October 9, 2025 • 44 mins
Lisa and Lauren have a conversation with 2025 Art Break Day hosts from all over the world about why they hosted Art Break Day this year, how it went and tips for anyone interested in hosting an Art Break Day in the future. Learn about each host on their websites here: Tessa Hollingsworth with Moon Sluice Art (https://www.moonsluice.com/), Krupa Jhaveri with Sankalpa: Art Journeys (https://www.instagram.com/sanka1palam/) and Noelle Imparto with Painting for Life and Union Square Association (https://noelleimparato.co/)
Learn more about the Take an Art Break Movement on the Art is Moving website here.
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Episode Transcript
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Lisa (00:02):
Hey, this is Lisa and Lauren from Artist Movie.
We're so excited for thiscontest.
We had hosts that hostedArtbreak Day, the 15th annual
Artbreak Day.
So if you guys could just goaround and introduce yourself,
where you're from, and maybewhat year it's been for your
artbreak day.
So Noelle, if you want to gofirst, that'd be fantastic.
Noelle (00:24):
Okay, so this is uh me, Noelle Imperato.
I am um basically from uhBaltimore, although as you can
tell, I'm French, and uh eventhough I have been around here
for for nearly 50 years orsomething, uh you know, my
French accent has not left me,especially since I come back
(00:47):
from uh months in uh France inAugust.
I spent the whole month.
So the artbreak day wasactually relatively easy for me
because I did it with the uhUnion Square Association, which
is our neighborhood association,and I live near uh the
president.
(01:07):
Actually, we share a wall, youknow, our uh raw wall, raw
house.
And so he is so used toorganize little events like this
for the association.
We have the right to use thepark, which is right around the
corner, and he also had uh twoother types of uh neighborhood
(01:29):
associations, one for music andother one for uh I'm not too
sure.
And so we gathered the people.
I I didn't have to do very muchexcept uh talk to him before I
went to France to let him knowabout it, and he was so excited
right away, so that was quite uhuh beautiful thing to see,
(01:51):
yeah.
Love it, love it.
Lisa (01:54):
Krupa, you want to go ahead?
Krupa (01:56):
Sure.
So my name is Krupa Javeri.
I was born in the US inColorado, but my parents are
from North India.
I'm based in South India, buthappen to be in Nepal right now,
where I hosted the last artbreak day for my 12th year as
part of this movement.
Lisa (02:15):
Pasa.
Tessa (02:17):
Hi, yeah, this is my first year.
Um I found you guys onInstagram actually.
I'm in San Diego and I teach uman expressive arts program at
the elementary schools here, andI teach therapeutic art here,
and we have this really awesomeuh plaza in Ocean Beach where I
live, uh, where it's called afree speech zone.
So you can set up and do freeevents if you'd like.
(02:38):
And so I hosted it there, andit was really awesome.
Lauren (02:42):
That's awesome.
Um for everyone, yeah, I'mLauren, and right now I'm based
in Corvallis, Oregon.
And I think it was oof, I can'tremember how many years I've
done it in Corvallis, but I Lisaand I started in the San
Francisco Bay Area, and so itwas my 15th year hosting uh in
our breakday in variouslocations.
(03:03):
Yes.
Lisa (03:05):
So I'm Lisa, and um Raymond's coming in, I can't,
but uh he never fails not toshow up.
So I usually I'm in SantaMonica Bay, so I usually have it
here, but um one of my nieceswas getting married in
Wisconsin.
So I called up a friend who's amusician and said, Hey, do you
know anywhere where I can hostan art breakday site?
(03:26):
You know, just kind ofnetworking.
And she plays at a pub everymonth and said, This lady would
love it.
She's an artist.
And so I was at it, it wascalled the Sugar Maple, and it
was this awesome like hipsterpub.
We were outside in a garden, itwas a beautiful day.
So I guess my thing is anywhereyou're at, you can just make it
(03:46):
happen.
Lauren (03:48):
Yeah, yeah.
I'd I'd love to dive into moreof that, you know.
If everyone could tell us howwas your art break day, you
know, how was it this year?
Tessa (04:01):
Anyway, so great.
Yeah, it was amazing.
So many people joined.
You know, I had up a big signthat said, make art for free.
And I had a friend join me, andwe uh chalked on the sidewalk.
So as people were passing, wehad this big patch of grass.
Um, it's right by the beach, soit was beautiful.
It was a beautiful day.
(04:22):
Um, and so many peopleapproached and were like, What
is this about?
And I was like, Yeah, you know,we had coloring sheets, we had
um, as I said, I teachelementary art, so I was blessed
with all these supplies I wasable to give to people.
So I had a little bit ofeverything, and it was amazing.
I had about 10 or 15 people,um, I'd say that really came
through and sat um and stayedfor a couple hours, created
(04:45):
great community conversations,made new friends, and it was
great to see.
Um said, Oh, you're creatingsuch a positive vibration here.
I know it was such a coolexperience.
Lisa (04:56):
So it was awesome.
And and then what were theymostly adults or children, or
who did you um magnetize?
Tessa (05:04):
Yeah, it was a little bit of everything.
Um, there were some olderadults that stopped by.
Uh, it was, I would say, mostlymostly young adults, I would
say, um, probably in their early20s.
Um, but there were also someolder adults as well.
So it was a little bit ofeverything.
It was it was really awesome.
Lisa (05:22):
And I'm just I saw you on Instagram a lot.
You were doing a lot of thereels.
Do you think that created somekind of um energy towards that?
Tessa (05:30):
I do, uh yeah.
I'm pretty involved in mycommunity here.
We're really blessed to have agreat um arts community in Ocean
Beach, San Diego, where I live.
Um so a lot of people arelooking for things like that to
do.
A lot of people are into thearts and music.
Um, so creating the reels was away.
I put up posters around town aswell.
Um, but I honestly don't thinkmany of the people came for
(05:51):
that.
I think it was mostly peoplepassing by that came and saw the
sign that kind of joined.
So that turned out to beinteresting and lots of new
faces.
Lauren (05:57):
I love it.
Yeah, my yeah, my favorite isthe random passerby that doesn't
know what it is, and then uhsort of is brave enough to sit
down and give it a try.
Those are the people thatgenerally surprise themselves
with how long they stay at thetable.
And that's always my absolutefavorite.
Like it always happens everysingle artbreak day.
(06:18):
I mean, I can picture thepeople from this year that sat
um and were there for over twohours just creating uh, you
know, um piece after piece.
And they they just kind ofstumbled upon it.
And um, I love that.
That's one of my favoriteaspects of it.
Lisa (06:34):
That's a one more question.
Like, what is your favorite?
Like, because I know I lovewhat I love about artbreak days
the conversations that you havewith strangers.
It's just amazing how thatopens up.
Any like memory or conversationthat you you were like, wow,
this is so cool.
Tessa (06:49):
Yes.
Um, I wrote this down actually.
We had an awesome conversationat one point.
Um, and also I want tohighlight on uh what I'm sorry,
what was your name again?
Lauren (07:00):
You're Lisa Lauren.
Tessa (07:04):
Lauren, yes.
Lauren, what you said about umpeople staying for hours.
That was something Iexperienced as well.
I set the time from noon tofour, and um people wanted to
stay forever, and I felt badbeing like, you know, sorry, I
have to like clean up thesesupplies now.
I know we could all stay hereforever.
I could have stayed thereforever.
Um, so yeah, that was reallycool to see people get so into
(07:25):
it, get so into their art, andthe conversations we were having
were awesome too.
Um, and yeah, one of the onesthat um were shared was we were
discussing uh how creating artis just one form of something we
can do in our lives.
Um, where I guess theconversation started where some
(07:45):
people were like, uh, you know,I'm not very artistically
inclined.
I don't know how to doanything.
And it was like they were like,wow, I actually created
something.
You know, they picked up, Ithink I had a protractor there,
and I was like, just startmaking circles, you know, fill
them in with color, see how youfeel, like see what happens.
And um, they made this reallycool piece, started drawing
different figurines around thecircles and in the circles, and
shared it with everybody.
(08:06):
And they were so proud ofthemselves.
And we had this discussionabout how creating art or the
act of creating something, um,it's not about you know being
good at it or something likethat.
It's just the act of it is sucha great way to practice
manifesting anything you'd wantin your life, right?
You know, you're you'repracticing bringing something in
(08:28):
your mind out into reality on apiece of paper.
And maybe you're not the bestat it at first, but as you do
it, you start to discover thatyou can create anything.
And so even in practicing that,it applies to so many other
areas of your life.
And so everybody, we all kindof stopped and were like, whoa,
like I never thought about artlike that.
And it was a really coolmoment.
So I love that.
Lisa (08:49):
It's like a Zen moment or you know, art power, yay! Yeah,
amazing.
Lauren (08:55):
Yeah, that sort of the power of the the process of the
the actual experience of makingthe art makes me think of Krupa
and that a lot of things thatyou have done um even this year
and in years past.
You want to dive into your artbreak day?
Krupa (09:07):
Sure.
I think mine is worlds apart ina very different setting, but
it's maybe nice to have a reallydifferent example as well of
how it can happen.
And and I think it's all aboutpermission.
I was thinking about that a lotthis year, that most people are
looking for the encouragement.
