I was honored to be invited by the Mayor of my home town Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, to speak about my perspective as an artist from this city and to encourage the local arts community to keep pushing forward.
I remember being 17 and receiving a scholarship from SMAC (Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission) to attend the summer program California State Summer School for the Arts for the animation I was doing at the time. Even though I am not currently an animator, that experience still meant the world to me. The opportunity for personal growth I experienced at that time was a gift from SMAC. That experience came full circle today when I stood in front of my local arts community for the first time in the 6 years I have been doing art “professionally”. I had the opportunity to stand in front of them and say…”Yes I may travel the world doing this but I represent my city, Sacramento, and the community who has supported me from the beginning everywhere I go”.