S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS for our arts and culture show. We're going to be talking about a new podcast , the San Diego Comic Fest , and a new art program. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and engaged. The creators of the new KPBS podcast. Diego. Join us.
S2: I hope that as someone who lives in San Diego , that this gives you pride , that there is such an amazing art scene and amazing hip hop scene that is recognized worldwide. If you just look into it.
S1: Then after a two year break here about why Comic Fest is making a comeback this year , plus your weekend preview. That's ahead on Midday Edition. I. KPBS has a new podcast that dives into San Diego's rap culture and history. It's called Rap Diego , and in 12 episodes , the series walks us through the 40 year evolution of our local rap movement. Here to rap with me about the podcast are Parker Edison and Chris Reyes. Parker is host and producer of rap. Diego. He's also the host of another KPBS podcast called The Parker Edison Project , which provides conversations about creativity and community through the lens of Black America. And Chris is a singer , songwriter and producer from San Diego , as well as the editor of Rap Diego. Parker , Chris , thanks for being here.
S2: Thank you for having us.
S3: Hey , Jade.
S1: Hey , there. Glad to have you guys in studio and excited to talk about the podcast rap. Diego Parker , I'll start with you. Walk us through why you wanted to start this podcast.
S3: The history of San Diego rap is so interesting and it organically occurs and the the story kind of pours itself out really easily , really nicely and very interestingly. And we had a platform to do it with KPBS. I teamed up with some of the the best cats that I know that know anything about the topic , and it all just kind of came together really well. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. I feel like the last time I spoke with you was for the 50th anniversary of hip hop.
S3: That sounds about right.
S1: Yeah , yeah.
S3: This was , uh , very much having conversations with the the anniversary of hip hop and having conversations with Jay Smith and Chris Reyes about where San Diego sits in that. And we had always been having those conversations up until now. So it just kind of was timely that everyone else was privy to the conversation at the same time.
S1: Yeah , San Diego , unlike LA or New York , isn't well known for its rap scene , but throughout the podcast , you argue the city and region actually has a greater impact on hip hop than most know. Chris how is.
S2: That ? Yeah , I think that's I think that's like an accurate quote of the understanding , like people think it's not as important , but we found over what , almost a year's time of of doing research and then getting it confirmed from people outside of the city , because a lot of voices from outside of the city play a part in this podcast for like , reaffirming a lot of the theories we had. And when we found out at the end , was that San Diego played a huge role in the world of hip hop , even from its very beginnings. Yeah.
S1:
S2: It's something that we dove into a lot in this podcast , I think , and maybe you can add on to this. Parker. But I think the consensus was , was that our sound was that we don't have a sound , that it is just this eclectic thing of of street hip hop and underground hip hop , independent gangster sounds from the beach , sounds from reggae. Like , it's just very eclectic here. And it seems like the rest of the hip hop world knows us for that. So maybe that is our sound.
S1: Yeah , well , I mean , speaking of sound , in the podcast series , you reiterate a list of what separates us from other cities in terms of hip hop and rap.
S3: But sometimes I think often it's it's lopsided. People either have a head for business or they have a business or a head for art.
S2: There's people who move here. A lot of the biggest names in our hip hop scene are not people who are born here. They became natives. So I think there's something about that as well. It's like we are a city that gets a lot of sounds that come through it.
S1: Yeah , yeah.
S2: Without a doubt , I think you'll find that to be. One of the underlying themes in the podcast is that there's these little niche sounds and scenes within the larger scene that all play like really , really important roles in what is carving out our , you know , our place in hip hop.
S1:
S2: Really ? Yeah.
S3: Yeah , absolutely.
S1:
S2: Right ? Because we are even though hip hop turned 50. One of the things that we found out is that , you know , hip hop in San Diego did not turn 50. Hip hop turned 40 , right ? Um , so it took almost ten years for it to come across the country to really set up roots here.
S4: I think we because.
S2: We're so close to Los Angeles. Right ? Which is literally the epicenter of the entertainment business. Right. So of course , that's going to have something to do with how we move in San Diego. Our sound , you know what comes out of it. Yeah.
S1: Well , we actually want to play a snippet from the trailer that shows us a bit of that.
S3: This is a story of pure passion you don't want to miss.
S5: Coming straight from Skid Row. We go to LA and we literally be doing like what we're doing right now. We'd be at Barrios House in his room just chopping it up. They got signed. They were tripping out that we'd have. Yeah , they would come to San Diego and they go , you guys need signed.