They want to create, right?
And they want that opportunityto sit down.
(09:28):
So just kind of cultivating aspace, giving permission, giving
the materials and saying, yes,you're allowed.
And not only are you allowed,there's no competition here,
there's no exam.
Just sit down and create, youknow, and feel free to do that.
Like that already feels likesuch an important experience.
And then however it happens canbe yeah, affirming, exploring,
(09:51):
can be opening up a whole newworld for someone.
So this year, I mean, I've beendoing this now for quite a few
years, and I think this year,you know, it was all about
adaptability.
So I'm in Nepal, I happen toland late, and then the next day
I went to a small village, andthe kids in a school there that
I had planned to work with, theyhad a full day of exams.
(10:15):
And so they were stressed, theywere all coming out of the
classroom, comparing, you know,did you get this question right?
What was the answer?
You know, there was a lot ofhigh anxiety and stress.
So immediately I felt like,okay, I understand the
situation.
What can I offer now, given allof this?
And I decided not to bring artsupplies.
(10:36):
It was also tricky to be ableto do that.
So, again, all aboutadaptability.
And I noticed that on theplayground, like around the
school, there was a lot ofnatural beauty.
I mean, this was in amountainous, you know, valley,
it was just gorgeous backdropand a small school.
And so about 25 kids, we gottogether in the library and we
created something.
(10:56):
So I asked them to go outsideand to pick up something from
nature, but also somethingthat's man-made.
Because I noticed there was alot of like plastic pollution,
and you know, I just felt likeit's such a shame that there's
this juxtaposition, and I justfelt like it's a great
opportunity to remind themthey're taught in school not to
throw the trash on the ground,but so many kids, and of course,
(11:18):
you know, by habit, they'llhave a single-use like cracker
or something, and they justthrow the trash on the ground.
So we created a mandalatogether with these items, and
then I asked them, would theylike to change what they've
created?
And they took the trash out,and they're so bright, you know,
immediately they were like, Weunderstand, we know that it's a
beautiful place, and it's just ahabit.
(11:40):
And I didn't even have to saymuch, you know, and and it was
testament to how the art revealseverything that we need to see.
Um, and one thing I forgot tomention is that before we made
this mandala together, um, wedanced.
So I had each of them go arounda circle and just move their
body, kind of introducethemselves through a bit of
(12:02):
movement, and that felt reallydifferent and important this
year.
Again, given the situation, weall need to dance, but in
particular, they had all thispent-up energy.
So, you know, just beingavailable for them, and there
was so much joy, there was a bitof shyness, it was a bit
awkward in moments, but it wasreally, really sweet and such a
(12:22):
beautiful way to connect, alsobeyond really words, you know.
Yeah, yeah.
Lisa (12:27):
Now, what what was the age of the kids?
Krupa (12:30):
So there was a range that they came from different
classes, I would say from aboutlike sixth grade all the way up
to 10th.
Yeah.
Wow, wow.
And then a nice chance for themto also mix together.
So I guess I love that.
Lisa (12:48):
Were you gonna say something more?
Lauren (12:49):
Yeah, I was gonna ask um if anyone offered, you know,
like uh a lot of times whensomeone sits down and and then
and then they're like, wow, Ihaven't drawn since I was such
and such age, or oh, I wasfeeling so stressed and now I'm
not.
Did you hear any of that comeout of any of the students?
Krupa (13:09):
No, I I mean, so this what was different this year for
me too is that I didn't reallybring art supply.
So they didn't sit down todraw.
We just co-created somethingand then it kind of changed.
Lauren (13:20):
Yeah.
Did they were they like um whatkind of feedback did they do
about doing something togetherafter having done something like
as stressful as an individualthing, like an exam?
Krupa (13:35):
What I sensed and what I gathered, what I heard was joy.
Um, it is also this part of theworld, you know, in most Asian
cultures, it's a verycollectivist society.
So there's really already thisculture of everybody coming
together and doing everythingtogether.
Sometimes boundaries can betricky, but in this situation,
it happened so organically.
(13:56):
So I felt like it did workbecause I was meeting them where
they are.
You know, they're used to doingeverything together.
Um, I think that there was lesspressure from what I've seen in
the past, you know, when when alot of kids, you know, they've
had these traumatic experienceswith their art teachers.
Telling them that there's aright or a wrong way to do
(14:21):
something or that it's notthere, can be just a lot of
stress went on.
So it was, I think it was uhless stressful this way to kind
of work together and dosomething that was impermanent
as well, and just using theresources that were around
instead of yeah, drawingsomething and keeping it and
showing it.
Yeah, yeah.
Lisa (14:41):
So I'm I'm picturing that you like you're dancing, they
introduced themselves, and thenthey went out and they played
and they searched for theirfound object in nature and then
trash.
And did you see the energyshift from that also when they
were out and about, you know, inthe lands?
Krupa (15:00):
Yeah, I think there was a lot of surprise.
I think also because it wasn'tthe usual way of making art or
having a class or doing anythingin their school.
So um there was play, there wasa very playful attitude, which
already, you know, was a bigshift in energy from the exams
and this kind of very seriousstudious way of being in the
school environment.
(15:20):
Um, and then we came back inand they each kind of placed
things together, and then Ithink again, modeling that
adaptability, like they have thepermission to change what
they've created, you know, totake agency, to take leadership
roles.
Um, and in a very short amountof time, you know, I saw like a
whole microcosm, a whole worldkind of created by them.
(15:42):
Yeah.
Lisa (15:43):
Wow, that's definitely lovely.
That's a huge uh that's that'scool.
I love how Tessa's um like artpower, it's like so cool how it
it transforms.
It you it's kind of like anaspect of what art does, and
then your what you what youshared or what you uh inspired
with the kids is amazing.
Lauren (16:02):
Wow and it it sounds Noelle.
Yours was also very tight-knitcommunity-oriented because you
said it was through um sort ofyour community, your
neighborhood association.
Is that right?
Noelle (16:14):
Yes, yeah, yeah.
So we had mostly the kids uhwho wanted to to paint because
uh I had brought uh a bigdisplay of uh colors, you know,
temporarak colors uh from uh icecube trees.
That's what I usually do.
(16:35):
So there is like you know 30different colors, and all they
have to do is just kind of likeI tell them, you know, like a
kid in a candy store, you know,just go with the one that
attracts you right now.
So if you are doing a sun andyou like the blue color, then
it's going to be a blue sun, youknow, it's okay.
Lisa (16:55):
Yeah.
Noelle (16:56):
So we had um a lot of that, uh, mostly young kids, you
know, about age uh I would saysix, six years old or something
like that, really cute littlegirls, and we have a lot of uh
uh black people in theneighborhood, so we had a good
mix of that.
And we had a few teenager, Isay probably around 20 kids were
(17:21):
uh um we only had two hours,six to eight, because it's a
Friday and you know people areworking.
I I was trying to make themcome earlier, but they said no,
we can't do that.
But the the interesting thingalso is that um they uh they had
sharks, big, big fat sharksthat uh kids could use, and so
(17:46):
it was kind of a fun becausethere was one little boy, it
wasn't like maybethree-year-old, but he was kind
of leading the gang.
Yeah, he was like a toughlittle guy, and he was taking
his big chalk, and he came fromthe guy who was sort of
supervising them and drew a bigline all the way to the
(18:08):
fountain, and then after that,they all sort of tried to play
around that line and dance andand jump and what have you.
They they sort of uh inventedtheir own game and very
different age, like the littlethe three-year-old, but then
most of the other kids were morelike six, eight, nine, you
(18:28):
know, and so they playedtogether like this, just uh with
a few lines and a chalk.
That was kind of fun.
And the other part was that uhwe invited some musician, uh,
one guy who is from theneighborhood, and also uh
saying, you know, if you haveany uh instrument, bring your
(18:49):
instrument and you you arewelcome to play.
So they we ended up having uhfour guys uh who had uh plugged
instruments, you know.
We have a little cazebo with uhwith an electric plug so
everybody could have umamplifier and everything, and
(19:09):
they started jamming together.
So and they did really good,some kind of jazzy tunes, and it
was really nice.
And then I heard after thatthat they said, Well, it's the
first time we jammed together,but uh it's not going to be the
last.
Yeah, so that was uh that wasquite lovely, and you know, the
(19:34):
rest was a couple hours where wegot a chance to talk with the
neighbors.
This is a great neighborhoodbecause the association is very
strong and the neighborhood isvery tiny.
You know, Baltimore is like uhzillions of tiny little
neighborhoods, and so everybodykind of knows each other, and we
(19:57):
do a lot of uh different eventsuh all along the years, and so
this was just another one wherewe get to hang out.
Yeah, that's great.
Lisa (20:09):
What I love uh is Lauren always talks about she loves the
what happens, it's not the artcreated, but what almost like
the art installation thathappens through the interaction
of you know what I mean?
Like it's a it's a it's a it'sa happening.
It'd be the art is the the thespace that we create, you know.
And so was there um can youtell us about that?
(20:32):
Like how did the space shiftwhen I know that's a beautiful
you know um imagery when thekids drawing and then
everybody's dancing, and youknow what, how did the space
shift in your in the plaza thatyou were in?
Noelle (20:46):
Well, I don't know if there was a big shift, you know.
