PAST
EVENT
LEAP @ LA DESIGN FESTIVAL 2023
LEAP hosted a special exhibition and artist talks at LA Design Festival 2023.
With LEAP artist grantees, Francesca Harper and Julian Stephen, this event featured conversations and a video exhibit centered on envisioning restorative justice in communities most impacted by mass incarceration and police brutality.
Press play on the recap video above to learn more!
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Francesca Harper
Francesca Harper is an internationally acclaimed, multifaceted artist who began her professional dance career with Dance Theater of Harlem, becoming a principal dancer in 1994. The vastness of her artistry and passion led her to perform with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt; Dancing Pleats, created by designers Issey Miyake and Gianni Versace; and Broadway productions, including Fosse, The Producers, All Shook Up, The Frogs, and the Tony-nominated The Color Purple. She’s held principal Broadway roles as Helene in Sweet Charity and as Judith in Sophisticated Ladies. Harper has received commissions and has choreographed works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem, Richmond Ballet, Ailey II, Tanz Graz, Hubbard Street II, The New York Choral Society, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Black Dance Theater, and her own company, The Francesca Harper Project, which was founded in 2005. Harper also served as ballet consultant for the feature film Black Swan.
Francesca’s mother, Denise Jefferson, served as the director of The Alvin Ailey School for over 26 years and created the Ailey/Fordham BFA program, which provided young, aspiring dance artists with the opportunity to obtain college degrees while continuing to pursue careers as professional artists.
Julian Stephen
Creator Julian Stephen is a multidisciplinary artist with a background in theater, film, and media. He discovered his passion for storytelling during his early college years through the inception of his first web series, which later evolved into his latest digital series, Appropriate Culture, which features his biological father and brother. He studied English and Theater at CCNY in Harlem, later discovering the magic of production from his three-year background in television, film, and working as a production coordinator at the Urban World Film Festival. Stephen doubles as a hip-hop artist/singer who believes music is the soundtrack to all art.
Stephen is working towards launching a digital content studio and platform, aiming to build a bridge between Hollywood and the digital space. He intends to create an industry where artists creating without limits becomes the new norm for renaissance multi-hyphenates like himself.
Hosted By
LA Design Festival is a citywide series of events that celebrate our city's diverse design culture and heritage. Founded in 2011, the LA Design Festival draws close to 20,000 visitors over the course of four days. Our mission is to shine a light on Los Angeles as a global design capital.
Established by ARRAY’s founder Ava Duvernay, LEAP is the Law Enforcement Accountability Project, a propulsive fund dedicated to elevating activist storytelling as Black artists pursue narrative change and disrupt the code of silence that exists around police aggression and misconduct.