by Leah Frazier | DFWStyleDaily.com | Published September 26, 2014 | As the first week of fall concludes, excitement builds for one of the leading events of our social season: Fashion For A Passion. Produced by Dallas-based Against The Grain Productions, this annual fundraiser has garnered widespread attention and continues to gain support for its extraordinary efforts in raising awareness of the Asian American art community. Read more
Category: Against the Grain Productions
Orphanage Update: Uu Dam’s Harvest Moon Festival Celebration
On September 8th, children at Uu Dam, one of our supported orphanages in Vietnam, celebrated “Trung Thu Cho Em” or the “Children’s Harvest Moon Festival” in their play yard. According to orphanage director PT, it was “very exciting, vibrant and warm with love.” During the happy occasion, the young orphans played and socialized with children from neighboring communities. Read more
#FFAP2014: Introducing Our Exhibiting Artist Line-up
DALLAS, TX – Dallas non-profit Against The Grain Productions proudly announces the Exhibiting Artists for its much-anticipated 2014 6th Annual Fashion for a Passion charity event on Saturday, November 1st at Three Three Three First Avenue in Downtown Dallas. Event guests will enjoy each artist’s work in an exciting display of varying media, including film, digital prints, paintings and drawings, and can even take home their favorite pieces during the silent auction portion of the evening. Proceeds from the auction will go to Against The Grain’s supported orphanages in Asia, artistic and leadership scholarship fund and community outreach programs. This year’s artist line-up includes emerging and established Asian American artists, as well as four 2014 Against The Grain Artistic Scholarship Winners.
Going Against The Grain: Jeannie Mai
Jeannie Mai, Style Expert and co-hose of the nationally syndicated daytime show The Real
Aside from her well-known hosting duties at Style Network, Jeannie Mai is also engaged in several philanthropic causes around the world. Jeannie frequently travels to Asia to volunteer with organizations, such as Heartbeat Vietnam – a nonprofit devoted to improving health care for impoverished children, and NightLight International – an organization committed to rescuing women and children from trafficking by providing employment and vocational opportunities. Jeannie Mai definitely exemplifies all the passions we embrace at ATG and is the perfect spotlight to tie together our love for fashion and providing support and aid to orphanages in Asia.
Full Name: Jeannie Camtu Mai
Hometown: San Jose CA
Current City: LA
Ethnicity: Vietnamese/ Chinese
What does it mean to you to “Go Against The Grain?”
Going Against The Grain is to continuously have a “can do” attitude. It’s optimism, positivity, wisdom, humility, a spiritual and mental combination to propel you forward to face fears and conquer dreams. Read more
#FFAP2014: Introducing Our Musical and Now Dance Performers!
DALLAS, TX – Dallas non-profit Against The Grain Productions proudly announces the performing artists for its much-anticipated Fashion for a Passion charity event. The celebration of Asian American talent, ranging from Filipino to Korean and Singaporean to Thai Americans, will kick off with musical performances by three Kollaboration Dallas artists and, for the first time, a dance performance by a 2014 Against The Grain Artistic Scholarship winner.
The 2014 Fashion for a Passion Featured Performers include:
- Heart & Hero
- Jonavi
- Andrew Yun
- Lizzy Tan
Going Against The Grain: 2014 Artistic & Groundbreaker Leadership Scholarship Winners
The ATG Scholarship Committee is proud to announce the 2014 Scholarship Winners. Scored based on strength of GPA, leadership/community involvement, portfolio/video submission, essays, letters of recommendation and a final phone interview, we chose a record TEN students who are brilliant, shining examples of what it means to go Against The Grain means to receive scholarships this year. We are truly proud of this exceptional group and all that we know they will accomplish for their vocation and for the Asian American community in the future. We are also grateful to Dr. & Mrs. Paul Cho and Bruce & Pat McRae for generously donating so that we could give two additional scholarships this year! Read more
ATG Presents at 2014 Vietnamese Heritage Camp – “We Are Family”
The ATG Family was exceptionally proud be a able to participate in the 2014 Vietnamese Heritage Camp. Our team flew from Dallas to Denver, then drove to the YMCA of the Rockies in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado. In following this year’s camp theme, “We Are Family,” ATG presented a workshop called “F.A.M.I.L.Y Redefined.” Using interactive games, group discussion and visual art, our team helped VHC campers from 6th grade through 12 grade find new ways to think about family and create relationships with their VHC family. Campers got to create their own souvenir – a tree with fingerprint leaves of every person in their group to remind them of the “family” they have at VHC. Read more
Congratulations to 2014 ATG Heritage/Culture Camp Scholarship Contest Winners
ATG is proud to announce the winners of the 2013 ATG Heritage/Culture Camp Scholarship Contest. Many thanks to all of our campers who submitted this year. Check out how our winners go ‘Against The Grain’ and what going ‘Against The Grain’ means to them. Congratulations to our winners!
