#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

August 11, 2014

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

August 11, 2014

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

August 11, 2014

We Are Family, You Mean the World to Me

August 11, 2014

2014 Vietnamese Heritage Camp | Estes Park, Colorado

On July 31st I returned to Colorado for my 9th Vietnamese Heritage Camp and my third camp as a director. We spent the past 3 weeks making final adjustments and planning prepared to execute another exciting camp. I rehearsed my new song every night leading up to camp leaving it up to the energy of the room to carry my tune from beginning to end. This year’s song was once again named after our camp theme We Are Family. Family has been a personal theme for me in 2014. My first child was born in March and I found out that I have a second cousin in Long Xuyen, Vietnam. In this song, I sang about the different types of family in my life. Watch the video

Listen to the studio track

I was so happy and proud to have my ATG family join us at camp this year to share a workshop with our kids. Thank so much Tammy, George, Gabby, Austen, Kate, Carol, Nikki and Hue. Your voices meant so much to our kids. You are all an inspiration to them and an important piece of their identity and growth.

After a few days of down pour and flash floods the sun burst through at Estes Park. I was back with our special community of families. It’s amazing to see the kids growing up each year. Many of these teenagers for 5-7 years old when I first began volunteering. There are few a campers I had the honor a privilege to get to know very well over the past 5 years. It’s not easy hearing that you’re a role model. Hearing stories from their lives and everything they have accomplished makes me feel so proud. A few of them were ATG camp scholarship winners from 2011-2014. Check out our 2014 winners

This was a milestone year for me as I was directing for the last time and turning 40 on the last day of camp. Looking back I remember the joy of discovering this community and feeling so much joy for the younger generation of Vietnamese adoptees. They have a place to come together to bond and share stories. Adoptive parents can meet up and be part of a small support group for a long weekend in the mountains.

I always leave camp on Sunday with new information about my culture and heritage. I discover new pieces of my identity. Camp made me the person I am today and I will be forever grateful for having been part of it. This Sunday I was surprised with a birthday video created by my wife and 5 month old daughter. A new chapter has begun. With excitement and fears I know I will be ok with the love and support from all my families.

My Best,

Jared Rehberg

ATG Board Advisor

P.S.

Thank you ATG for the birthday carrot cake and sweet gifts for Mali Anh. I hear 40 is the new 30.

August 8, 2014

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:

2013

2012

2011

July 31, 2014

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.

July 21, 2014

Congratulations to 2014 ATG Scholarship Finalists

After weeks of reviewing and deliberation, The ATG Scholarship Committee is proud to announce the 2014 Scholarship Finalists. We scored them based on GPA, leadership/community involvement, portfolio/video submission, essay and letters of recommendation. This group in particular is one of the strongest groups we’ve ever had. They are brilliant, shining examples of what it means to go Against The Grain means. Drumroll, please… Read more

July 9, 2014

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

June 19, 2014

Sixth Annual “Fashion for a Passion” Announces 2014 Designer Line-Up

Seven Designers to Feature Exclusive Creations

Saturday, November 1

DALLAS, TX – Against The Grain Productions has selected seven emerging and established Asian American designers to join their elite roster of Presenting Designers at their upcoming Fashion for a Passion charity event, one of Dallas’ hottest must-have fashion tickets and charity events of the fall season. Now in its sixth year, the evening showcases the talent of Asian American artists and springboard for careers, while serving as a place to bring together the entire community to celebrate up and coming talent and raise money for a worthy cause. Designers have launched careers with the event, including Khanh Nguyen of Nha Khanh, who started as a UNT graduate and within a few short years has since gone on to be featured in Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. Hanh Dang of Lucy Dang, went on to win the title of Texas’ Next Top Designer and is now carried in Belk. The event benefits ATG’s supported orphanages, scholarships for student artists and leaders and community outreach programs to inspire, educate and entertain the community. Read more