouse.com, or call (310) 458-4904. Back on the Beach Café hours are subject to change but are generally through 8pm in the summer and 3pm in the off season, call (310) 393-8282 to confirm.