On October 13th, 2011 The Site Unscene in conjunction with Brave New Foundation is proud to announce the launch of street activist LEBA”s public art project “PROJECT: REMEMBER, Giving the fallen soldiers of the Afghanistan war a voice.”
The project, which kicks off during The Downtown LA Art Walk atop five of Gallery Row's tallest buildings, was created to raise awareness to and honor the lives of the US soldiers lost in Afghanistan. LEBA will lead five groups of volunteers in the evening hours of October 13th to release over 1600 balloons, each lit and tagged with the name of a fallen solider, from the rooftops of downtown LA. The impressively sized project is aimed at raising public awareness of the lives lost at war, and also to encourage public action to support and in engage in raising a voice to aide in return of the troops still in Afghanistan.
In addition to the balloon launch, The Loft Salon will be hosting a fundraising art show in conjunction with the project to raise money for the wounded soldiers at the Santa Fe Lofts, 560 S. Main Street, in the heart of the Downtown LA Art Walk. The show, which will be ground zero for the evening, will feature prominent and up & coming street artists from the Los Angeles area and will run until 11:00pm the night of the project launch and is free to attend with art proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project.
LEBA, one of LA's most politically aware and responsible artists, states his concerns and why he was motivated to create PROJECT: REMEMBER,
“It has taken 10 years, 1600 United States military dead, and over 1 million civilians killed, to kill one man, Osama Bin Laden. Now that we've got him, it's time to heal our country. Let’s support our troops by bringing them home, to their families and lives, before we add one more balloon to the sky.”In preparation of the event, Brave New Foundation has built a fundraising project to help fund and spread the word of the inspiring event and to aide in the American troops' return. You can view and support this campaign here.
In addition to the fundraising project, interested parties can also support the cause by simply visiting the PROJECT: REMEMBER website at http://projectremember.us and sign a petition that will be sent to Congress to request the return of our troops to home soil.
Info on LEBA: LEBA, a self proclaimed 'street activist,' has been active in the street art scene, from coast to coast, since the beginning of last decade. LEBA is recognized and admired for combining biting social commentary and fine art imagery into his street work. Unafraid to speak his mind, as on his highly controversial, yet loved, Census billboards and much lauded American Apparel advert takeovers, he is expertly skilled in transforming not only imagery, but also in transforming his audience's viewpoints. It is this combination of intelligence and raw talent that has made him one of the most admired and intriguing LA street artists among his peers and street art supporters around the globe. LEBA hopes the current Remember Project will motivate others to join his fight of getting the US troops abroad back to home shores.
An Eco-Friendly Project: PROJECT: REMEMBER has been designed to be as eco-friendly as possible. Each balloon will be released with only enough helium to reach a height just above the buildings we are releasing them from in order to ensure they drop in populated areas, most desirably at the ArtWalk grounds where over 6,000 people are expected to attend. Each balloon is designed to be a "piece of art" in and of itself, complete with all the project's information and links so that when falling to the ground, people will want to pick it up, retrieve the info upon it and participate. Our balloons are biodegradable and we are using natural and recycled materials where possible.
PROJECT: REMEMBER is sponsored by BRAVE NEW FOUNDATION, creating media that makes an impact - http://www.bravenewfoundation.org and THE SITE UNSCENE, helping make art happen - http://thesiteunscene.com.
For more information on the event and it’s partners or to participate, please visit: http:// projectremember.us/
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