Chouinard Foundation documentary, “CURLY”, was accepted and featured in the prestigious Gig Harbor International Film Festival in Washington state and continues to impress and inspire the masses.
In June of 2006, the City of L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks granted the Chouinard Foundation, in the spirit of its namesake, an unprecedented partnership to bring affordable art classes to the inner city of Los Angeles. As funding waned and the program closed, a documentary was created to depict the impact it had on its students.
“CURLY” follows Gustavo “CURLY” Fernandez as he flourishes within this art program and delves into the roots of the Chouinard Foundation, their inspiration and history.
This multi-layered work, produced & directed by Gianina Ferreyra and edited & co-written by William Devin Walsh illuminates the rich legacy of Nelbert Chouinard and her school, the Chouinard School of Art, which is survived through rare, in-studio interviews with artists Larry Bell, Chaz Bojórquez, Sam Clayberger, Guy Dill, Laddie John Dill, Llyn Foulkes, Joe Goode, Lou Paleno, Ed Ruscha, Peter Shire, Chuck Swenson, John Van Hamersveld, Theodora Van Runkle, Norton Wisdom and Gary Wong, who share insight into what made their school LA’s cradle for creation.
Dave Tourjé, an artist who Co-Founded the Chouinard Foundation along with Chouinard Artist and Alumnus Robert Perine, recalls his arduous efforts to revive and establish the memory of this school with the humble beginning of having unwittingly purchased Nelbert Chouinard’s South Pasadena home in 1998.