Community and Activism
Upcoming & Recent Events
MOVIE-TALKING NIGHT: Writers Talk Back!
Saturday, October 10, 2026
7:00pm: Reception. 7:30pm: Performance
$15. per person (No one turned away for lack of funds)
Bring your own beach chair
Dress for outdoor Ventura weather Feel free to bring a beverage and snack
Space is limited
Outdoors at the OASIS Vita Art Center, 50 West Main Street, Ventura
Following the Benshi tradition during Japan's silent movie era, local artists flip the script and re-narrate familiar films. Audiences are sure to be surprised by the evening's thought-provoking performances and innovative storytelling. Come watch these renowned artists turn the movies' sound down and fill the screen with the unexpected.
Starring:
Dr. Raquel Baker Michelle Detorie Travis Greer
Aric Lopez Dana Teen Lomax
Saturday, October 10, 2026
7:00pm: Reception. 7:30pm: Performance
$15. per person (No one turned away for lack of funds)
Bring your own beach chair
Dress for outdoor Ventura weather Feel free to bring a beverage and snack
Space is limited
Outdoors at the OASIS Vita Art Center, 50 West Main Street, Ventura
Following the Benshi tradition during Japan's silent movie era, local artists flip the script and re-narrate familiar films. Audiences are sure to be surprised by the evening's thought-provoking performances and innovative storytelling. Come watch these renowned artists turn the movies' sound down and fill the screen with the unexpected.
Starring:
Dr. Raquel Baker Michelle Detorie Travis Greer
Aric Lopez Dana Teen Lomax
THE PEOPLE'S PLAYGROUND
Performance at SCIARTS/Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo
Curated by Dana Teen Lomax
Saturday, May 23, 2026
FREE!
Doors open at 7:00pm
Featuring Film and Performance by:
Juan D. Mendoza, Luzmaria Espinosa, Annapurna Kumar, Alexis St. John, Andrew
Sherbrooke, Alexis Lopez, Sarah Rosenthal, Laura Mullen, Dr. Raquel Baker, Nicklaus
Hoffman, Dr. Monica Mody, Amanda Benner & Friends, James Lantiegne (from House of
Magic), Dr. Christina Pabers, Katherine Masters, and Dana Teen Lomax.
COME PLAY!
UN-DRESSED
Documentary Short test screening with panel discussion
Directed by Dana Teen Lomax
When the marriage ends, what happens to the gown?
Saturday, March 21, 2026
$10. donation
Doors open at 7:00pm film starts at 7:30pm
In this vulnerable and funny documentary, we meet a diverse group of women
who describe "starting over" after their marriages end—from Amber Thompson,
a women who has transitioned and learned to love herself anew to Joan Robins,
who divorced in her late 80s and is following her passion as an award-winning
bird photographer. We also meet Janet Neuwalder, who describes herself as
"roadkill" after her marriage ends only to rise from the ashes and live the life she
always wanted. With appearances by nationally acclaimed writer, Firoozeh Dumas,
local hero Ramona Thomas, community educator Robin Freeman, and Ayurvedic
Doctor, Jennifer Ayres, this uplifting tale of broken dreams and thrift store donations
is perfect for anyone who knows heartbreak as well as those who dare to love (again).
A film by Dana Teen Lomax, 30 minutes
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Dana Teen Lomax,
Legwork & Light: Ten Experimental Films in a Time of Crisis VITA ART CENTER Community Event Curator, Contributing Poet/Filmmaker: Dana Teen Lomax Filmmakers: Allison de Fren Oculus Solus • Gina Kamentsky Foot Print Shop • Dana Teen Lomax -gender-and-all-the-shit- • Laura Mullen Becoming the Other Becoming • Benni Quintero Queenie and the All or Nothing Thin King • Sarah Rosenthal Lizard Song • Alexis St. John and Andrew Sherbrooke Wrong Way Parade • Katia Tirado Aqui Hay Tejones • Erin Wilson We feel time differently • Deborah Attoinese Like That • Movie-Talking Night VITA ART CENTER Community Event Curator, Poet, Emcee: Dana Teen Lomax Association of Writers and Writing Programs Writer to Writer: Mentorship Program: POETRY Season 21 Poetry Mentor Spring/Summer 2025 Vibing with Ukrainian Writer, Daryna Gladun S7 E4: Hive Poetry Collective from Winter in America (Again Discussion of "-the-bigger-picture-" from -unnamed-relation- Spotify at 42:30 Vita Art Studio Open Studios excerpts from -unnamed-relation- performance Ventura, California Shadow & Light Photograph and Poem Dedicated to Abdel Aziz Al-Jazem Exhibit Curated by Beau Beausoleil Showings at the University of Iowa, P21 Gallery London, and elsewhere THE BEAUTIFUL: Poets Reimagine a Nation Premiere Opening & Reading Exhibit Curated by Dana Teen Lomax Gualala Arts Gualala, CA Arion Press Limited Broadside Printing Featured Reader, “Lullaby” from Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here San Francisco, California Gualala Arts Poet-in-Residence |
2020 Events
LoveFEST postcard by Sweet
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LOBA Reading Series
Date TBA Ukiah Library 105 Main Street Ukiah, California Love Fest, A Reading and Performance Series Co-curated with Sarah Rosenthal Gualala Arts Center July 25, 2020 POSTPONED "Please Touch" Celebration at Artemis Gallery A Reading with Mary Burger (to celebrate her "Please Touch" Exhibit), Denise Newman, Sarah Rosenthal, and Carrie Hunter January 26th, 4 pm Oakland |
