Gloria Molina Grand Park To Host Events for Mental Health Awareness Month

In the healing spirit of Mental Health Awareness Month, Gloria Molina Grand Park, powered by The Music Center, will be the central gathering place in the heart of Downtown L.A. throughout the month of May for Angelenos to discover a myriad of health and wellness activities and community events that will restore and reinvigorate the mind, body and soul.

The highlight of the monthlong holistic celebration will occur on two Saturdays, May 11 and 25, 2024, from 10:00 a.m.– 2:00 p.m., with Gloria Molina Grand Park & Center Theatre Group Present Creative Ways: Mental Health Wellness Fair, an inclusive outdoor gathering for all ages featuring free artmaking activities, therapeutic and holistic workshops, family yoga and inspiring stage programming.

To jumpstart Angelenos' health and wellness journey in May, the public is invited to participate in the park's popular free health and wellness series, Gloria Molina Grand Park's Wellness Break, every Wednesday and Friday. Participants can practice yoga and meditation amid the park's lush greenery—in under an hour—from noon to 12:45 p.m. Those seeking to add excitement and variety to their Wellness Breaks are encouraged to mark their calendars for the third Thursday in May to experience the “Wild Card” series, which explores a different modality, from Boomba (Zumba) and tai chi to chair yoga and HIIT (high intensity interval training). This month, on Thursday, May 16, 2024, from noon to 12:45 p.m., F45 Training Arts District with instructor Paul Ohshima will lead a holistic wellness solution of HIIT, circuit training and functional training with a post-workout euphoria that not only strengthens the body but also uplifts the mind—all within the focused, 45-minute session.

Additionally, in support of Mental Health Awareness Month, the public is invited to participate in L.A.'s largest community drum circle on Thursday, May 16, 2024, from 11:45 a.m.–1:30 p.m. The goal of the drum circle, organized by Drumming for Your Life Institute, is to bring diverse groups of people together across all cultures, races and genders to connect and drum in a shared creative and transformative experience that can both heal and build community. Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger (5th Supervisorial District), Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León (Council District 14) and LA County Department of Mental Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Curley L. Bonds are scheduled to speak during the drum circle's opening ceremony. Participants of this free event are encouraged to register online.

“Gloria Molina Grand Park is the consummate destination for Angelenos to discover, or rediscover, their journey of movement and relaxation and fill their lives with more balance, clarity and joy. Mental health plays a key role in our wellbeing, and we are excited to provide a central spot and opportunities for Angelenos to participate in Mental Health Awareness Month,” said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. “The Creative Ways: Mental Health Wellness Fair reinforces the benefits of the park as a green space in downtown where everyone is welcome and can be themselves, connect with each other and the community, as well as share in arts, cultural and wellness experiences. I encourage Angelenos of all ages to embrace and strengthen each other's well-being—it is good for the soul.”

With the theme “Take Action for Yourself, Take Action for Others and Take Action for Your Community,” Gloria Molina Grand Park & Center Theatre Group Present Creative Ways: Mental Health Wellness Fair will feature a number of activities curated in partnership with Streetlet. On both Saturdays, Center Theatre Group (CTG) will provide motivational workshops, helmed by playwrights and resident artists, that heal the soul and center the mind and body. Emmy and Grammy Award winner Alisha Gaddis will guide participants through breathing and visualization exercises toward creative goal setting in a program entitled Adding Glitter to Your Goals; CTG artist-in-residency Daniel Alexander Jones will meet with artists individually, in a workshop called Heartwork, to examine their own works—a rare opportunity to move their visions forward with one of the most innovative performers today; and therapist and playwright Mercedes Floresislas, LCSW, with Physical Connections to Emotional Wellness, will guide participants to “the wisdom of their bodies” based on the topics they choose to discuss.

The event stage also will feature interactive wellness sessions by The Tree Yoga Cooperative and Ceremoni Sounds, as well as the vibrant sounds of DJ Novena Carmel and DJ Moni Vargas to keep the flow going.

Additional community partners providing health and wellness activities throughout the park on both Saturdays for Gloria Molina Grand Park & Center Theatre Group Present Creative Ways: Mental Health Wellness Fair include:

• Arts & Healing Initiative
  Participants can decorate their own “Me Box” and choose affirmations to place inside the box as daily reminders of their worth.
   
• Big Talk
  Guests can play the Big Talk Question Card Game, an interactive game aimed to build community belonging and connectedness through conversation.
   
• Chicxs Rockerxs South East Los Angeles
  Participants will design their own musician based on genre preferences, using craft supplies, paper, crayons and clothing cut-outs.
   
