'TAKING IT TO THE STREETS' THEME FOR TARGET FREE FAMILY SATURDAY EVENT AT NATIONAL MUSEUM JUNE 11

The Japanese American National Museum will hold another free event as part of its popular series, Target Free Family Saturday, with the theme, "Taking It to the Streets", on Saturday, June 11, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the National Museum’s facility in Little Tokyo. The event is free and open to the public.

Target Free Family Saturday events include presentations by different performers and experts and hands-on arts and crafts for family members. Generously sponsored by Target, these special Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together.

"Taking It to the Streets" celebrates street art with fun activities and workshops. From 12 noon to 3 p.m., In Creative Unity (ICU) Art will be holding live spray paint demonstrations as well as simple drawing and sketching workshops. At 2 p.m., ICU Art will present a slide show on the history of graffiti art in Los Angeles. ICU Art is a Los Angeles-based art production company specializing in murals and live painting events. It is recognized as one of the nation’s premier "graffiti art" production studios, representing some of the most talented and well respected spray can artists in the country. ICU Art now paints commercial and community-based murals all over the United States, with artists and crews in most major US cities. For more information, visit www.icuart.com.

From 1 to 4 p.m., Kidding Around the Kitchen will teach participants how to make citrus sunshine on a plate. This recipe enables young people to make food art with fruit. Kidding Around the Kitchen brings a "hands on" cooking experience and lesson to the classroom in which the kids actively participate in the preparation of recipes. The result of their cutting, measuring cooking and then eating their creations is more than simply a lesson in health. The classes reinforce math, science, reading and vocabulary all within a one-hour lesson. For more information, go to www.kiddingaroundthekitchen.com.

Other hands-on activities available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. include using pencils, markers and stencils to make colorful posters. Other fun family activities include the designing of stickers and a visit to Ruthie’s Origami Corner, where visitors can make their own personal Father’s Day cards. At 1 p.m., a brush art practitioner will demonstrate this art form by writing anyone’s name.

Two other major events coincide with this Target Free Family Saturday: The Mixed Roots Festival (June 11-12), an annual event dedicated to sharing and nurturing storytelling of the Mixed and hapa experience; and, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) popular show, "Art in the Streets", at the Geffen Contemporary facility next door. The Mixed Roots Festival includes film screenings, readings, workshops, live performance, and a special family event and the largest West Coast Loving Day celebration, which is free. MOCA is offering a museum pass to its Sunday Studio program. For more info about MOCA's education programs visit www.moca.org.