Uh it just kind of was what itwas.
Uh for me the the bigger shiftwas the music addition to the
painting, and then I have uh I Ihave been doing you know these
kind of uh painting workshops uhwith kids uh of different ages,
(21:09):
and well, most of it now is uhmore like adults, but I have the
I've worked with kids before.
So they they were all veryinterested with the paint.
Like we were offering them umcrayons and crayolas and big fat
felt paint, uh felt uh you knowpens and uh different uh
(21:34):
technique like this, which Ithought, oh they probably will
go for something that's easy touse, you know.
But no, all they want, all ofthem they wanted to to do the
paint, you know, because maybethey are they don't have that
much opportunity to do thepaint, I don't know.
But the the little kids isalways impressive to see how
(21:56):
concentrated they are.
Yeah, and then I had likesometimes the father showing up
and trying to tell the kid, youknow, well, what is this, you
know.
So I had to tell them well, youdon't have to ask your kid what
it is, maybe after it's done,you know, but let them do
(22:16):
because that's what they knowhow to do, you know, yeah,
better than we are, and let themreally kind of uh I told them
at first, you know, just don'tworry about what it's going to
look like, just work from theheart.
Lauren (22:30):
Yeah, I love that.
Work from the heart, I lovethat.
Yeah, I I would um love to knowsort of uh why you guys decided
to host um Art Break Day,either this year or 12 years
ago, you know, and or why do youkeep doing it, right?
Why do you keep uh hostingbecause it's a volunteer thing,
(22:51):
right?
Uh you guys completelyvolunteer uh for this movement,
which we are forever gratefulfor because we know uh it makes
such a positive impact in theworld.
But I I would love to know yourwhy.
Noelle (23:06):
Well, if I just continue with uh this year, well, why?
I is because I I know Lisa.
I have uh known Lisa for uhbecause uh I did a retreat in
Greece in 2018, I think, soseven years ago.
So we've been uh incommunication since then, and I
(23:29):
just love uh the retreat inGreece, it was just fabulous,
and I and I love the whole ideaof uh what uh Lisa and then
Lorraine together are doing thethe podcast and the interviews
and I even sent somebody to beinterviewed with them and um I
(23:50):
participated in the uh exhibituh that uh Lisa organized in LA
and I've spent 30 years in LosAngeles, so I love Los Angeles.
That's why I'm in uh the UnitedStates.
Uh when I arrived in LosAngeles, I was actually on my
way to to the to uh in search ofthe shamans of Peru.
(24:14):
Oh wow, but then I got trappedin LA and then uh the kind of
American dream just fell on mylap without even expecting it,
so then I stayed and I love LA.
Uh back in the 70s, you know, Iwas still the hippie kind of
(24:35):
and I'm an ex-eppie, you know.
Lauren (24:38):
I love it.
Noelle (24:40):
I love it, yeah.
And so uh to be able to, youknow, support what you are doing
in the first place, and then Ican also see the benefit of uh
art, and that's why I I aminterested in art, you know.
In the first place, I wanted todo movies, but uh it's the same
(25:03):
kind of uh goal or the samehorizon, you might say, you
know, to wake up people.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Wake up people so that they getthe sense, especially in our
culture, we need it so muchmore, even more, I think, than
you know, in the Far East,because we are so stuck with
(25:26):
this kind of scientistmaterialism, you know.
So at least uh the the artcommunity is a little um above
that, but still there is uhplenty of people they never
experience you know their higherself or their own divinity
within.
It's kind of a taboo.
Yeah, look like a nut if youmentioned that.
Lisa (25:51):
What I love is um you you're you said you're waking
people up, and I think that's abeautiful it that's what art
does.
Um, and if you can, I meanthat's why art break day, if
they can only do it for likefive minutes, you know what I
mean?
They do touch that and thenwake up for that moment in time
and touch the nectar, thecreative nectar of life.
Noelle (26:10):
Yeah, exactly.
To give them a chance to havean experience where it's not
about rationality, you know,it's not because you've done
something so beautiful, but youdid have that experience that
feeds your heart.
Yeah, I love that, yeah.
Lisa (26:26):
Yeah, wow, beautiful, beautiful.
There's gonna be a group ofyou've been with us for 12
years, and that's just amazing.
And you were in India, I think,for most of them, right?
Auroraville, and then nowyou're in Nepal.
And I love that adaptability,art is adaptability.
Krupa (26:45):
Yeah, it's hard to answer why, because there's so many
reasons why, you know.
I think in the beginning it wasa different why, maybe a bit of
like trying to build communitywhere I was and understand who
is around me.
And I'm trained as anexpressive arts therapist, and
so I do deeper sessions and workwith people, but it was such a
(27:07):
beautiful way in the beginningfor me to just kind of assess
and understand who is around me,who is willing to gather, how
can they come together acrossall differences, different
languages and backgrounds, andjust seeing the beauty and the
magic that can happen in thosekinds of interactions.
And then I think slowly itbecame a prompt for my own
(27:27):
creativity, like how can I adaptand change as I go?
And I think also in this partof the world, ritual is really
important to us.
And for me, it's been such ananchor and a touchstone to see
over the years, you know, likehow I change, how the
environment around me changes,what is possible wherever I go,
what is important, andespecially through COVID and
(27:50):
after COVID, still finding ways,you know, to keep connecting
and how much people are justlooking for these opportunities,
you know, it's just constantlyaffirming that the world needs
this, whether it's small or big,um, whatever materials you use.
I think for me, this year wasreally like I can see the
extreme difference.
(28:10):
In the beginning, you sent methese beautiful art supplies
from the US, you know, and thatlasted us for so long.
And it was like this experienceof abundance, you know, in and
all these resources coming.
And this year to just usewhat's there on the land, like
what's right in front of me.
So yeah, I think it's justcontinued to reveal so much to
(28:30):
me.
And I'm sure there will be manyreasons why to continue doing
it.
And I'm so grateful to both ofyou to have this kind of ritual
and and prompt to keep alsobeing creative and adapting
myself.
Lisa (28:42):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Inspiring, Katha.
This was your first year,right?
Tessa (28:50):
Yeah, this was my first year.
Um, and I'm also grateful toboth of you for creating um this
awesome idea.
Like I as soon as I saw it,like I said, I I think it came
across my feed on Instagrambecause I I like like every art
page or community page, and Iwas like, oh my gosh, that is so
incredible.
And I would love to be a partof that.
(29:11):
I'm I'm always trying to bringmore art into my community.
Um, so thank you guys forcreating this.
Um, and it's so cool to be ableto connect with all of you guys
um in different spacesthroughout the world.
Um, it feels really awesome tobe a part of that.
Crossing borders, um, I thinkthat's really making such a cool
impact on so many people'slives.
Lisa (29:33):
Um, I love it.
Tessa (29:36):
Yeah.
So for me, I agree with Krupa,that's a hard question to answer
because there are so manyreasons.
Um I think if I'm thinkingdirectly, you know, as you guys
were speaking, I was thinking inmy immediate community, um, I
think somebody highlighted howthings are seeming to be a
(29:59):
little more difficult.
The US than other places thesedays.
And something I see in myimmediate community is a lot of
people struggling with mentalhealth.
And I think that art brings alot of healing.
It's really capable of bringinga lot of healing with that.
If you've had, you know,traumatic experiences.
As I said, I'm I'm anexpressive arts therapist as
(30:20):
well.
And if you've had anyexperiences like that, you know,
art is something that can bringcommunity.
It can help awaken you, likeNoelle said, and it can just
bring you into a center.
A lot of times we struggle withwords to express ourselves or
things that we've experienced orbeen through.
And art is such a powerful wayto just, you know, you don't
have to use words.
If you're feeling frustrated,you could just take a marker and
(30:42):
scribble on the paper a bunchof people.
And it's such a way to expresssomething that maybe you
struggle to express.
And I definitely got toexperience some of that this art
break day with some of thepeople that joined in my tent.
It was really cool to see somepeople sit down and open up.
And you know, if you comeacross a situation where you're
(31:04):
trying to create something andit's not turning out the way you
wanted it to, the fun thingabout art, you know, I like to
always tell my students, hey,it's okay, there's no mistakes
in art.
If you don't, if it didn't turnout the way you intended, you
can always turn it intosomething else, you know, and
that kind of translates into, asin life, you know, we think we
make these mistakes, uh, but youcan always transmute it into
(31:25):
something else, and that's thebeauty of it.
And I think if you empower, ifyou equipped people with the
ability to create, you know, alot of people think that they're
not creative, but everybody'screative, everybody's a creator.
And if you give them a tool,whether it be something from
nature or you know, a marker orsomething, it empowers them.
You know, it's empowering.
(31:46):
And I think empowering peoplecan only make the world a better
place on all fronts.
Lisa (31:50):
So yeah, I think that's probably a big one.
I love that.
I love that.
So, Lauren, any any commentsabout your site or anything you
want to share?
I mean, we've been doing thisfor 15 years.
It's been definitely anevolution and a development.
Lauren (32:09):
Yeah.
Yeah, 15 years.
This is my 15th art break day.
Um, and I mean, similar toKrupa, right?
The first one, uh, there wereuh a lot of phone calls and a
lot of a lot of art supplies anda lot of coordination.