UU: Yet everybody want to try to come with the gang bang.
S1: I like it.
S3: And then the artist that we covered , we just played samples of their music and it the two that made up the soundtrack , and there's a fantastic Spotify playlist List available. That's 40 songs that cover all 40 years and all that. The diaspora of San Diego's rap music. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Yeah. That's great.
S2: Yeah , actually. Um , Joe Fellaini , Mitchy Slick.
S3: Rob Stone , Rob.
S2: Stone never.
S3: Gets enough credit. Rob Stone is like a million sold on his right out of Lemon Grove , right ? Right.
S2: In fact , we have a few younger artists in the city that are charting and have millions of views.
S3: I mean , they're just right.
S2: It's I don't know if you noticed this , but a lot of the times the artists don't get credited from being from San Diego , and they complain about it as well. Once they get on this mainstream , they kind of just get bumped over to LA like , oh , they're from or from Southern California , right ? Yeah.
S1: That Southern California. Yeah. Do you think like , um , with the the younger generations that they're getting they are , making it more mainstream. And maybe it's social media that that kind of helps.
S2: I think I think so , I think because of exactly what you're saying , social media , just the tools are different. Yeah , right. When you hear the first two episodes of this of this series , you'll see like how much I mean , these artists were grinding from out of their house , you know , with selling out of their , their trunks , selling hand to hand and still charting on radio charts. Yeah. It was just harder. Where now I think , um , San Diego still produces a very high level talent base , for sure. It's kind of known in the scene , there's an artist named Roscoe's who talks about , um , about just that , about like San Diego when it comes to hip hop. They really on their thing. But if you think about it , if you're like the little brother of a city where everything happens , you probably do kind of work a little harder to prove your point. And so that happens here a lot. So yeah , I think maybe the younger generation is kind of figuring it out a little bit. Hopefully we're hoping that they do. Yeah. That's kind of what this whole thing was about is that if they learn this part of their history , maybe moving forward , they could change it. Mhm.
S1: Was there a you feel like there was a certain amount of gatekeeping in the earlier days.
S3: I didn't I don't think it was gatekeeping. I think there was the communication. There's rules to it because there is a is a military city. So you know the military speaks only with itself. So we kind of have that as our habits. And then there's gang culture that's deepened in San Diego. And so there's that too , where we limit the communication. So I don't know if it's gatekeeping as much as it's just kind of like the politics. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. I think it's that.
S1: Well , Parker , the two of you not only have firsthand experience growing up listening to the San Diego rap scene , but you're also rappers yourselves. How did your specific local rap experiences influenced this podcast.
S2: It was essential because I think one of the things that at least Parker and I and and Jade , who goes by 1019 , I believe that because the three of us were very like diverse , we came from really diverse sounds. Our networks reached into places that maybe not everybody's network does. Like , I started my career going to LA a lot , so I was one of the first artists really going up there and really trying to like , build a bridge from LA to here. Parker was already performing on a professional level touring , right. So you meet everybody along the way if you play enough. And I think it just so happened that the three of us combined our network and the people we talked to , we talked to them because we actually knew them and we knew some of these stories , and we knew that they weren't going to come out any other way , you know.
S3: And shout out the fourth musketeer , Stephen Fleck's. Yes , his his tips were way deep. And we , you know , we were lucky to have him as a team member as well.
S1: I mean , given that you all have been in the scene for so long , was there anything that just surprised you or something new that you learned ? Uh , and of course , you're doing this podcast.
S2: Yeah , that we were probably wrong with our initial assumptions of what the San Diego scene was. We've we had those conversations a lot. The three of us , after recording something or researching something we'd find like , oh , you know , there's so many , so many more pieces play a role in this. It's not just music. It's not just the entertainment business. It's so personal. It's so personal to a lot of these artists. There's an artist by the name of Joker that you hear about. His name is Matt Joker. You hear , you hear story in the podcast , and all I can say is just listen to his piece and you'll hear the passion. It's hard for me to listen to it and not get like teary eyed about the passion , but that was something that I learned , like , oh , everybody cares about it as much as you do. Um.
S6: Um.
S1: When we talk about the art form of , of rap , does it come from a more of a personal place as you , as you mentioned , or is it more of a sort of this is my everyday life.
S2: I think there's artists that do both. Right.
