By Shannon Huang, Development & Communications Manager, Ryman Arts, and Tati Simonian, Grand Park

October is a great time of month for the arts. It’s National Arts & Humanities month, the month of the Inktober initiative, of The Big Draw, and most significant for Southern California, it’s the month of The Big Draw LA hosted by Los Angeles based non-profit, Ryman Arts.

By Marty Sklar, Founder, Past President, Chairman Leadership Council

Many of you are aware that The Walt Disney Company has been one of the most important supporters of Ryman Arts. In fact, The Disney Foundation (as it was then called) was the very first foundation to contribute to our program 25 years ago, recognizing the need for more opportunities in the arts for Southern California students.

By Lacey Waterman (Ryman Arts '02), Art Director and Graphic Designer

By Marty Sklar, Founder, Past President, Member of the Board of Directors

I had the privilege and pleasure to be one of the cast members whose Disney career began with the opening of Disneyland on July 17, 1955. On Friday, July 17, 2015 about a dozen of us were invited to ride in the Parade celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

By Sergio Rebia, Ryman Arts Faculty Member

In May, we published Foundersland: Inspiration from “Artists who can Teach” written by Marty Sklar on the importance of mentorship and teaching. Following this post, we have asked our faculty members why they teach, what they are inspired by, and what they hope their students will learn from the Ryman Arts program.

By Gabriela Aguirre (Ryman Arts ’15)

By Marty Sklar, Founder, Past President, Member of the Board of Directors

By Mike Nguyen, Ryman Arts Faculty Member

In May, we published Foundersland: Inspiration from “Artists who can Teach” written by Marty Sklar on the importance of mentorship and teaching. Following this post, we have asked our faculty members why they teach, what they are inspired by, and what they hope their students will learn from the Ryman Arts program.