And we really wanted it to beginormous, and it was such a
great first year.
We did it in, you know, uh fivedifferent places across the Bay
(32:31):
Area.
And then we expanded um to thestate of California, and we were
like, all right, let's open toother cities.
And then the year after that,we went to other um states and
international, you know, and umand it's funny as the global
reach has expanded.
Lisa and I have talked aboutlike uh like don't get us wrong,
(32:52):
the huge ones are are awesomeand we love them and we support
them.
We have someone who's beendoing it in Florida for I don't
even remember how many years,and they have like, you know, uh
20 different stops that you canmake in their neighborhood, and
it's beautiful, and that's sogreat.
But it's also beautiful togather 25 students and have them
dance for a little bit, uh, orhave a three-year-old draw a
(33:14):
line and watch how the communityinteracts between that.
Like it all matters, right?
Um, and for my own personal uhart, that's like my entire
concept for my whole art is thateverything matters and every
person matters and everyone isan artist.
And to so to see that on aglobal level um every year is
just so um uh you know, Krupaused that it's like this, it's
(33:37):
it's like a reminder to me, um,you know, that it's that it's
worth it, right?
Because it's a labor of love.
Um, it's not something thatit's easy to do, but it's not
easy to do, if that makes sense.
Um, and so every time leadingup to the event, I'm I'm tired
and I'm I and I think I realizenow it's because I'm emotionally
like so invested, right?
(33:58):
And it's not really physical,it's a lot of it is emotional
and mental.
I'm putting my all, uh, myentire being into it.
And then I get this reward bywatching all these people.
We actually have a large numbernumber of unhoused people that
um need some mental health umhelp in our in our downtown
area.
I was like 10% of myparticipants this year were were
(34:21):
uh people in that sort ofrealm.
Uh and they were sitting nextto people that um were making
art with them, and there was,you know, there was no judgment,
there was just community.
Uh, and so uh, you know, art isis that magical tool that you
can you can truly crossboundaries that um otherwise
would not be crossed, and and toto witness that, um, but it's
(34:45):
also as an individual standingthere, it can be a little scary.
I what I thought to myself thisyear is this is one of my
hardest years, and it's the mostimportant year so far.
Um, you know, but people needit more than ever, and I have to
keep going, even though um Ican tell that people are really,
really struggling um on the onthe streets right now.
(35:07):
Um, so it was reallyinteresting to to go through
that.
And I think that um I justthink that it's it's it's better
with it, right?
We're better with it.
And um, so we we gotta keepgoing with it.
And it doesn't, it's no matterhow you do it, even if you knock
(35:27):
on your neighbor's door and askthem if they want to come sit
outside and draw with chalk fora while, um, it's worth it, you
know.
Um, so yeah, I mean, that's Iguess a very long answer as to
why do I keep doing it.
Um, is because like everyprevious year sort of feeds me
for the next year, you know, um,watching people come together
(35:49):
over something that seems sosimple, you know.
We always laugh because peopleare always like, oh, are you
gonna do this next week?
And we we explain to them like,oh no, it's an annual event.
And some people understand whyit's an annual event because it
it has a it's almost like apsychologically a large a larger
impact.
But at the same time, I'm like,I wish I could do this um every
(36:12):
every week for you.
And if I if I could, I wouldbecause I know it would, it
would help, you know.
Um, so you know, maybe there'sa way to do that.
But um yeah, I just think theas uh I've said before, it's the
it's the randomness of it, thatrandomness of someone coming
upon it and then um, you know,being like, I haven't done this
(36:37):
for so long, and then sittingthere for two hours and then
meeting a stranger and then likeexchanging phone numbers and
then going and telling methey're gonna buy art supplies.
You know, that that like rippleeffect uh is is the why why I
do it.
How about you, Lisa?
Lisa (36:54):
I think it's hard.
It is like you all said, it's ahard thing to say.
But I I mean I truly believe inthe power of art and I think it
transcends all boundaries.
But when I hear all of you, youknow, it's like Noelle, it's
like flow, go with the flow.
And you always, you know what Imean?
You just have to be guided.
And then Koopa was aboutadaptability, and Tessa was
(37:15):
about finding the deeper meaningin this existence of life
through creativity.
And Lauren, yours is about likejust about like that random,
beautiful connection ofcommunity that you can sit down
with people and actually have aconversation.
You know, I I mean, what I loveabout Artbreak Day, I love, I
love that it's in, I mean,Lauren knows I have big ideals
(37:38):
and I would love it to be inevery country in the world.
And what would happen ifeverybody would set up an
artbreak day table and whatwould just happen, you know what
I mean?
Because what I really loveabout Artbreak Day and what
inspires me, my why, it's likeliterally you sit down with
people around a table and youjust talk.
I mean, you know, I can be shysometimes, but I it's like, I
(38:01):
don't know, when you'recreating, it's just like you
become friends.
There's like, it's like allboundaries disappear.
And so I just I think it's youknow, every year that we've done
it for these 15 years, it'salways it's about evolution,
adaptability, flow, and thingslike that.
But um I think it's needed,number one, and it's needed in
(38:23):
more in the especially in theUS, like extremely needed right
now, but it's also neededglobally.
Um, and I think it's a way,yeah, it just every day.
Oh, Raymond, what are youdoing?
Every day, um, every heartbreakday that I've done, it um it
makes me believe in humanity.
Like, um, you know, people aregood.
(38:45):
And once they create, they'relike, wow, people are deep,
they're meaningful, you know.
They um yeah.
So it it heartbreak days, my umgives me faith in humanity that
when we create together, we canmake the world a better place.
Yeah.
So quick, quick round tablequestion.
(39:06):
If you because you guys justmet, do you have any questions
for each other um as you sharedyour experiences?
Krupa (39:23):
Well, I would love um with Tessa, I was wondering
maybe in the future we could dosome kind of like cross-cultural
collaboration.
Yeah.
Tessa (39:31):
Yeah.
I I was actually thinking toask you, what is that?
Nepal has been one of theplaces I've wanted to visit for
so long.
It's been that on the top of mytravel list.
And I remember you mentioned uhthey're all so communal there
already in their mentality.
Uh, I would love to hear youlike expound more on that.
That sounds like such anawesome experience because I've
(39:53):
found it made me think teachingin the US, the um programs that
we do, you know, it is very wedo individual work, but in my
classes, I like to makeeverybody be more communal and
share their art with each otherand make them share the supplies
in more ways.
And it's been interesting towatch them work together in more
ways.
What was that like working withkids who already have that
(40:13):
mentality of community firstversus like individuality?
Krupa (40:19):
I think just being in this part of the world has
taught me so much, even though Iwas raised in the West.
So, yeah, seeing thatjuxtaposition of like the
individual ego and how you knowwe can really become ourselves,
get to know ourselves in theWest, and that's really
encouraged.
And then here, sometimes youlose yourself because there's so
(40:41):
much community.
Like, for example, right nowI'm staying in a community and
you know, all the houses arekind of facing each other, so
everybody knows each other'sbusiness, you know, it's all
very interconnected, meals areshared, everything is, you know,
resources are shared.
So uh everything overlaps andwe work together, which it can
be very beautiful.
(41:01):
Of course, on the other side,there's no privacy, boundaries
can be different.
So it's uh it's reallyfascinating to see these
differences.
And I think in both places wehave a lot to learn from each
other.
So I found in that workingtogether, it's a strength,
right?
So with these kids, forexample, being able to just very
(41:23):
quickly and simply have themgather and do something
together, I knew that that wouldwork easily.
It's a natural part of lifehere.
Whereas I think in the West,that would be a lot harder.
You know, it would take time.
You'd have to cultivate a spacewhere everyone can trust each
other to be able to do that.
(41:44):
Um, and yeah, I mean, I think,yeah, I guess working with the
strengths that are here, Isuppose that's what, yeah, it
was easy in a way, you know, itfelt natural.
Lauren (41:58):
Yeah, I mean go ahead.
No, yeah.
I was just gonna say if anyonehas any uh last thoughts they
want to share or tips uh withanyone who's thinking about
hosting an R break.
I say just do it.
(42:20):
Well, yeah, I say, you know, uhlike give us a give us an send
us an email if you're if youneed some help and what we're
that's what we're here for, youknow.
Yes, yes, yeah.
Tessa (42:32):
I love the idea of having it be somewhere all over the
world.
It would be awesome if somebodyin every state, every country
was doing it, and you know,there were a hundred people on
this podcast.
Krupa (42:50):
The time differences might be hard, but we'll make it
work for sure.
Lauren (42:58):
I know, yeah.
The time difference is a toughone.
Yeah, that's a tough one.
Lisa (43:03):
All right, Noelle, any final thoughts?
Noelle (43:06):
No, I was just kind of wondering if I knew anybody in
France who uh could do that, butunfortunately, uh can't think
of anyone off uh the bat likethis.
Lauren (43:19):
Um yeah, we've had it, we've had it in France before.
That was maybe five or sixyears ago.
Yeah, we we tend to you knowask people every year, we we
reinvite them, but as all of youknow, right, it's it is it is a
big commitment.
And so um, but it is worth it.
It is worth it.
Lisa (43:41):
It is worth it.