S3: Definitely runs the gamut. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. And I think that is another thing that this podcast proves , is that there is a whole layer that we never get to look at as just fans , right ? Because we look at it all as rap or all it's hip hop. There's this broad stroke that we try to apply , but it really isn't that broad. It does. I've heard we have rap friends that rap about wrestling , that rap about comic books , that rap about street life and doing time. Mhm.
S6: Mhm.
S2: And they can all find something to relate with each other. Right. But it's because it comes from those personal places , you know , that we can all just acknowledge at least that we all have a part of the story.
S1:
S3: I was I was actually shocked at how much the mainstream works with us , that we are actually a big part of the machine , and we we weren't even able to to get into that side of it. As much as , you know , I think we all would have liked to. So that was something I really learned , how tightly knit and connected we are with LA and the and the Hollywood machine. Yeah.
S6: Yeah.
S1: Well , let's talk about some of the behind the scenes wrap. Diego is described as an audio documentary. It's a four act , 12 episode podcast. But for those who go on to the KPBS website , there are also photos and videos. Plus , there's a playlist on Spotify that you mentioned. It's tied to the podcast that highlights San Diego rap. What can you tell us about the structure choice of The Wrap Diego podcast and and those additional elements ? Chris.
S2: I think a lot of that was Parker really wanting to reach out into community spaces , because that's a thing that he was already doing before the podcast. That's kind of just one of the things that he does. He reaches out to the community. He's always building in the community and tying the community directly to the podcast in a real way. Um , was something I think the , the you can talk to to them a little bit about the museum project , that museum project. Really. I mean , I've never seen anything like that. You know , San Diego has never had anything like that. And I think it's going to instill a pride within the hip hop scene that you can go to this museum. And here are the pieces of the legacy. You know , I think that that was really important to us as a group , that it lived on more than just like the digital airwaves , you know ? Yeah.
S6:
S1:
S3: And that was the hardest part , was like there would be things that I was , you know , standing with , holding it. Yo , we gotta do this , guys. Yo , we gotta do this. And we would just have these meetings. Everyone had these things , and at some point you would just have to kill your favorite and just be like , nah , it the story is its own thing. It has its own shape and it it shakes off the things that aren't really needed. And sometimes those are your favorite parts that you yourself are invested in. That was the hardest part to me.
S2: And I think I think it was really , really important for us that you , you spoke about gatekeepers earlier , that we were not going to play a role in that at all and being gatekeepers. So the story that came out was the story that presented itself. Like , I think we we had these , you know , delusions that we were going to go in there and this is what it's going to be , and this is but once you get in there and again , you talk to people and you find out what's important to the people , because ultimately that's it's a story about them. Yeah. You know , so we had to get that right. And we couldn't we couldn't be gatekeepers in that.
S1:
S2: I hope that as someone who lives in San Diego , that this gives you pride , that there is such an amazing art scene and amazing hip hop scene that is recognized worldwide. If you just look into it , and I hope that you can take pride in it as a part of the city and what the city has to offer.
S1: Well , congratulations on the documentary and podcast and everything else that's to follow. It's been great talking with you all. Parker Edison is Rap Diego's host and producer , and Chris Reyes is editor of the podcast. Parker. Chris. Thanks.
S3: Thank you. Thanks so. Much.
S1: Much. You can listen to Rap Diego on KPBS. Org or wherever you get your podcast. Coming up , Beth Accomando previews the San Diego Comic Fest.
S7: I really do feel like Comic Fest punches above its weight in terms of the talent , the enthusiasm and the programming.
S1: Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition I'm Jade Hindman. San Diego Comic Fest may live in the shadow of the supersized San Diego Comic-Con , but it plays a vital role in our pop culture scene. KPBS reporter Beth Accomando speaks with Alonso Nunez , who was board president of San Diego Comic Fest , about bringing the intimate pop culture convention back after a two year break.
S8: Alonso , we are on the eve of the 10th San Diego Comic Fest. Now. Comic Fest has been gone for a couple of years , so refresh our memory. about what Comic Fest is all about and how it started.
S7: So Comic Fest started in 2012. This is the 10th. You are correct , it started in 2012 and it's meant to be a intimate comic experience. The way in San Diego Comic Con was in the beginning. I'm not one of these people that says that San Diego Comic-Con is no longer about comics. I think the comics are there. I think there's also Hollywood. I think there's a lot. But for a pure kind of grassroot comic experience , there's nothing quite like San Diego Comic Fest. It was started by Mike Towery in 2012 , when the original founders of Comic Con , we took a couple years off to do some fundraising post-pandemic , but we are back in , I think , stronger than ever.