• Gentle Barn
  In this petting zoo, families will learn how intelligent and loving chickens and turkeys can be.
   
• Holding Space by Puppets by Madison
  Participants will have the opportunity to interact with puppets and each other to foster community connection around grief and loss.
   
• Jewel Sales Art
  Guests can discover the therapeutic power of watercolors with this beginner-friendly self-portrait workshop.
   
• LA County Department of Public Health
  Angelenos can obtain important resources regarding mental health and substance abuse.
   
• LA County Library
  Participants can enjoy a variety of educational activities, including Keva Planks, self-directed art and stress relief putty, aimed at enhancing wellness, stress relief and mindfulness.
   
• A Metaphor for Perinatal Life by Itsy Bitsy Childcare
  Participants will be invited to decorate a rock, symbolized with words or pictures depicting the aspect of parenthood.
   
• Muddy Heaven
  Participants will experience the joy of getting their hands dirty while combining water, clay, soul and seeds into little seed balls they can take home and plant wherever they want wildflowers to grow.
   
• Mujeres de Maiz
  Angelenos will explore an “alterNative” mobile medicine cart used to educate and spark dialogue about wellness remedies, recipes, uses of herbs and plants, and Mexican traditional medicine in communities of color. 
   
• ProjectQ
  Participants will create a visual and sensory timer with plastic jars, water and glitter to be used as a visual and sensory timer whenever they need a couple minutes of mindfulness.
   
• Sunbeams LA
  Children and families can read from a collection of mindfulness and mental health awareness books, as well as write in journals and color positive affirmation pages, inside Sunbeams' school bus.
   
• Teapot LA
  Angelenos will experience the mood-lifting power of squeegee painting on canvas.
   
• Therapeutic Play Foundation
  Individuals of all ages will be encouraged to use art, from coloring and clay stations to gardening stations, as a means of expressing and processing their complex emotions.
   
• The Tree Yoga Cooperative
  Guests can participate in wellness-inspired art activities and giveaways and obtain self-care information.
   
• Urban Confessional
  Participants can sit at “free listening” stations throughout the park and talk about whatever topic they desire.

This special collaboration between Gloria Molina Grand Park and Center Theatre Group also celebrates the upcoming production of Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, A Strange Loop, which explores race, queer identity and mental health challenges with humor and honesty. The groundbreaking musical will be performed at The Music Center's Ahmanson Theatre from June 5–30, 2024.

“Part of our mission at Center Theatre Group is focused on centering Los Angeles and a dedication to lifelong learning and human connection,” said Khanisha Foster, Director of Equity, Belonging and Engagement for Center Theatre Group. “I'm thrilled that we get to celebrate both of these core values in beautiful Gloria Molina Grand Park for two Saturdays in May. I'm particularly excited to uplift the incredible work being done on stages and throughout our communities by Michael R. Jackson and Daniel Alexander Jones, both unparalleled artists and human beings whose work perfectly aligns with the spirit of this event. I can't wait to welcome them, and our audiences, to Downtown Los Angeles next month.”

Gloria Molina Grand Park & Center Theatre Group Present Creative Way: Mental Health Wellness Fair is made possible by a grant from the California Mental Health Services Authority.

More Information

For more information about Gloria Molina Grand Park & Center Theatre Group Present Creative Ways: Mental Health Wellness Fair, visit grandparkla.org/creativeways or centertheatregroup.org/creative-ways.

For a schedule of the free Gloria Molina Grand Park's Wellness Break yoga series, visit grandparkla.org/wellnessbreak.

To purchase tickets for Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, A Strange Loop, performed at The Music Center's Ahmanson Theatre from June 5–30, 2024, visit centertheatregroup.org/a-strange-loop.

Learn more about Gloria Molina Grand Park at grandparkla.org.

Learn more about Center Theatre Group at centertheatregroup.org.

The Music Center and Gloria Molina Grand Park welcome all visitors and are committed to making all of their programs, services and facilities universally accessible to everyone. Please call The Music Center's Access Line at 213-628-2772 at least 24 hours in advance of Gloria Molina Grand Park & Center Theatre Group Present Creative Ways: Mental Health Wellness Fair to inquire about accommodations. For complimentary wheelchair transport from a curbside location, please call The Music Center's Guest Services Department at 213-972-0777 at least 24 hours prior to Gloria Molina Grand Park & Center Theatre Group Present Creative Ways: Mental Health Wellness Fair to reserve pick up.

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