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"Legacy" Performed at Wolfman Books With Andrew Choate and Kevin CK Lo A Collaboration with Una Lomax-Emrick December 28th 7 p.m. Oakland Affordable Housing Happening With Claire Blotter and many others October 25th 1-3 p.m. Downtown San Rafael 4th Street between A and D Streets New Orleans Poetry Festival With Ching-in Chen, Jennifer Firestone, Muriel Leung, and Sarah Rosenthal April 18-21, 2019 New Orleans Healing Center 2372 St. Claude Avenue in New Orleans AWP Off-Site Reading With F. Douglas Brown, Sarah Rosenthal, Sawako Nakayasu, Paisley Rekdal, Valerie Witte March 29, 2019 at 8:30 p.m Daedalus Books (2074 NW Flanders Street) in Portland |
Art & Activism
Movie-Talking and Poetry & Film Curation (2025-present), VITA ARTS CENTER
Curating performance, film & poetry exchanges and events at Vita Arts Campus in Ventura, California and internationally
TEA Club Co-Founder with Allan Gold and David Kover (2016-2021)
co-facilitate TEA Club (Teaching Acceptance and Equity), a social justice club on a middle school campus
Human Rights & Equity Chair, Reed Union School District (2016-2021)
advocate for equity within all aspects of the Reed Union School District
attended the CTA Human Rights Conference Conference (March 2019)
Poetry Contest Judge, Marin County (2012-2018)
judge poetry events, e.g., Drake High Slam, Tam Slam, Mill Valley Library Slam, Poetry Out Loud, etc.
Rotary Educator of the Year, Tiburon (2018)
recognized for social justice work in education
Arts Educator of the Year, Tiburon Arts & Heritage Foundation (2017)
recognized for introducing the Poetry Program and related curriculum to Del Mar Middle School
Instructor, Downtown High School (2013)
worked as a teacher in an alternative high school in collaboration with ACT Theater, San Francisco
Poet-in-Residence, San Francisco Juvenile Hall (2012-2013)
taught creative writing classes for incarcerated youth ages 13-19
Poet-in-Residence, Marin Juvenile Hall ( 2009-2013)
taught creative writing classes for incarcerated youth ages 13-19
Interim Director, Small Press Traffic (2007-2008)
directed a nonprofit organization dedicated to experimental writing, particularly for underserved writers
Artist-in-Residence, Arts-in-Corrections & Prison Arts Project (2001-2008)
taught creative writing classes in California state prisons and county jails
Children's Cottage Co-op Board President (with Steven Emrick)
served as co-president for a cooperative preschool in Marin
Artist-in-Residence, Napa State Hospital (2003-2005)
taught classes in a state mental health facility
Artist-in-Residence, California Arts Council (2003-2005)
taught creative writing classes in underserved schools
Artist-Teacher, California Poets in the Schools (1994-2013)
taught creative writing classes in underserved schools throughout California
Curating performance, film & poetry exchanges and events at Vita Arts Campus in Ventura, California and internationally
TEA Club Co-Founder with Allan Gold and David Kover (2016-2021)
co-facilitate TEA Club (Teaching Acceptance and Equity), a social justice club on a middle school campus
Human Rights & Equity Chair, Reed Union School District (2016-2021)
advocate for equity within all aspects of the Reed Union School District
attended the CTA Human Rights Conference Conference (March 2019)
Poetry Contest Judge, Marin County (2012-2018)
judge poetry events, e.g., Drake High Slam, Tam Slam, Mill Valley Library Slam, Poetry Out Loud, etc.
Rotary Educator of the Year, Tiburon (2018)
recognized for social justice work in education
Arts Educator of the Year, Tiburon Arts & Heritage Foundation (2017)
recognized for introducing the Poetry Program and related curriculum to Del Mar Middle School
Instructor, Downtown High School (2013)
worked as a teacher in an alternative high school in collaboration with ACT Theater, San Francisco
Poet-in-Residence, San Francisco Juvenile Hall (2012-2013)
taught creative writing classes for incarcerated youth ages 13-19
Poet-in-Residence, Marin Juvenile Hall ( 2009-2013)
taught creative writing classes for incarcerated youth ages 13-19
Interim Director, Small Press Traffic (2007-2008)
directed a nonprofit organization dedicated to experimental writing, particularly for underserved writers
Artist-in-Residence, Arts-in-Corrections & Prison Arts Project (2001-2008)
taught creative writing classes in California state prisons and county jails
Children's Cottage Co-op Board President (with Steven Emrick)
served as co-president for a cooperative preschool in Marin
Artist-in-Residence, Napa State Hospital (2003-2005)
taught classes in a state mental health facility
Artist-in-Residence, California Arts Council (2003-2005)
taught creative writing classes in underserved schools
Artist-Teacher, California Poets in the Schools (1994-2013)
taught creative writing classes in underserved schools throughout California