S8: Well , in one of the challenges for you guys has been actually finding a venue.
S7: That is absolutely right. Talking to a lot of conventions in San Diego , it seems to be a big issue for everyone. Finding venues , finding hotels. Everyone's raised their prices after the pandemic. We have an amazing staff , all volunteer and we were able to find an amazing venue , the Sheraton in Weston , up in Oceanside , Carlsbad. And it's a phenomenal venue , and I think the public's going to love it too.
S8:
S7: We've got some nerdy themes. This year we are celebrating both the centennial of Harvey Kurtzman , who most people probably know as the founder of mad Original and Comic Book , then magazine , but also did a lot of groundbreaking work at EC comics in the 1950s. Really , really amazing cartoonist where we'll be celebrating his centennial and also the centennial of Rod Serling , obviously of Twilight Zone , but also of Night Gallery and the screenplay for planet of the apes , which not a lot of people know.
S8:
S7: You know , we're going to be focusing on Twilight Zone Night Gallery for for Serling. We're going to be talking about everything that Kurtzman did. We're going to be exploring his war comics , his humor comics , a little bit more on the racy side. He did Little Annie Fanny , but we also have an amazing staff that's going to have cutouts and stand ups. We're going to have the famous Twilight Zone swirl that people can take pictures with. It's going to be a big , nerdy festival. We've got a wonderful games room that's going to have a lot of en themed games , a lot of fantastic board games that people have never tried before. It's going to be a lot of fun.
S8:
S7: The focus is going to be kind of exclusively on comics , on pop culture , on games , so you're going to find a lot of local , amazing talent in the small press and artist alley rooms. You're going to find dealers with lots of lots of comics. Uh , we're going to have film programming at night. We're going to have drink and drawers. We're going to have a lot of fun stuff going on , and it's all going to be very accessible. There's not going to be this kind of insane Hall H energy , which I love , you know , God bless people that you know are camping out for two days straight to see something. There's not going to be anything quite like that happening , but that's going to make it all the more fun. You can pop in. If you've always wondered what a game room is like , you can pop in , check that out before going to an amazing panel , and then you can go meet some of our amazing guests. To. Our guest of honor is Rick Geary , who is famous for designing the toucan that's associated with San Diego. Comic-Con also did a lot of work with Classics Illustrated in the 1980s and 90s. We have Jill Thompson of Scary Godmother fame , perfect for Halloween season. Coming out from Chicago , we have a lot of really big talent coming out to support Comic Fest , but then we also have a lot of emerging young or new talent that people are going to be able to experience and kind of engage with for the first time.
S8:
S7: We've got Mark Russell coming out. Mark Russell famously has done a lot of really groundbreaking work with cartoon characters at comic companies. He did a book on Snagglepuss , the legendary Hanna-Barbera character. He did a Flintstones comic , and these were both exceptional comics , some of the best of the last decade. So there's going to be panels with him. I know one of them is going to be focusing on the ultra wealthy in comic books. So we're looking at Uncle Scrooge , we're looking at Batman , Mr. Burns , we're looking at everyone. It's going to be a lot of fun with Comic Fest. There's programming room for kind of all elements of of nerdy fandom. So everything from pop culture and television to Snagglepuss and everything in between.
S8: You've also been an Eisner judge at San Diego Comic-Con. You run Little Fish comic book studio here on El Cajon Boulevard , so you are very dedicated to the comic book form.
S7: You know , any kid can pick up a piece of paper , any adult can pick up a piece of paper and make a comic , you know , making making a films a little bit harder composing a song and recording a song. It's a little bit more work. Although both of these have have changed in the 21st century. But there's a universal magic to comic storytelling and an accessibility to both the creation of it and accessing accessing , rather the the creators involved. You know , I find that the vast majority of people that grew up reading comics and then becoming professionals never lost that initial love and want to pass that on to , to fans. And so I'll just lean into the cliche the true reward of comics is the friendships we find along the way. It is really true , though , watching young fans meet some of their artistic heroes for the first time at something like Comic Fest is truly magical , and I love being able to help facilitate that.