Avery Popelka
What does ‘Against The Grain’ mean to you?
You pick something different than the other kids want to do.
How do you go ‘Against The Grain?’
I go against the grain by picking different foods to eat than others. I like to listen to different songs than my friends. I like to wear mismatched clothes.
Burk Popelka
What does ‘Against The Grain’ mean to you?
It means going opposite.
How do you go ‘Against The Grain?’
At school, I play with the girls instead of the boys.
Teresa Kremer
What does ‘Against The Grain’ mean to you?
Being different, having fun, being happy
How do you go ‘Against The Grain?’
I have blonde hair and there are not many kids at Vietnam Camp who have blond hair. I like to be silly and use a squeaky voice.
Elizabeth Thompson
What does ‘Against The Grain’ mean to you?
To me it means being different and not doing things the same as otherpeople. It sometimes makes me feel good. It also makes me feel unique and special in different ways.
How do you go ‘Against The Grain?’
Unlike other girls I actually play with boys and learn from them a teeny bit. I also have fun with them sometimes. I also am the only one who likes around the world, it’s a game about math. This is how I go against the grain.
Lia Kelly
What does ‘Against The Grain’ mean to you?
Going against the grain means you are not afraid to come out with who you are and you’re brave enough to stand against society.
Paige Nappi
What does ‘Against The Grain’ mean to you?
Going against the grain means being independent.
How do you go Against The Grain?’
I go against the grain by doing my own thing when friends want me to do something I don’t want to.
Minh LaBarge
What does ‘Against The Grain’ mean to you?
Going against some other person in a good way.
How do you go ‘Against The Grain?’
Be friendly, play fair.
Jolie LaBarge
What does ‘Against The Grain’ mean to you?
Doing something out of the blue or doing something someone told you not to do but you do anyway.
How do you go ‘Against The Grain’ ?
Standing up for people. When someone is getting bullied or hurt you’re able to help them and be a friend.
(girl in the blue dress)
2014 HCAF Vietnamese Heritage Camp Scholarship Winners – Estes Park, CO
Check out previous winners:
There’s No Place Like Home…or Vietnam Culture Camp
by Aivy Nguyen (ATG Social Media Chair)
There’s a phrase that goes, “Home is where the heart is.” For many of the teenagers I worked with these past few weekends, home is in the form of Catalyst Foundation’s Vietnam Culture Camp.
After a 4-year hiatus as a camp counselor for Vietnam Culture Camp, I was invited to come back as a presenter by Catalyst Foundation founder, Caroline Nguyen Ticarro-Parker. The ask for this round of camp was to work with the teen groups and create a media project that portrays their thoughts and feelings on what Vietnam Culture Camp means to them.
The answers were heartwarming, funny, and surprisingly insightful and full of honesty. And at the end of the weekend, each teen group had worked together to pull together footage and photos for a :30 second media spot to show what camp meant to them as a group.
Working with the teens for the Midwest and East coast camps was quite the 180 from the times inwhich I were I counselor. Instead of bracing each day for piggy back rides, boundless amounts of energy and requests for snacks, I had to switch gears to get the campers to talk about more introspective topics such being stereotyped and misunderstood not just as an Asian, but as a Vietnamese adoptee as well.
The most surprising realization that came from this camp was not from just the weekend, but to find that even after many years of not attending, every camper I was a counselor for still remembered who I was. And every counselor they had been with previously. Vietnam culture camp is not merely just a place to swim, eat and play with friends all weekend, but it has become a place in which they have built a bond with all of us who have been a part of it. A place in which people understand each other. A place where they are not judged. A place in which we are all family.
Going Against The Grain: Gauthami Vemula
Gauthami Vemula is the Founder and Managing Partner of Color Me Safe, LLC, a family crisis consulting firm committed to protecting children and families of North Texas by offering guidance and solutions for child welfare and protection issues. Gauthami’s previous experience as a child abuse investigator and department manager at the Department of Child Protective Services made her realize that working with children and families was not just part of a job but more of a calling. She was one of only three investigators hand-picked from Dallas County for a special pilot program, the Skilled Response Team, which investigated more than 40 child abuse cases a month. She was also selected as one of the few in Texas to train new CPS Investigators. Read more