August Grahn Memorial Thriving Artist Series

The August Grahn Memorial Fund is designated solely for the purpose supporting the The August Grahn Memorial Thriving Artist Series. This series will present a number of artists and speakers in various disciplines and mediums, who will be commissioned to create and or present works centered on mental health and wellness, for a series of lectures, shows, and on campus performances and presentations. The funds will be utilized to secure their works/presence for campus, and for post-event receptions for students to discuss their thoughts and feelings surrounding the works.

Ova and Leilani - TeAda Productions

Ova and Leilani - TeAda Productions

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CalArts Campus

Coffeehouse Theater

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California Institute of the Arts’ Health and Wellness Department is premiering the August “Augie” Grahn Memorial Thriving Artist Series, in memory of CalArts student August Grahn. This series will focus on the intersection of art and mental health, and provide an outlet for students to understand their own artistic talent.

TeAda is a nomadic theater of color rooted in the stories of immigrants and refugees. Their artistic directors will share with us how this work attends to the healing and honoring the lives of the displaced, exploited and overlooked. 

Leilani Chan is an award winning performance artist, actor, playwright, director, cultural worker, and founding artistic director of TeAda Productions. She is currently a faculty member at Cal State University Long Beach’s Theater Department and she has also taught at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Leilani Chan’s newest collaboration with Ova Saopeng is Masters of the Currents (MOC), which had its continental tour premiere in October 2018 at Brava Theater and played at Maui Arts & Cultural Center (MACC) and Hilo Performing Arts Center in March of 2018 for an inter-island tour. Developed through the New England Foundation for the Arts - National Theater Project award to work with the Micronesian community in Hawai’i, Masters of the Currents played in October 2017 at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth Tenney Theatre.  

Ova Saopeng is an actor, teaching artist, associate artistic director and producer with Los Angeles based TeAda Productions. Born in Savannakhet, Laos, and raised in Hawaii he received a B.A. in Theater from the University of Southern California. With his partner Leilani Chan, the two continue to collaborate and recently toured Masters of the Currents in Hawaii and now sharing this work with the continent. Ova is also co-creator of Refugee Nation, the only nationally touring play about the Lao-American experience. The critically acclaimed play received numerous awards including MAP Fund, National Performance Network’s Creation Fund, and California Council For the Humanities and a “GO!” review in the 2012 LA Weekly. Previous works with TeAda Productions include: Kalo Projects, Native Immigrant, TeAdaWorks, Delicious Reality, Refugee State, all work that focus on highlighting the refugee and immigrant experience.