Mission
The mission of International Eye LA is to present arts and cultural programs that educate and provide opportunities for individual and community healing through creative engagement.
Working to Heal Communities
International Eye LA provides a social balm for community healing. Our mission-driven activities provide skills training, cross generational knowledge exchange, community fellowship and personal healing. We celebrate our common humanity and build multicultural, international bridges to Heal our Spirits, our Minds, our Bodies and our Selves.
HEALING OUR SPIRITS
Pouring libation at opening of Leimert Park Heritage Festival
That which we call ‘spirit’ is difficult to define. It is integrally connected to our emotional well being and determines how we feel about ourselves and those we engage with. We support spiritual wellness that may offer inner peace in the midst of chaos and despair.
HEALING OUR MINDS
UCLA Department of Theatre, Film and Television, 1989
The mind is central to our intellectual and cognitive processes. We engage professionals who facilitate educational equity and create arts and cultural programs that provide creative solutions to support mental wellness, social healing and mindful living.
HEALING OUR BODIES
Imagine Home -Community Banquet.
A healthy physical condition is necessary for a holistic and enjoyable life. Our engagement around physical well being includes exercise, nutrition, attire, sleep, safety and comfort. We engage professionals in creating programs that address physical well being.
HEALING OUR SELVES
Imagine Community Banquet
“Self-care’” has become a trendy buzz word but we believe caring for self is critical to caring for community and is essential for maintaining a healthy, content life.
“Creativity in public spaces with equity across cultures put social justice at our core.”
Participants | central america parade/weho
Our Key Programs
find out more about our programs:
213.761.4475 or internationaleyela@gmail.com
International Eye LA works with community partners to foster youth development, support artists and creative producers, provide arts education, public programming, career pathways, and gatherings that facilitate equity and healing through mission-driven engagement.
Our grant funded programs are provided free or low cost to underserved youth and under resourced communities. Fee For Service PRICES range FROM $50/per hour, and up. FLAT RATES are available for larger or long term projects. Reach out to us at 213.761.4475 or email us at internationaleyela@gmail.com.
Los Angeles Creative Industry Academy
Our 2021 LACIA Fellows
World Carnival Traditions
Carnival design and production
Global Carnival Education
Costume workshops and fabrication
Caribbean carnival revelers at Miami Carnival
Cultural Preservation
STEAM at the Core at The Accelerated School.
STEAM at the Core Program
LA Youth on Parade
Jonkanoo History and Traditions
Passing on steelpan tradition.
Arts Education
Jonkanoo mask workshop presented for City of West Hollywood.
Projects in Public Spaces
Carnival design and implementation
Festivals, parades, public art projects and corporate installations.
Inaugural EC Village, produced in collaboration with the Empowerment Congress on the campus of USC.
Book our services 213.761.4475
internationaleyela@gmail.com
International Eye - Origin and Purpose
The International Eye was founded on the campus of UCLA by Marie Kellier while she was a graduate student in the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television. Named ‘The International Eye,’ to represent the international mix of students in the department, the mission was to support filmmakers whose visions were underrepresented in the UCLA Film and Television Department. The organization sponsored writing workshops for students whose first language was not English and hosted guest speakers from the industry. Many students in the film department felt that there was not enough instruction or guidance to learn the craft of filmmaking and protested in many ways. International Eye facilitated a support system for students to crew on each other’s projects, help raise funds for students to complete their films and sponsored screenings to showcase their films.
Student protest at the then UCLA Department of Film and Television.
Fundraiser for Zeinabu Irene Davis and Willie Dawkins to go to Russia to shoot their thesis film.
Working with the International Student Center at UCLA, The International Eye supported students to travel to Russia, Jamaica, Kenya, Israel and New York to shoot their films and bring a range of international perspectives to the UCLA community.
UCLA film school graduates representing Spain, Colombia, Jamaica, Italy and USA
In June 1987, International Eye produced Black Voices Rising, the first major screening that celebrated the work of Black filmmakers at UCLA and presented them to the film industry. In 1988 the organization collaborated with UCLA Film and Television Archives and Third World Cultural Association to present a retrospective of films by acclaimed Ethiopian filmmaker, Haile Gerima, a UCLA alum. That was followed by the presentation of ‘A Hungarian Fairy Tale’ by renowned Hungarian filmmaker and UCLA Professor, Gyula Gazdag. Also in 1988, International Eye collaborated with student filmmakers to present the first showing of all completed student films in UCLA Melnitz Theater. That project evolved into the UCLA Festival of Student Films, now shown annually in the film school. Addressing the high cost of completing student films, especially for international students, and with very little support from UCLA, International Eye focused on helping struggling students by organizing fundraising events. In 1993, The International Eye was incorporated as International Eye, Los Angeles, a 501(c)3 a community service corporation for arts, culture and humanities.