So I'm gonna end and I justwant to thank you all for your
commitment to art, tocreativity, to um to really like
making trying to make thisworld a better place and
empowering people just to makeus you know a mark and see what
happens.
Lauren (43:57):
So yeah, yeah, thank you so much.
Noelle (44:00):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you for inviting this wasfun and thank you.
It was uh honor to be uhinvited to do this with all of
you.
Lauren (44:10):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
Hey, this is Lisa and Lauren from Artist Movie.
We're so excited for thiscontest.
We had hosts that hostedArtbreak Day, the 15th annual
Artbreak Day.
So if you guys could just goaround and introduce yourself,
where you're from, and maybewhat year it's been for your
artbreak day.
So Noelle, if you want to gofirst, that'd be fantastic.
Noelle (00:24):
Okay, so this is uh me, Noelle Imperato.
I am um basically from uhBaltimore, although as you can
tell, I'm French, and uh eventhough I have been around here
for for nearly 50 years orsomething, uh you know, my
French accent has not left me,especially since I come back
(00:47):
from uh months in uh France inAugust.
I spent the whole month.
So the artbreak day wasactually relatively easy for me
because I did it with the uhUnion Square Association, which
is our neighborhood association,and I live near uh the
president.
(01:07):
Actually, we share a wall, youknow, our uh raw wall, raw
house.
And so he is so used toorganize little events like this
for the association.
We have the right to use thepark, which is right around the
corner, and he also had uh twoother types of uh neighborhood
(01:29):
associations, one for music andother one for uh I'm not too
sure.
And so we gathered the people.
I I didn't have to do very muchexcept uh talk to him before I
went to France to let him knowabout it, and he was so excited
right away, so that was quite uhuh beautiful thing to see,
(01:51):
yeah.
Love it, love it.
Lisa (01:54):
Krupa, you want to go ahead?
Krupa (01:56):
Sure.
So my name is Krupa Javeri.
I was born in the US inColorado, but my parents are
from North India.
I'm based in South India, buthappen to be in Nepal right now,
where I hosted the last artbreak day for my 12th year as
part of this movement.
Lisa (02:15):
Pasa.
Tessa (02:17):
Hi, yeah, this is my first year.
Um I found you guys onInstagram actually.
I'm in San Diego and I teach uman expressive arts program at
the elementary schools here, andI teach therapeutic art here,
and we have this really awesomeuh plaza in Ocean Beach where I
live, uh, where it's called afree speech zone.
So you can set up and do freeevents if you'd like.
(02:38):
And so I hosted it there, andit was really awesome.
Lauren (02:42):
That's awesome.
Um for everyone, yeah, I'mLauren, and right now I'm based
in Corvallis, Oregon.
And I think it was oof, I can'tremember how many years I've
done it in Corvallis, but I Lisaand I started in the San
Francisco Bay Area, and so itwas my 15th year hosting uh in
our breakday in variouslocations.
(03:03):
Yes.
Lisa (03:05):
So I'm Lisa, and um Raymond's coming in, I can't,
but uh he never fails not toshow up.
So I usually I'm in SantaMonica Bay, so I usually have it
here, but um one of my nieceswas getting married in
Wisconsin.
So I called up a friend who's amusician and said, Hey, do you
know anywhere where I can hostan art breakday site?
(03:26):
You know, just kind ofnetworking.
And she plays at a pub everymonth and said, This lady would
love it.
She's an artist.
And so I was at it, it wascalled the Sugar Maple, and it
was this awesome like hipsterpub.
We were outside in a garden, itwas a beautiful day.
So I guess my thing is anywhereyou're at, you can just make it
(03:46):
happen.
Lauren (03:48):
Yeah, yeah.
I'd I'd love to dive into moreof that, you know.
If everyone could tell us howwas your art break day, you
know, how was it this year?
Tessa (04:01):
Anyway, so great.
Yeah, it was amazing.
So many people joined.
You know, I had up a big signthat said, make art for free.
And I had a friend join me, andwe uh chalked on the sidewalk.
So as people were passing, wehad this big patch of grass.
Um, it's right by the beach, soit was beautiful.
It was a beautiful day.
(04:22):
Um, and so many peopleapproached and were like, What
is this about?
And I was like, Yeah, you know,we had coloring sheets, we had
um, as I said, I teachelementary art, so I was blessed
with all these supplies I wasable to give to people.
So I had a little bit ofeverything, and it was amazing.
I had about 10 or 15 people,um, I'd say that really came
through and sat um and stayedfor a couple hours, created
(04:45):
great community conversations,made new friends, and it was
great to see.
Um said, Oh, you're creatingsuch a positive vibration here.
I know it was such a coolexperience.
Lisa (04:56):
So it was awesome.
And and then what were theymostly adults or children, or
who did you um magnetize?
Tessa (05:04):
Yeah, it was a little bit of everything.
Um, there were some olderadults that stopped by.
Uh, it was, I would say, mostlymostly young adults, I would
say, um, probably in their early20s.
Um, but there were also someolder adults as well.
So it was a little bit ofeverything.
It was it was really awesome.
Lisa (05:22):
And I'm just I saw you on Instagram a lot.
You were doing a lot of thereels.
Do you think that created somekind of um energy towards that?
Tessa (05:30):
I do, uh yeah.
I'm pretty involved in mycommunity here.
We're really blessed to have agreat um arts community in Ocean
Beach, San Diego, where I live.
Um so a lot of people arelooking for things like that to
do.
A lot of people are into thearts and music.
Um, so creating the reels was away.
I put up posters around town aswell.
Um, but I honestly don't thinkmany of the people came for
(05:51):
that.
I think it was mostly peoplepassing by that came and saw the
sign that kind of joined.
So that turned out to beinteresting and lots of new
faces.
Lauren (05:57):
I love it.
Yeah, my yeah, my favorite isthe random passerby that doesn't
know what it is, and then uhsort of is brave enough to sit
down and give it a try.
Those are the people thatgenerally surprise themselves
with how long they stay at thetable.
And that's always my absolutefavorite.
Like it always happens everysingle artbreak day.
(06:18):
I mean, I can picture thepeople from this year that sat
um and were there for over twohours just creating uh, you
know, um piece after piece.
And they they just kind ofstumbled upon it.
And um, I love that.
That's one of my favoriteaspects of it.
Lisa (06:34):
That's a one more question.
Like, what is your favorite?
Like, because I know I lovewhat I love about artbreak days
the conversations that you havewith strangers.
It's just amazing how thatopens up.
Any like memory or conversationthat you you were like, wow,
this is so cool.
Tessa (06:49):
Yes.
Um, I wrote this down actually.
We had an awesome conversationat one point.
Um, and also I want tohighlight on uh what I'm sorry,
what was your name again?
Lauren (07:00):
You're Lisa Lauren.
Tessa (07:04):
Lauren, yes.
Lauren, what you said about umpeople staying for hours.
That was something Iexperienced as well.
I set the time from noon tofour, and um people wanted to
stay forever, and I felt badbeing like, you know, sorry, I
have to like clean up thesesupplies now.
I know we could all stay hereforever.
I could have stayed thereforever.
Um, so yeah, that was reallycool to see people get so into
(07:25):
it, get so into their art, andthe conversations we were having
were awesome too.
Um, and yeah, one of the onesthat um were shared was we were
discussing uh how creating artis just one form of something we
can do in our lives.
Um, where I guess theconversation started where some
(07:45):
people were like, uh, you know,I'm not very artistically
inclined.
I don't know how to doanything.
And it was like they were like,wow, I actually created
something.
You know, they picked up, Ithink I had a protractor there,
and I was like, just startmaking circles, you know, fill
them in with color, see how youfeel, like see what happens.
And um, they made this reallycool piece, started drawing
different figurines around thecircles and in the circles, and
shared it with everybody.
(08:06):
And they were so proud ofthemselves.
And we had this discussionabout how creating art or the
act of creating something, um,it's not about you know being
good at it or something likethat.
It's just the act of it is sucha great way to practice
manifesting anything you'd wantin your life, right?
You know, you're you'repracticing bringing something in
(08:28):
your mind out into reality on apiece of paper.
And maybe you're not the bestat it at first, but as you do
it, you start to discover thatyou can create anything.
And so even in practicing that,it applies to so many other
areas of your life.
And so everybody, we all kindof stopped and were like, whoa,
like I never thought about artlike that.
And it was a really coolmoment.
So I love that.
Lisa (08:49):
It's like a Zen moment or you know, art power, yay! Yeah,
amazing.
Lauren (08:55):
Yeah, that sort of the power of the the process of the
the actual experience of makingthe art makes me think of Krupa
and that a lot of things thatyou have done um even this year
and in years past.
You want to dive into your artbreak day?
Krupa (09:07):
Sure.
I think mine is worlds apart ina very different setting, but
it's maybe nice to have a reallydifferent example as well of
how it can happen.
And and I think it's all aboutpermission.
I was thinking about that a lotthis year, that most people are
looking for the encouragement.
They want to create, right?
And they want that opportunityto sit down.
(09:28):
So just kind of cultivating aspace, giving permission, giving
the materials and saying, yes,you're allowed.
And not only are you allowed,there's no competition here,
there's no exam.
Just sit down and create, youknow, and feel free to do that.
Like that already feels likesuch an important experience.