S8:
S7: You know , comics can often be described as as a motion picture with an unlimited budget. If you want to draw Godzilla and if you want to draw 50 Godzilla's , you know , a family of Godzilla's , you can and you don't have to worry about it. There's no one really putting constraints necessarily on what you're doing , how you're telling your story , what your story is about. And it's a chance for kids at young ages all the way up into adulthood to express themselves , whether it's through kind of nonfiction or fiction , any kind of variety of genres. It is kind of the ultimate playground in terms of accessibility of both writing and then also art.
S8: And Comic-Con does cast a very big shadow here in San Diego. So how has it been working with Comic Fest and trying to kind of get attention and get an audience , get a crowd to come to that ? Uh , with Comic-Con being so prominent here.
S7: You know , I like to say , you know , with in regards to to Comic-Con , I really do think , Beth , that a rising tide lifts all boats. I think it really creates a really fertile ground for an exploration of nerdy stuff throughout the year in San Diego. We took a couple years off. We did a lot of fundraising , and as we did these fundraisers at some local breweries , including anonymous , at a couple events called Hot Fest , which were really fun , people were really , really excited to see that Comic Fest was back , which was really cool. It was really it was nice being missed. And , you know , I think with with something like Comic-Con , I think it's only a plus for everything else because it helps create an acceptance at both kind of the academic serious level , quote unquote , and also just an awareness for young kids , their families , that stuff like this happens in San Diego and that if their kids are into it , if they're into it , that they can find a community and they can find conventions like San Diego Comic Fest.
S8: Well , I know one of the things I enjoy is the relaxed mood of Comic Fest , where you can just wait till the last minute , get into your panel , you can leisurely go through the exhibit hall and and talk with dealers , and it's really nice.
S7: Yeah , that is true. You know , maybe the drink and draw has something to do , something to do with that. But yeah , I mean it's there's no 45 minute Starbucks. Wait. You know , there's no sprinting down the hallways to , to get to panels to try to traverse a massive convention center. And yet I really do feel like Comic Fest punches above its weight in terms of the talent , the enthusiasm and the programming. We've got a tireless staff and they've created an absolutely amazing event. If there's anything that's going to be challenging or stressful , it's going to be in picking which of the amazing panels you go to.
S8: Well , you mentioned , you know , the talented people that are going to be there. And one thing about having a more relaxed atmosphere is you can actually take some time to talk to those people.
S7: Yeah , that's absolutely true. I'll be there with a group of little fresh students on Saturday. We'll basically move our classroom over to San Diego Comic Fest on Saturday. And they're always amazed that these professionals that , you know , they either know themselves or that I've introduced them to are just sitting there at a table and they can just go up and talk to them. And , and that the professional wants to talk to them , you know , and I remind my students , no , they're here to be talked to. You know , they they want to meet their fans. They want to they want to talk to people. They want to engage. If they didn't , they would have stayed home. There's a lot of love for the comics community. Like I said , I think those of the public coming to Fest for the first time , now that we've we've had this break , are going to be pleasantly surprised by how accessible both the creators are and how accessible it is to get them in terms of getting through crowds.
S8:
S7: Beth , I think I think we found a new home. This hotel has been absolutely stellar to work with. They've been amazing. And it seems like hopefully at the beginning of a of a long and fruitful partnership , one of the things we're looking forward to exploring , maybe in the future , is this hotel happened to be right across from Legoland. And so a little bit like WonderCon up north in Anaheim , being situated right across from Disneyland , I think we might start getting some people with some extended vacations in terms of coming out for Legoland and Comic Fest at the same time. The fundraising that we did this year taught us a lot in terms of what Feste is capable of doing in terms of , you know , raising funds when it needs to to be able to put on an event. And I think we really learned that it's important , you know , not to sound too full of ourselves , but I think it's important for Fest to be around , you know , it takes up an important lane , I think , as a as a medium sized convention for San Diego focused on pop culture , focused on the arts and on accessible comics. So we're going to do everything that we can to keep the party going in the future.
S8: It also seems that by moving it to North County , you're serving possibly a different audience , people who may not want to travel down here on a daily basis to go to Comic-Con for four days , we'll have this much closer to them.
