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LOS ANGELES, CA- On Sunday, December 14, the Critical Resistance Los Angeles (CRLA) chapter will be hosting “Dreaming Wildly, Fighting to Win,” a special evening of art, music, and performance to celebrate its work fighting prison and jail expansion and for self-determination in the LA area. The event will feature an art auction in collaboration with the renowned online auction house Paddle8, and will take place at the newly opened Underground Museum in the West Adams /Crenshaw District of L.A. The funds from the auction will benefit CRLA’s ongoing efforts to build a grassroots movement against the prison industrial complex (PIC).
Over 70 artists are contributing to the auction, which will include pieces by highly acclaimed names such as Charles Gaines, Zoe Leonard, Vaginal Davis, Abigail DeVille, Sam Durant, and Sayre Gomez. The event will also feature a poetry reading and book signing by 2014 National Book Award finalist Fred Moten, as well as performances by Los Angeles Poverty Department members Anthony Taylor and KevinMichael Key.
Among CRLA’s projects that will benefit from this auction is an ongoing fight against a proposed women’s jail construction project in Lancaster, CA. In addition to conducting broader political education, CRLA also facilitates Leadership Education Action and Dialogue (LEAD), a participatory political education program that engages formerly imprisoned women in monthly workshops that examine various aspects of the PIC and abolition in LA.
Artwork is currently open for bidding on Paddle8’s website, and interested buyers will also be able to bid in person at the event. The evening is family-friendly and will include activities for kids, music by HOOPS DJs, and light refreshments. Doors will open for a reception at 5pm, with performances at 6pm and music at 8 p.m. The Underground Museum is located at 3508 West Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles (90018).
