Recipes to Nourish Communities Text

Meet the Non Profits Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles Augmented Reality

Our Story

Food systems and the environment are intrinsically connected, with our modern-day modes of consumption having a profound effect on climate change. In reconsidering our role within food systems and how we eat, society can begin to bring our culinary habits into balance with the natural world. Food as a means to create positive change has long been a captivating idea for Honolulu-based artist Taiji Terasaki. In previous works he has investigated the connections between food systems and climate change in Hawai’i, as well as the repercussions of Covid-19 on the Islands’ precarious agricultural supply chains.

Using his artistic platform to discuss topics surrounding the longevity of the planet and quality of life for its inhabitants Terasaki unveils his latest project, a thoughtful and deeply important mural, Recipes to Nourish Communities.

Terasaki will explore these ideas in an interactive mural to be displayed on the exterior of the newly renovated Downtown headquarters of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. Entitled, Recipes to Nourish Communities, Terasaki urges people to view food as a source of nourishment for the body and mind, rather than just a means to survive. This nourishment of the body is a direct exchange with the environment– we must give back what has been given to us. This raises the question: How do we ensure that our food choices can have a beneficial effect on our society and our planet?

MCLA Co-founder Bill Lasarow endorses the importance of Terasaki’s achievement and its relevance to MCLA’s mission. “We launched MCLA in the late-80s to preserve a portfolio of legacy murals. Following the recent Covid pandemic as well as social and political crises that have shaken and reshaped the art community, Los Angeles, indeed America, Taiji’s mural provides an ideal opening statement to the new iteration of MCLA. If our renewed support for the beautiful murals and street art that enhance the appearance and vitality of Los Angeles remains central to our mission, we must also embrace opportunities to make our city more livable and humane in other ways as the opportunities present themselves. Recipes to Nourish Communities kicks that door open. Collaborative change charged by the creative genius of artists such as Taiji—and the subjects he has selected for this project—is the advance wave of that better future.”

Terasaki collaborated with nonprofits The Ron Finley Project, Alma Backyard Farms, LA Mission, and Fallen Fruit.

Meet the Collaborators

In collaboration with the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA), Taiji Terasaki installed Recipes to Nourish Communities on the exterior of MCLA’s new headquarters at 260 S. Main Street, Los Angeles.

Non Profits Involved

  • The Ron Finley Project

  • Fallen Fruit

  • Alma Backyard Farms

  • LA Mission

Recipes

Check out the recipes!