Vision: To raise awareness of current issues

Mission:
To bring people together
To facilitate dialogue
To promote mulitiple perspectives

Goals:
To talk about the issues that affect community members personally
To learn more about the long-term affects of people’s everyday decisions
To generate ideas on how to take action

Statement:
Trade&Row is being established to create engaging projects focusing on socio-political issues of our time. The projects, which could range from curated exhibitions and screenings to community dialogues, will be designed to reach a diverse audience and require community participation to be successful.

The main function of Trade&Row’s programming is collaboration. Through partnering, Trade&Row works with artists, activists and organizations to create spaces in communities for discussion on topics relevant to the audience at hand. While Trade&Row will sponsor larger projects, our focus will be to facilitate informal dialogue in casual settings with people open to expressing their views on social issues. We are interested in issues that don't get discussed often enough in a public forum and are open to project proposals from anyone who has similar goals.

For artists interested in using their work as a springboard for discussion in the community, Trade&Row will work to find venues and do promotion that works best for the artists' projects. Our goals are to help with grant writing, bring in other project partners who have done/are doing work on the same topic, solicit in-kind donations of equipment and secure a space for the final presentation of the work, whatever that entails. The main purpose of the resulting work must invovle community interaction versus art exhibition. We hope to show how art speaks to our everyday lives and the impact it can have as an outlet for expression, especially for youth.

Trade&Row Corp. (Trade&Row) is a not for profit 501(c)(3) organization incorporated March 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Directors Karin Pleasant and Aldo Puicon both have an interest in community service and founded the organization to create a forum for artists, social activists and community members to discuss current events that affect people on a local, regional, national and/or international level. Many people are uncomfortable when certain topics are raised – one in particular – politics. By using visual art, film, panel discussions and other community-oriented events, Karin and Aldo hope to (1) create an atmosphere that removes the complexity from issues and makes people feel comfortable to express themselves, and (2) generate dialogue among audience members that leads to ideas for solutions whereby people realize their own potential and role in solving social problems.

Partnership: Trade&Row + Gang Alternatives Program (GAP) - http://www.tradeandrow.org/gap/index.html

This is an art outreach project sponsored by Gang Alternatives Program (GAP) (http://www.gangfree.org/) and facilitated by Trade&Row. For this project GAP would like to have artists work directly with participants in GAP’s Alternative Services for Youth (ASY) program whereby the participants will produce their own artwork to be put on display in two communities which GAP serves.

PROJECT BACKGROUND
GAP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides services and programs to promote a gangfree lifestyle to young people and their families in and around the Los Angeles area. GAP's ASY program is run in conjunction with the County Department of Children and Family Services and includes 35-40 foster children ages 14-18. This program aims to work with these kids so that by the time they turn 18 and are emancipated, they have a place to live, steady work and/or will be continuing education. In the process of teaching life skills, GAP noted that these children are typically isolated in terms of being exposed to multiple worldviews and do not have the same sense of “community” or understanding of common goals people from different backgrounds may share. As a result, GAP reached out to Trade&Row.

One of Trade&Row’s goals is to demonstrate the potential of art by soliciting artists who use their work to encourage social change. In relation to ASY participants, GAP asked Trade&Row to produce art-related projects to help these teenagers find ways to express their needs, challenges and goals for the future while exposing them to artists/art practice they may not otherwise have exposure to within the foster care system.

Campaign Trail: The Election in Action - http://www.tradeandrow.org/campaigntrail/index.html

In the last two presidential elections, there has been debate about the voting process, including voter fraud, dangling chads and the ruling of the Supreme Court that ended one election. With the reality that a winner of the popular vote may not become President, not only the validity of the process but also the purpose behind citizens' voting rights have seemingly affected voter turnout.

In addition to the process, the limitation and awareness of viable candidates affects people's desire to vote. The fundraising that successful candidates are required to do and the airtime that certain candidates are refused automatically narrow the playing field. Even in the age of technology where voters have internet access at their local libraries if not in their own homes to look up information about all people running for President of the United States, how well the average American voter understands the difference between each candidate's platform is questionable. Whether MTV town hall sessions and MySpace-sponsored debates make any impact, especially with younger voters, seems immeasurable as these events also have an element of exclusivity.  Believing that a third-party candidate can be elected has not been a reality since H. Ross Perot ran for office in 1992. Whether it is making the case for more viable candidates, using technology to their advantage or demanding a change in the voting process to move away from the Electoral College, any change in the political process would require a massive grassroots effort on the part of voters. The main question that arises from all these issues is what will make American voters want to reclaim their power in the political process?

We asked artists to bring their interpretation of the presidential campaign to a public forum.

We, the People: A Documentary Film Festival - http://www.tradeandrow.org/wethepeople/index.html

We asked filmmakers to offer representations of parts of the country they grew up in that are not often represented on television or commercially oriented cinema. In the year of a presidential election, it is especially important to think about the magnitude of what Americans are asking one person to represent to the world. Our hope is that these films will go beyond generalities to inform Americans about the economic and social issues that may uplift or immobilize certain areas and how they can extrapolate to other parts of the country.