And then however it happens canbe yeah, affirming, exploring,
(09:51):
can be opening up a whole newworld for someone.
So this year, I mean, I've beendoing this now for quite a few
years, and I think this year,you know, it was all about
adaptability.
So I'm in Nepal, I happen toland late, and then the next day
I went to a small village, andthe kids in a school there that
I had planned to work with, theyhad a full day of exams.
(10:15):
And so they were stressed, theywere all coming out of the
classroom, comparing, you know,did you get this question right?
What was the answer?
You know, there was a lot ofhigh anxiety and stress.
So immediately I felt like,okay, I understand the
situation.
What can I offer now, given allof this?
And I decided not to bring artsupplies.
(10:36):
It was also tricky to be ableto do that.
So, again, all aboutadaptability.
And I noticed that on theplayground, like around the
school, there was a lot ofnatural beauty.
I mean, this was in amountainous, you know, valley,
it was just gorgeous backdropand a small school.
And so about 25 kids, we gottogether in the library and we
created something.
(10:56):
So I asked them to go outsideand to pick up something from
nature, but also somethingthat's man-made.
Because I noticed there was alot of like plastic pollution,
and you know, I just felt likeit's such a shame that there's
this juxtaposition, and I justfelt like it's a great
opportunity to remind themthey're taught in school not to
throw the trash on the ground,but so many kids, and of course,
(11:18):
you know, by habit, they'llhave a single-use like cracker
or something, and they justthrow the trash on the ground.
So we created a mandalatogether with these items, and
then I asked them, would theylike to change what they've
created?
And they took the trash out,and they're so bright, you know,
immediately they were like, Weunderstand, we know that it's a
beautiful place, and it's just ahabit.
(11:40):
And I didn't even have to saymuch, you know, and and it was
testament to how the art revealseverything that we need to see.
Um, and one thing I forgot tomention is that before we made
this mandala together, um, wedanced.
So I had each of them go arounda circle and just move their
body, kind of introducethemselves through a bit of
(12:02):
movement, and that felt reallydifferent and important this
year.
Again, given the situation, weall need to dance, but in
particular, they had all thispent-up energy.
So, you know, just beingavailable for them, and there
was so much joy, there was a bitof shyness, it was a bit
awkward in moments, but it wasreally, really sweet and such a
(12:22):
beautiful way to connect, alsobeyond really words, you know.
Yeah, yeah.
Lisa (12:27):
Now, what what was the age of the kids?
Krupa (12:30):
So there was a range that they came from different
classes, I would say from aboutlike sixth grade all the way up
to 10th.
Yeah.
Wow, wow.
And then a nice chance for themto also mix together.
So I guess I love that.
Lisa (12:48):
Were you gonna say something more?
Lauren (12:49):
Yeah, I was gonna ask um if anyone offered, you know,
like uh a lot of times whensomeone sits down and and then
and then they're like, wow, Ihaven't drawn since I was such
and such age, or oh, I wasfeeling so stressed and now I'm
not.
Did you hear any of that comeout of any of the students?
Krupa (13:09):
No, I I mean, so this what was different this year for
me too is that I didn't reallybring art supply.
So they didn't sit down todraw.
We just co-created somethingand then it kind of changed.
Lauren (13:20):
Yeah.
Did they were they like um whatkind of feedback did they do
about doing something togetherafter having done something like
as stressful as an individualthing, like an exam?
Krupa (13:35):
What I sensed and what I gathered, what I heard was joy.
Um, it is also this part of theworld, you know, in most Asian
cultures, it's a verycollectivist society.
So there's really already thisculture of everybody coming
together and doing everythingtogether.
Sometimes boundaries can betricky, but in this situation,
it happened so organically.
(13:56):
So I felt like it did workbecause I was meeting them where
they are.
You know, they're used to doingeverything together.
Um, I think that there was lesspressure from what I've seen in
the past, you know, when when alot of kids, you know, they've
had these traumatic experienceswith their art teachers.
Telling them that there's aright or a wrong way to do
(14:21):
something or that it's notthere, can be just a lot of
stress went on.
So it was, I think it was uhless stressful this way to kind
of work together and dosomething that was impermanent
as well, and just using theresources that were around
instead of yeah, drawingsomething and keeping it and
showing it.
Yeah, yeah.
Lisa (14:41):
So I'm I'm picturing that you like you're dancing, they
introduced themselves, and thenthey went out and they played
and they searched for theirfound object in nature and then
trash.
And did you see the energyshift from that also when they
were out and about, you know, inthe lands?
Krupa (15:00):
Yeah, I think there was a lot of surprise.
I think also because it wasn'tthe usual way of making art or
having a class or doing anythingin their school.
So um there was play, there wasa very playful attitude, which
already, you know, was a bigshift in energy from the exams
and this kind of very seriousstudious way of being in the
school environment.
(15:20):
Um, and then we came back inand they each kind of placed
things together, and then Ithink again, modeling that
adaptability, like they have thepermission to change what
they've created, you know, totake agency, to take leadership
roles.
Um, and in a very short amountof time, you know, I saw like a
whole microcosm, a whole worldkind of created by them.
(15:42):
Yeah.
Lisa (15:43):
Wow, that's definitely lovely.
That's a huge uh that's that'scool.
I love how Tessa's um like artpower, it's like so cool how it
it transforms.
It you it's kind of like anaspect of what art does, and
then your what you what youshared or what you uh inspired
with the kids is amazing.
Lauren (16:02):
Wow and it it sounds Noelle.
Yours was also very tight-knitcommunity-oriented because you
said it was through um sort ofyour community, your
neighborhood association.
Is that right?
Noelle (16:14):
Yes, yeah, yeah.
So we had mostly the kids uhwho wanted to to paint because
uh I had brought uh a bigdisplay of uh colors, you know,
temporarak colors uh from uh icecube trees.
That's what I usually do.
(16:35):
So there is like you know 30different colors, and all they
have to do is just kind of likeI tell them, you know, like a
kid in a candy store, you know,just go with the one that
attracts you right now.
So if you are doing a sun andyou like the blue color, then
it's going to be a blue sun, youknow, it's okay.
Lisa (16:55):
Yeah.
Noelle (16:56):
So we had um a lot of that, uh, mostly young kids, you
know, about age uh I would saysix, six years old or something
like that, really cute littlegirls, and we have a lot of uh
uh black people in theneighborhood, so we had a good
mix of that.
And we had a few teenager, Isay probably around 20 kids were
(17:21):
uh um we only had two hours,six to eight, because it's a
Friday and you know people areworking.
I I was trying to make themcome earlier, but they said no,
we can't do that.
But the the interesting thingalso is that um they uh they had
sharks, big, big fat sharksthat uh kids could use, and so
(17:46):
it was kind of a fun becausethere was one little boy, it
wasn't like maybethree-year-old, but he was kind
of leading the gang.
Yeah, he was like a toughlittle guy, and he was taking
his big chalk, and he came fromthe guy who was sort of
supervising them and drew a bigline all the way to the
(18:08):
fountain, and then after that,they all sort of tried to play
around that line and dance andand jump and what have you.
They they sort of uh inventedtheir own game and very
different age, like the littlethe three-year-old, but then
most of the other kids were morelike six, eight, nine, you
(18:28):
know, and so they playedtogether like this, just uh with
a few lines and a chalk.
That was kind of fun.
And the other part was that uhwe invited some musician, uh,
one guy who is from theneighborhood, and also uh
saying, you know, if you haveany uh instrument, bring your
(18:49):
instrument and you you arewelcome to play.
So they we ended up having uhfour guys uh who had uh plugged
instruments, you know.
We have a little cazebo with uhwith an electric plug so
everybody could have umamplifier and everything, and
(19:09):
they started jamming together.
So and they did really good,some kind of jazzy tunes, and it
was really nice.
And then I heard after thatthat they said, Well, it's the
first time we jammed together,but uh it's not going to be the
last.
Yeah, so that was uh that wasquite lovely, and you know, the
(19:34):
rest was a couple hours where wegot a chance to talk with the
neighbors.
This is a great neighborhoodbecause the association is very
strong and the neighborhood isvery tiny.
You know, Baltimore is like uhzillions of tiny little
neighborhoods, and so everybodykind of knows each other, and we
(19:57):
do a lot of uh different eventsuh all along the years, and so
this was just another one wherewe get to hang out.
Yeah, that's great.
Lisa (20:09):
What I love uh is Lauren always talks about she loves the
what happens, it's not the artcreated, but what almost like
the art installation thathappens through the interaction
of you know what I mean?
Like it's a it's a it's a it'sa happening.
It'd be the art is the the thespace that we create, you know.
And so was there um can youtell us about that?
(20:32):
Like how did the space shiftwhen I know that's a beautiful
you know um imagery when thekids drawing and then
everybody's dancing, and youknow what, how did the space
shift in your in the plaza thatyou were in?
Noelle (20:46):
Well, I don't know if there was a big shift, you know.
Uh it just kind of was what itwas.
Uh for me the the bigger shiftwas the music addition to the
painting, and then I have uh I Ihave been doing you know these
kind of uh painting workshops uhwith kids uh of different ages,
(21:09):
and well, most of it now is uhmore like adults, but I have the
I've worked with kids before.
So they they were all veryinterested with the paint.