S7: That's exactly correct. And there was some pushback from some people that said , why are you moving Comic Fest further away ? And I said , well , there are people in North County. There are people that live up there. And I think you're absolutely right. Moving up there gives us a kind of a different look in terms of North County and then also a greater proximity to Anaheim. You know , central San Diego , the city of San Diego has a lot going on. And so I think it's going to be really interesting to to stage a con up in North County. I like to remind people that San Diego County is the size of Connecticut. And so I think moving around like this , I think can only be good. I think it's going to introduce Fest to a lot of people that , like you're saying , maybe wouldn't have considered coming to it because of the distance.
S1: That was KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando , speaking with Alonso Nunez , board president of San Diego Comic Fest. The convention runs October 25th through the 27th and its new location , the Westin Carlsbad Resort and Spa. Coming up , your weekend preview and a new art program you can participate in.
S9: For me , I think art is about opening up people's heart and creating a moment of being aware. And if you can open up people's heart just a little bit for themselves and for the world. I think we have taken a lot of steps in our lives.
S1: KPBS Midday Edition returns after the break. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. The Stewart Collection at UC San Diego is known for its decades old collection of permanent public art pieces , like the infamous Fallen Star installation. If you're curious about what it looks like , visualize a cottage perched on the top corner of Jacob's Hall at an angle just enough to make you wonder if the house will come tumbling down. Well , that's just one of many installations. And now the collection is branching out with annual art programs featuring temporary installations and interactive projects. They're kicking things off with Danish artists yet behind and his breathe With me meditation project , KPBS Julia Dixon Evans sat down with Hine and the director of the Stewart Collection , Jasper Langa Taylor , at UC San Diego. Here's their conversation.
S10: Yeah , let's start out by describing the breathe with me project. This is not a static work of public art. This is participatory.
S9: So here , UC San Diego , we have a very long canvas standing and waiting for you. We have the most beautiful guides will help you and guide you. So you coming into this very beautiful place , you will be guided to take a brush in your hand and breathe in the air of your life and the world. And while you're exhaling , you allow to do a line on the canvas with blue paint , which is going all the way down. As long as you exhale , you do the line , and then you inhale again and you do four of those lines. The first one is very nervous normally because you are not used to have a brush and paint , and then the second one is getting more steady , and then the two ones , the last two ones getting you into a kind of state of mind , of being present in the moment and feeling connected and also being creative. And this is what we're trying to do , is I'm normally saying our life starts with inhale and exhale. In between those pressures we have certain and different lives , some longer than shorter. But one thing we have in common at least , and also having together , is our breath. We are breathing the same air around the world , and it's connecting us. And it's very important to to be able to use that as a very big , powerful tool in our life.
S10:
S9: Who started because I couldn't breathe myself. and I practice a lot of breathing exercises , inventing these small lines , and then to see , to give it to someone else and to have people participating. For me , I think art is about opening up people's heart and creating a moment of being aware. And if you can open up people's heart just a little bit for themselves and for the world. I think we have taken a lot of steps in our lives , so it's definitely an art project. But is the participant trying to bring people into being part of an artwork , which they do , and they are feeling themselves connected with someone else and something bigger.
S10: So like you said , this is a project. It's not just this active introspection that we often associate with mindfulness and breathing. You describe breathe with me as this active of unity , asking people to take a breath for the world. Can you talk about what you mean by that ? No.
S9: I believe that we all start in ourselves to be more authentic in our lives. In zero nine , I had a complete burnout and I needed to change the way I look at myself. I was in my art world. How do you seek success ? Trying to look for love and acceptance and fame and money and whatever. A lot of things out of outside myself. And one day I just burned out because looking for that outside yourself , it doesn't really work out. You have everything in insight and to to to acknowledge that and to understand that the breath helping you to to get rooted. It helps you to to be calm. It helps your mind to relax. And that's why I thought it was so strong to give it out to people. And and for me , it changed my life. And it still does.
S10: Take us back to that moment in 2009. What place were you in that you felt so compelled to turn to breathing and make a change like this ? Yeah.
S11:
S9: Actually , I think my body and my mind has been telling me a lot years before , but zero nine , I had a flight back from Berlin to Denmark at that time , and when we came up the airplane , my whole body started to shake and I couldn't connect , I couldn't control my body. I got very scared and I had a kind of a fear attack or anxious attack. I couldn't breathe and a lot of things happening. So we were happy. Landing a half an hour later. So. So I somehow went out of the plane and was very confused about what happened. I called my mother , asking her what was going on. Um , and then that somehow started to change a lot of thoughts. Of course , I had several fear attacks , and every night I started to have have problems with sleeping and I couldn't really do anything. And then the 24th of December , I went up to my neighbor , which was a Buddhist nun , and she , uh , she looked at me and said , yeah , you are so ill that you need to take the plug out of everything you do in your life right now , because everything you do have been. bringing to where you are right now. And I was I was very ill on all levels. I would say I was burned out in , in , in all means.
