Freedom Friday sets the stage for artistic community
Community Contributor | 6-7-2010 | Comments | Bookmark and Share | Print this Page

By Damon Turner, Freedom Friday host

After an open mic night earlier this year, some other poets and I were in the parking lot talking about how cool it would be if artistic Christians could have a place in Los Angeles where we could express ourselves without restrictions. I was really excited and ready to get something started but no one else took action. Then I thought, why limit the experience to just 'Christians'? Why not have an open space for artists from all walks of life to come and showcase their talents to their peers? So that was when I renewed the vision to incorporate all aspects of art together with all cultures. I was excited to see what would come out of this open forum.

In April, I sat down and had a round-table discussion with six of my peers and pitched the idea of "Freedom Fridays" to them to get feed back and critique. By the beginning of May we had already locked in the venue and the acts for the first session were confirmed. It was a magical moment when on May 21st we had the first ever Freedom Friday Forum. And we have been growing each time...
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Freedom Friday gives artists the opportunity to take part in a collective space dedicated to bringing creative people from all different walks of life together and share their art under the same roof. By art, I mean spoken word, visual art, emcees, DJs, theater, dance...whatever! Freedom Fridays is an open mic style setting right now...but the vision is much greater!

The point is to bring folks together who wouldn't normally hang out with one another. Through the creation and sharing of art, I want people have conversations that would ultimately help build the community we all have dreams about. No prejudice, no discrimination, no judgment, no hating. Its a FREE space to get FREE. Freedom Friday takes place every first and third Friday of the month at the Mercado La Paloma, 3665 S. Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90007. Doors open at 7.30pm, and the show starts at 8.00pm.

For directions to Mercado La Paloma, please see the map below:


View Freedom Fridays in a larger map


Come share your art with us at Freedom Fridays! Follow Freedom_Friday on Twitter, or join the conversation on Facebook.

Photography by Daniel Urrutia.
 

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