Like we were offering them umcrayons and crayolas and big fat
felt paint, uh felt uh you knowpens and uh different uh
(21:34):
technique like this, which Ithought, oh they probably will
go for something that's easy touse, you know.
But no, all they want, all ofthem they wanted to to do the
paint, you know, because maybethey are they don't have that
much opportunity to do thepaint, I don't know.
But the the little kids isalways impressive to see how
(21:56):
concentrated they are.
Yeah, and then I had likesometimes the father showing up
and trying to tell the kid, youknow, well, what is this, you
know.
So I had to tell them well, youdon't have to ask your kid what
it is, maybe after it's done,you know, but let them do
(22:16):
because that's what they knowhow to do, you know, yeah,
better than we are, and let themreally kind of uh I told them
at first, you know, just don'tworry about what it's going to
look like, just work from theheart.
Lauren (22:30):
Yeah, I love that.
Work from the heart, I lovethat.
Yeah, I I would um love to knowsort of uh why you guys decided
to host um Art Break Day,either this year or 12 years
ago, you know, and or why do youkeep doing it, right?
Why do you keep uh hostingbecause it's a volunteer thing,
(22:51):
right?
Uh you guys completelyvolunteer uh for this movement,
which we are forever gratefulfor because we know uh it makes
such a positive impact in theworld.
But I I would love to know yourwhy.
Noelle (23:06):
Well, if I just continue with uh this year, well, why?
I is because I I know Lisa.
I have uh known Lisa for uhbecause uh I did a retreat in
Greece in 2018, I think, soseven years ago.
So we've been uh incommunication since then, and I
(23:29):
just love uh the retreat inGreece, it was just fabulous,
and I and I love the whole ideaof uh what uh Lisa and then
Lorraine together are doing thethe podcast and the interviews
and I even sent somebody to beinterviewed with them and um I
(23:50):
participated in the uh exhibituh that uh Lisa organized in LA
and I've spent 30 years in LosAngeles, so I love Los Angeles.
That's why I'm in uh the UnitedStates.
Uh when I arrived in LosAngeles, I was actually on my
way to to the to uh in search ofthe shamans of Peru.
(24:14):
Oh wow, but then I got trappedin LA and then uh the kind of
American dream just fell on mylap without even expecting it,
so then I stayed and I love LA.
Uh back in the 70s, you know, Iwas still the hippie kind of
(24:35):
and I'm an ex-eppie, you know.
Lauren (24:38):
I love it.
Noelle (24:40):
I love it, yeah.
And so uh to be able to, youknow, support what you are doing
in the first place, and then Ican also see the benefit of uh
art, and that's why I I aminterested in art, you know.
In the first place, I wanted todo movies, but uh it's the same
(25:03):
kind of uh goal or the samehorizon, you might say, you
know, to wake up people.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Wake up people so that they getthe sense, especially in our
culture, we need it so muchmore, even more, I think, than
you know, in the Far East,because we are so stuck with
(25:26):
this kind of scientistmaterialism, you know.
So at least uh the the artcommunity is a little um above
that, but still there is uhplenty of people they never
experience you know their higherself or their own divinity
within.
It's kind of a taboo.
Yeah, look like a nut if youmentioned that.
Lisa (25:51):
What I love is um you you're you said you're waking
people up, and I think that's abeautiful it that's what art
does.
Um, and if you can, I meanthat's why art break day, if
they can only do it for likefive minutes, you know what I
mean?
They do touch that and thenwake up for that moment in time
and touch the nectar, thecreative nectar of life.
Noelle (26:10):
Yeah, exactly.
To give them a chance to havean experience where it's not
about rationality, you know,it's not because you've done
something so beautiful, but youdid have that experience that
feeds your heart.
Yeah, I love that, yeah.
Lisa (26:26):
Yeah, wow, beautiful, beautiful.
There's gonna be a group ofyou've been with us for 12
years, and that's just amazing.
And you were in India, I think,for most of them, right?
Auroraville, and then nowyou're in Nepal.
And I love that adaptability,art is adaptability.
Krupa (26:45):
Yeah, it's hard to answer why, because there's so many
reasons why, you know.
I think in the beginning it wasa different why, maybe a bit of
like trying to build communitywhere I was and understand who
is around me.
And I'm trained as anexpressive arts therapist, and
so I do deeper sessions and workwith people, but it was such a
(27:07):
beautiful way in the beginningfor me to just kind of assess
and understand who is around me,who is willing to gather, how
can they come together acrossall differences, different
languages and backgrounds, andjust seeing the beauty and the
magic that can happen in thosekinds of interactions.
And then I think slowly itbecame a prompt for my own
(27:27):
creativity, like how can I adaptand change as I go?
And I think also in this partof the world, ritual is really
important to us.
And for me, it's been such ananchor and a touchstone to see
over the years, you know, likehow I change, how the
environment around me changes,what is possible wherever I go,
what is important, andespecially through COVID and
(27:50):
after COVID, still finding ways,you know, to keep connecting
and how much people are justlooking for these opportunities,
you know, it's just constantlyaffirming that the world needs
this, whether it's small or big,um, whatever materials you use.
I think for me, this year wasreally like I can see the
extreme difference.
(28:10):
In the beginning, you sent methese beautiful art supplies
from the US, you know, and thatlasted us for so long.
And it was like this experienceof abundance, you know, in and
all these resources coming.
And this year to just usewhat's there on the land, like
what's right in front of me.
So yeah, I think it's justcontinued to reveal so much to
(28:30):
me.
And I'm sure there will be manyreasons why to continue doing
it.
And I'm so grateful to both ofyou to have this kind of ritual
and and prompt to keep alsobeing creative and adapting
myself.
Lisa (28:42):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Inspiring, Katha.
This was your first year,right?
Tessa (28:50):
Yeah, this was my first year.
Um, and I'm also grateful toboth of you for creating um this
awesome idea.
Like I as soon as I saw it,like I said, I I think it came
across my feed on Instagrambecause I I like like every art
page or community page, and Iwas like, oh my gosh, that is so
incredible.
And I would love to be a partof that.
(29:11):
I'm I'm always trying to bringmore art into my community.
Um, so thank you guys forcreating this.
Um, and it's so cool to be ableto connect with all of you guys
um in different spacesthroughout the world.
Um, it feels really awesome tobe a part of that.
Crossing borders, um, I thinkthat's really making such a cool
impact on so many people'slives.
Lisa (29:33):
Um, I love it.
Tessa (29:36):
Yeah.
So for me, I agree with Krupa,that's a hard question to answer
because there are so manyreasons.
Um I think if I'm thinkingdirectly, you know, as you guys
were speaking, I was thinking inmy immediate community, um, I
think somebody highlighted howthings are seeming to be a
(29:59):
little more difficult.
The US than other places thesedays.
And something I see in myimmediate community is a lot of
people struggling with mentalhealth.
And I think that art brings alot of healing.
It's really capable of bringinga lot of healing with that.
If you've had, you know,traumatic experiences.
As I said, I'm I'm anexpressive arts therapist as
(30:20):
well.
And if you've had anyexperiences like that, you know,
art is something that can bringcommunity.
It can help awaken you, likeNoelle said, and it can just
bring you into a center.
A lot of times we struggle withwords to express ourselves or
things that we've experienced orbeen through.
And art is such a powerful wayto just, you know, you don't
have to use words.
If you're feeling frustrated,you could just take a marker and
(30:42):
scribble on the paper a bunchof people.
And it's such a way to expresssomething that maybe you
struggle to express.
And I definitely got toexperience some of that this art
break day with some of thepeople that joined in my tent.
It was really cool to see somepeople sit down and open up.
And you know, if you comeacross a situation where you're
(31:04):
trying to create something andit's not turning out the way you
wanted it to, the fun thingabout art, you know, I like to
always tell my students, hey,it's okay, there's no mistakes
in art.
If you don't, if it didn't turnout the way you intended, you
can always turn it intosomething else, you know, and
that kind of translates into, asin life, you know, we think we
make these mistakes, uh, but youcan always transmute it into
(31:25):
something else, and that's thebeauty of it.
And I think if you empower, ifyou equipped people with the
ability to create, you know, alot of people think that they're
not creative, but everybody'screative, everybody's a creator.
And if you give them a tool,whether it be something from
nature or you know, a marker orsomething, it empowers them.
You know, it's empowering.
(31:46):
And I think empowering peoplecan only make the world a better
place on all fronts.
Lisa (31:50):
So yeah, I think that's probably a big one.
I love that.
I love that.
So, Lauren, any any commentsabout your site or anything you
want to share?
I mean, we've been doing thisfor 15 years.
It's been definitely anevolution and a development.
Lauren (32:09):
Yeah.
Yeah, 15 years.
This is my 15th art break day.
Um, and I mean, similar toKrupa, right?
The first one, uh, there wereuh a lot of phone calls and a
lot of a lot of art supplies anda lot of coordination.
And we really wanted it to beginormous, and it was such a
great first year.
We did it in, you know, uh fivedifferent places across the Bay
(32:31):
Area.
And then we expanded um to thestate of California, and we were
like, all right, let's open toother cities.
And then the year after that,we went to other um states and
international, you know, and umand it's funny as the global
reach has expanded.
