Final Segment of Los Angeles Fund for Public Education's #ArtsMatter Public Art Project by Shepard Fairey Hits the Streets Today

Shepard Fairey-designed "CREATE YOUR FUTURE" billboards & bus wraps throughout LA promote the importance of creative thinking in schools.

LOS ANGELES, July 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The final installment of Los Angeles Fund for Public Education's #ArtsMatter public art project appears today around Los Angeles with bus wraps and hundreds of billboards promoting the importance of creative thinking in education. Shepard Fairey created the design with inspiration from LAUSD students.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130723/DC51156)

Fairey, recognized for his "Obey Giant" work and the 2008 "Hope" campaign image of Barack Obama, drew his inspiration from his open invitation to LAUSD students that asked, "What does the world look like when you take away the things that limit you?" Hundreds of students replied using social media. What resulted is "Create Your Future" a graphic design in red, black, blue and yellow. It features what Fairey describes as, "the symbols that represent the main themes of my LA Fund art: empowerment and future possibilities through creativity."

His symbols and their meanings are:

• plug/leaf: green energy and human harmony with the environment;
• airplane: travel as part of freedom and a word perspective;
• peace sign: diplomacy before aggression;
• hand and flame: the spark and power of creativity, and,
• diamond: material and financial success.

"Shepard Fairey has given us a powerful visual message with 'Create Your Future'," said Megan Chernin, LA Fund CEO, today in announcing the final phase of the public art project.  She also expressed her goal that the community be inspired to rally around the cause of arts for students, "Through the arts, we can nurture creativity in our youth and prepare them to be the creative thinkers we will need tomorrow," she said.

The public and members of the creative community are being asked to tweet how the arts matter to them @ LA Fund. Angelenos are also being encouraged to tweet and Instagram pictures of the buses and billboards to @LAFund with the #ArtsMatter hashtag. Social media partners include George Strompolos' Fullscreen, the premier global YouTube network for creators and brands, along with radio and TV personality Ryan Seacrest and The Grove, where the "Create Your Future" MTA bus was unveiled today and is on display there today till 8:00 pm.

Earlier this month LA Fund announced the program phase of the #ArtsMatter campaign, committing $750,000 to fund arts integration programs in schools throughout the LAUSD over the next three years. This effort is directly linked to and supports the LAUSD's Arts Education and Creative Cultural Network Plan.  The arts integration programs are designed to directly inform the District's efforts to scale arts integration district-wide. 

LAFund's #ArtsMatter public art project is made possible through the generous donation of outdoor media by CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel and other outdoor media companies. Artist Barbara Kruger created the first project and conceptualist John Baldessari the second, "Learn to Dream/Aprende a Soñar." Both addressed the essential nature of the arts in developing creative thinking.  Donations from the general public, LA Fund board members and corporations such as Mattel, Inc. and Condé Nast also support the Arts Matter public art project and school-based arts integration program.

Founded in 2011, the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education is a philanthropic organization dedicated to driving positive change in the Los Angeles Unified School District.  The LA Fund partners with LAUSD to invest in innovative, results-oriented programs designed to ensure every student in the nation's second largest school system has a chance to succeed.  For more information on LA Fund go to: www.lafund.org

Twitter: @LAFund
Hashtag: #artsmatter
Facebook: facebook.com/lafund

SOURCE The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education