New and Recent Projects
• Project Director, Co-Founder and Video Artist
5 books, 6 websites, 59 films on Youtube and Vime o between 2012 to the present – including:
Wellness for Children Project – Currently working on a collection of books, videos, lesson plans, parent/teacher guides designed for using imagination, relaxing breathing and the arts to promote resilience and health for families and children.
• “Welcoming the Stranger: Posts for Peace and Justice and Silk Paintings by Refugees” documentary screened at Beth Israel Center in La Jolla CA and helped raise $20,000 for refugee families. 2018 (film cannot be made public because of fear of retaliation in home countries to other family members)
• California Vision 2020 Conferences, Shift Network Visionary Summit Presenter, Documentary and Powerpoint Presentation at the Sept. 2017, 2018, 2019 events in Sacramento (also co-produced the Visionary Hub) with workshops to build resilience on Compassionate Arts issues, panel presentations and 3 days interaction.
California Vision 2020 Conferences, Shift Network Visionary Summit Presenter, Documentary and Powerpoint Presentation at the Sept. 2017, 2018, 2019 events in Sacramento (also co-produced the Visionary Hub) with workshops to build resilience on Compassionate Arts issues, panel presentations and 3 days interaction.
• Compassionate Arts Partnerships in Community Work – Los Angeles include: Pasadena Police and Community/Youth peace building events; WE RISE promoting mental health; The United State of Women exhibition with Michele Obama and Kamala Harris; Planet 911 preOscar Gala on Climate Change and Justice; Creative Visions, and other, such as our When Black and Brown Go Green Campaign, When Black and Brown Vote Green, and Community Resilience Workshops in Pasadena, San Diego County, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Georgia, Washington DC). WATCH ON youtube.com. 2014 – present.
• Posts for Peace and Justice” documentary & presentation for President Carter at the Carter Center’s International Human Rights Defenders Forum April 2016, Atlanta.
• U. S. Human Rights Network – Conference presenters and exhibition 2 day workshop = Emory University, Atlanta GA DEC 2018
• Sea Changes ACT Project – On Climate Change & Pollution, funded in part by a grant from the San Diego Visual Arts Network’s DNA of Creativity Initiative – 2014 – 2019 Virtual Undersea Installations and art exhibitions with discussions on climate and ocean issues.
- Exhibited installations of projected videos, a “Virtual Under Sea Experience” and “Fish Tales and Ocean Avatars” videos screened in the Museum of Monterey and Oceanside Museum of Art in 2014 and at a state conference on Climate Adaptation, Sacramento 2015 and in the California Center for the Arts, Escondido 2019.
- “Save the Earth” with “And the Earth Bleeds” – 2 films were projected on the front of the building, Monterey Conference Center for First Night Monterey on New Years Eve 2015.
- Inside Monterey Conference Center, 2,000 people walked through – projections of 5 videos onto walls of silk that people walked through including the “Virtual Undersea Experience” with edited soundscapes and scientists, artists and community interactive discussions 2015
- Online videos produced with musician Erik Scott “And the Earth Bleeds” 8,379 views & “Gypsy Mother and Royal Bastard” 3,272 views
Kira teaches classes in photography, painting on photographs, silk painting, community, and collaboration in the arts. She is currently working on a book titled Art and Change: Creating Legislative, Community and Personal Growth. This book teaches nonprofits and artists how to produce impact driven art while also documenting Kira’s collaborative to educate legislators, build community resilience, and heal personal tragedy.
At the workshop, students will create beautiful rectangle scarfs or square wall hangings, plus a small square art experiment. No experience in art needed. Samples, templates and materials provided. They will learn how to paint on Habotai silk using a resist for holding shapes and lines, with pigment dyes, permanent inks and other techniques to thrill their imaginative spirit.
• Art is the Next Peace: Connecting Communities
For the past two years, they have led the South County art project titled Art is the Next Peace, Connecting Communities. Corser has partnered with First Night Monterey to bring young people in Monterey County together to paint stunning works of art while they experience an atmosphere free from violence. In 2011, Art is the Next Peace brought 57 kids together at four different workshops to learn the craft of painting.
• FIRST NIGHT MONTEREY ARTWORKS!
sponsored Artistic Director Kira Carrillo Corser in Marina workshops helping students paint 20 silk paintings, each 7-feet long. They exhibited at the Monterey Conference Center on New Year’s Eve as part of the “ART is the NEXT PEACE: CONNECTING COMMUNITIES Project,” promoting nonviolent resolutions to gangs, bullying, and domestic violence. This project also made possible by a grant from the Arts Council for Monterey County. Find out more on FACEBOOK!
• SALINAS CHILDREN – THINKING THROUGH ART
was a featured exhibit at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, March 7 – 31, 2008. Presented by the Arts Council for Monterey County. View VIDEO »» Here.
Vitae Summary:
- Photographer/writer/videographer with 30 years experience, including 10 years in Public Broadcasting. Awards include: National Endowment for the Arts, California Council for the Arts, The James Irvine Foundation, and the CA Wellness Foundation.
- Kira has four collaborative books and exhibitions published with writer Frances Payne Adler.
- She has over 10 years experience creating and coordinating community arts projects, including showing in or working collaboratively with libraries.
Library Community Projects & Showings Include:
Photographing Our Terrain/Fotofafiar Nuestro Terreno – Free family workshop sponsored by the Watsonville Public Library and the Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz, CA. Polaroid photos of people and places were discussed, taken by participants, and enlarged on matte cardstock and then hand-painted. June 25, 2005
Guiding with Courage: Personal Heroes – A writing contest, traveling art exhibition, book, video, and event, that was designed and organized in collaboration with 18 Monterey County Libraries and schools. 1998 – 2000 Project designed to promote community interaction and leader support.
Monterey City Library Sesquicentennial Celebration – A community art project with children and adults participating on the history of Monterey and the history of the Library. Oct. 2000 The final outcome of the event was a community quilt made of painted silk, a permanent installation in the Monterey Library.
Visual Voices: Threat of the Dam – A project designed to give a voice to the community. The Carmel Valley Library exhibited 90 children’s silk paintings, representing 90,000 trees that would be lost if a new dam on the Carmel River were built. The kids wrote and painted about their feelings about the Carmel River, the endangered fish and habitats of animals. A traveling portfolio of photographs, statistics and poems representing the community was also exhibited at the library.
Theatre of the Imagination – Santa Catalina School Library Gallery: January – April 2002. This was an interactive exhibition, with painted photographs designed to encourage storytelling, puppets and a giant book puppet stage, and corresponding hand-made books for viewers to contribute creative writing. Teens and children were able to share serious life experiences and use art as a catalyst for expression.
Children’s Cultural Puppet Theatre – Based on the book titled “Why Mosquitoes Buzz,” hand-made silk painted puppets act out this West African folktale. Performed and video produced. Showing in Seaside, California at Manzanita school’s CPY program, co-sponsored by CSUMB Service Learning Institute and the America Reads Program. Second performance at the Carmel Barnyard for Independent Book Sellers Association 2002
“A Matriot’s Dream: Health Care for All” – Presentation at CSUMB library when her collaborative nationally traveling exhibition was exhibited.
June 25, 2005
Past Projects