Lisa and I have talked aboutlike uh like don't get us wrong,
(32:52):
the huge ones are are awesomeand we love them and we support
them.
We have someone who's beendoing it in Florida for I don't
even remember how many years,and they have like, you know, uh
20 different stops that you canmake in their neighborhood, and
it's beautiful, and that's sogreat.
But it's also beautiful togather 25 students and have them
dance for a little bit, uh, orhave a three-year-old draw a
(33:14):
line and watch how the communityinteracts between that.
Like it all matters, right?
Um, and for my own personal uhart, that's like my entire
concept for my whole art is thateverything matters and every
person matters and everyone isan artist.
And to so to see that on aglobal level um every year is
just so um uh you know, Krupaused that it's like this, it's
(33:37):
it's like a reminder to me, um,you know, that it's that it's
worth it, right?
Because it's a labor of love.
Um, it's not something thatit's easy to do, but it's not
easy to do, if that makes sense.
Um, and so every time leadingup to the event, I'm I'm tired
and I'm I and I think I realizenow it's because I'm emotionally
like so invested, right?
(33:58):
And it's not really physical,it's a lot of it is emotional
and mental.
I'm putting my all, uh, myentire being into it.
And then I get this reward bywatching all these people.
We actually have a large numbernumber of unhoused people that
um need some mental health umhelp in our in our downtown
area.
I was like 10% of myparticipants this year were were
(34:21):
uh people in that sort ofrealm.
Uh and they were sitting nextto people that um were making
art with them, and there was,you know, there was no judgment,
there was just community.
Uh, and so uh, you know, art isis that magical tool that you
can you can truly crossboundaries that um otherwise
would not be crossed, and and toto witness that, um, but it's
(34:45):
also as an individual standingthere, it can be a little scary.
I what I thought to myself thisyear is this is one of my
hardest years, and it's the mostimportant year so far.
Um, you know, but people needit more than ever, and I have to
keep going, even though um Ican tell that people are really,
really struggling um on the onthe streets right now.
(35:07):
Um, so it was reallyinteresting to to go through
that.
And I think that um I justthink that it's it's it's better
with it, right?
We're better with it.
And um, so we we gotta keepgoing with it.
And it doesn't, it's no matterhow you do it, even if you knock
(35:27):
on your neighbor's door and askthem if they want to come sit
outside and draw with chalk fora while, um, it's worth it, you
know.
Um, so yeah, I mean, that's Iguess a very long answer as to
why do I keep doing it.
Um, is because like everyprevious year sort of feeds me
for the next year, you know, um,watching people come together
(35:49):
over something that seems sosimple, you know.
We always laugh because peopleare always like, oh, are you
gonna do this next week?
And we we explain to them like,oh no, it's an annual event.
And some people understand whyit's an annual event because it
it has a it's almost like apsychologically a large a larger
impact.
But at the same time, I'm like,I wish I could do this um every
(36:12):
every week for you.
And if I if I could, I wouldbecause I know it would, it
would help, you know.
Um, so you know, maybe there'sa way to do that.
But um yeah, I just think theas uh I've said before, it's the
it's the randomness of it, thatrandomness of someone coming
upon it and then um, you know,being like, I haven't done this
(36:37):
for so long, and then sittingthere for two hours and then
meeting a stranger and then likeexchanging phone numbers and
then going and telling methey're gonna buy art supplies.
You know, that that like rippleeffect uh is is the why why I
do it.
How about you, Lisa?
Lisa (36:54):
I think it's hard.
It is like you all said, it's ahard thing to say.
But I I mean I truly believe inthe power of art and I think it
transcends all boundaries.
But when I hear all of you, youknow, it's like Noelle, it's
like flow, go with the flow.
And you always, you know what Imean?
You just have to be guided.
And then Koopa was aboutadaptability, and Tessa was
(37:15):
about finding the deeper meaningin this existence of life
through creativity.
And Lauren, yours is about likejust about like that random,
beautiful connection ofcommunity that you can sit down
with people and actually have aconversation.
You know, I I mean, what I loveabout Artbreak Day, I love, I
love that it's in, I mean,Lauren knows I have big ideals
(37:38):
and I would love it to be inevery country in the world.
And what would happen ifeverybody would set up an
artbreak day table and whatwould just happen, you know what
I mean?
Because what I really loveabout Artbreak Day and what
inspires me, my why, it's likeliterally you sit down with
people around a table and youjust talk.
I mean, you know, I can be shysometimes, but I it's like, I
(38:01):
don't know, when you'recreating, it's just like you
become friends.
There's like, it's like allboundaries disappear.
And so I just I think it's youknow, every year that we've done
it for these 15 years, it'salways it's about evolution,
adaptability, flow, and thingslike that.
But um I think it's needed,number one, and it's needed in
(38:23):
more in the especially in theUS, like extremely needed right
now, but it's also neededglobally.
Um, and I think it's a way,yeah, it just every day.
Oh, Raymond, what are youdoing?
Every day, um, every heartbreakday that I've done, it um it
makes me believe in humanity.
Like, um, you know, people aregood.
(38:45):
And once they create, they'relike, wow, people are deep,
they're meaningful, you know.
They um yeah.
So it it heartbreak days, my umgives me faith in humanity that
when we create together, we canmake the world a better place.
Yeah.
So quick, quick round tablequestion.
(39:06):
If you because you guys justmet, do you have any questions
for each other um as you sharedyour experiences?
Krupa (39:23):
Well, I would love um with Tessa, I was wondering
maybe in the future we could dosome kind of like cross-cultural
collaboration.
Yeah.
Tessa (39:31):
Yeah.
I I was actually thinking toask you, what is that?
Nepal has been one of theplaces I've wanted to visit for
so long.
It's been that on the top of mytravel list.
And I remember you mentioned uhthey're all so communal there
already in their mentality.
Uh, I would love to hear youlike expound more on that.
That sounds like such anawesome experience because I've
(39:53):
found it made me think teachingin the US, the um programs that
we do, you know, it is very wedo individual work, but in my
classes, I like to makeeverybody be more communal and
share their art with each otherand make them share the supplies
in more ways.
And it's been interesting towatch them work together in more
ways.
What was that like working withkids who already have that
(40:13):
mentality of community firstversus like individuality?
Krupa (40:19):
I think just being in this part of the world has
taught me so much, even though Iwas raised in the West.
So, yeah, seeing thatjuxtaposition of like the
individual ego and how you knowwe can really become ourselves,
get to know ourselves in theWest, and that's really
encouraged.
And then here, sometimes youlose yourself because there's so
(40:41):
much community.
Like, for example, right nowI'm staying in a community and
you know, all the houses arekind of facing each other, so
everybody knows each other'sbusiness, you know, it's all
very interconnected, meals areshared, everything is, you know,
resources are shared.
So uh everything overlaps andwe work together, which it can
be very beautiful.
(41:01):
Of course, on the other side,there's no privacy, boundaries
can be different.
So it's uh it's reallyfascinating to see these
differences.
And I think in both places wehave a lot to learn from each
other.
So I found in that workingtogether, it's a strength,
right?
So with these kids, forexample, being able to just very
(41:23):
quickly and simply have themgather and do something
together, I knew that that wouldwork easily.
It's a natural part of lifehere.
Whereas I think in the West,that would be a lot harder.
You know, it would take time.
You'd have to cultivate a spacewhere everyone can trust each
other to be able to do that.
(41:44):
Um, and yeah, I mean, I think,yeah, I guess working with the
strengths that are here, Isuppose that's what, yeah, it
was easy in a way, you know, itfelt natural.
Lauren (41:58):
Yeah, I mean go ahead.
No, yeah.
I was just gonna say if anyonehas any uh last thoughts they
want to share or tips uh withanyone who's thinking about
hosting an R break.
I say just do it.
(42:20):
Well, yeah, I say, you know, uhlike give us a give us an send
us an email if you're if youneed some help and what we're
that's what we're here for, youknow.
Yes, yes, yeah.
Tessa (42:32):
I love the idea of having it be somewhere all over the
world.
It would be awesome if somebodyin every state, every country
was doing it, and you know,there were a hundred people on
this podcast.
Krupa (42:50):
The time differences might be hard, but we'll make it
work for sure.
Lauren (42:58):
I know, yeah.
The time difference is a toughone.
Yeah, that's a tough one.
Lisa (43:03):
All right, Noelle, any final thoughts?
Noelle (43:06):
No, I was just kind of wondering if I knew anybody in
France who uh could do that, butunfortunately, uh can't think
of anyone off uh the bat likethis.
Lauren (43:19):
Um yeah, we've had it, we've had it in France before.
That was maybe five or sixyears ago.
Yeah, we we tend to you knowask people every year, we we
reinvite them, but as all of youknow, right, it's it is it is a
big commitment.
And so um, but it is worth it.
It is worth it.
Lisa (43:41):
It is worth it.
So I'm gonna end and I justwant to thank you all for your
commitment to art, tocreativity, to um to really like
making trying to make thisworld a better place and
empowering people just to makeus you know a mark and see what
happens.
Lauren (43:57):
So yeah, yeah, thank you so much.
Noelle (44:00):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you for inviting this wasfun and thank you.
It was uh honor to be uhinvited to do this with all of
you.
Lauren (44:10):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
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