S10:
S9: Yes. You need to do , uh , more than just for Exhales but um , but it's definitely given inspiration. My main I think my main. How do you say inspiration that people tell me is that a lot of people are not aware of their breath at all in their lives , and it makes them wonder and it makes them smile inside that this is something a lot of people saying is so easy , which maybe not always easy , but it's actually something we have been doing our whole life. And if we start to have awareness of that , it can bring us a much more value in our life in all terms. So I believe that that , uh , that people are getting very surprised that just these four small or long exhales can really change the way they're looking and also inspire them to be maybe more creative in their lives of how they think about themselves and also how they are in their lives.
S10: Now I want to turn to Jess Berlinger Taylor , who is director and curator of the Stuart Art collection at UC San Diego. And breathe With me is unlike any other piece of public art in that series.
S12: So I've added to our program These yearly commissions to leading artists of our times. These are temporary projects that , as I mentioned , really focus on bringing people together and being able , as Yaba was saying , to open our hearts , to share our stories in public space while creating art , which is such a powerful and transformative tool that we have available to us the kind of energy that projects like breathe With Me and the ones that we hope to do on a yearly basis , are the kind of energy that I want for our Stewart Collection program. I'm just very focused on communities coming together at the same time and bringing our bodies into public space and not hiding behind our screens and our our digital lives , but actually being fully present.
S10:
S12: And this feeling of connection is , I think , a very beautiful way to counteract any sort of isolation or vulnerability that we may be feeling nowadays. Breathing also reminds me that I'm very much alive , and that I'm here and I'm now , and I truly hope that people can engage with this. Being here and being now and being conscious of your breath is has been for me in my own experiences , a very restorative practice , just a way of calming myself down and reminding myself that that there's nothing more important than being present and being able to show up.
S1: That was artist Hepi Hine and Jess Berlinger , tailor of the breathe with me project. It's free and open to the public to participate Thursday through Saturday at UC San Diego's Epstein Family Amphitheater. KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans joins me now to talk about what else is going on this weekend. Julia , welcome. Hey , Jade.
S10: Thanks for having. Me.
S1: Me. Always glad to have you. So this weekend is also the return of the North Park Book Fair.
S10: All of your favorite independent bookstores will be there and it is just a great place to shop. You can browse booth by booth or you can go looking for a specific book. But there's also a bunch of artists and publishers and small presses , authors , poets and other vendors that are selling their art. They'll be readings and storytimes and book signings. There's even a costume contest for kids , another one for pets and one for adults. They'll be prizes as well. One thing that's really cute is this silent reading lounge that they're having. It's hosted by Silent Book Club San Diego , where you can literally just go and sit quietly and read. And one thing that's exciting for us at KPBS is that at 1045 , Maria Dolores Aguilar will read from her one book , one San Diego kids book , It's Barrio Rising , the protest that built Chicano Park , and she'll be doing a signing as well. There's also a pop up poetry making lab that's with San Diego Poet Laureate Jason Perez. That's at 1130 , and the whole thing spans a bunch of of North Parkway , ranging from Ray Street all the way to Granada and the mini park. And it's free , and it runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
S1: Also on the list , a Dia de Los Muertos event at the Old Globe for the whole family. Right.
S10: Right. And this is from axis. It's their arts engagement arm , and it's a free event outdoors at the Copley Plaza right outside the globe. They're celebrating day of the dead with a bunch of performances like Aztec dance , puppetry , drumming. There's live music , there's a visual artist that will be installing work and of course , theater. They're co-lab projects. It's this community playwriting series , and they've been working on a play with community members of Casa Familia in San Isidro. And they'll be performing that , um , this weekend. And there's also a chance for you to try your hand at Artmaking. There's some all ages workshops for puppetry and drumming from Drummers Without Borders , and this is from 11 to 130 on Sunday in Balboa Park.
S6: And you.
S1: Can find details on these and more arts events by signing up for Julia's weekly newsletter at KPBS , Sawgrass Arts. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , thanks.
S10: Thank you. Jade.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
