Meet The Team

Danielle Lawson is a Concept Artist and Designer from South Los Angeles, CA who finds passion in creating exceptional artistry from just a minute idea. Danielle’s talents (cultivated from studying at Otis College of Art & Design) have led her to work in the entertainment industry for over 8 years with companies like Cartoon Network, Discovery, Fashion Nova and many more. In addition to that, she is a visionary and now CEO of her own creative art agency, Art Matters Collective.

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Gloria is a Lynwood, CA native with a heart for community involvement, poetry and the arts. She is passionate about serving as a board member for Budding Artists, where she gets to enrich the lives of children in her community through process-based arts programming that this grassroots organization offers. Volunteering her time with Budding Artists has brought a deep sense of fulfillment and purpose to both her and her 11 year old son, Camilo. In her free time, she enjoys sharing her original spoken word poetry in which she explores themes of childhood wonders, parenting epiphanies, and self-discovery. Through her work, she seeks to inspire and invite others to share of themselves despite their fears.

Liz is a Lynwood, CA native and is excited to support the mission of Budding Artists as a board member and an advocate for children of all ages to have access to free art education.  Her first art history class at Lynwood High School propelled her on the path to pursue a life full of art.  She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Art History and has worked with the Downey Arts Coalition, Denver Art Museum and Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, CA.  Liz taps into her own creativity by collecting and building Lego sets with her husband, crocheting and occasionally playing trivia/board/RPG games with good friends. 

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Open Walls is a studio founded on the principle of creating moments of access for creatives in the visual arts and design world. Through an intersectional use of cultural art and environmental design we curate spatial stories that reimagine the narrative of dispossessed communities. Our current practice relies on creating projects that exhibit art in unconventional environments for public audiences that go beyond the museum walls. We envision creating a platform that speaks to underrepresented artists by means of themed topics that challenge current issues in our societies.

Open Walls is a grassroots organization. It is a direct response to the inequitable art practices and a vision for showcasing art for the future.

Rowland Becerra is an arts activist and community organizer, with a passion for advancing the rich art and history within the community in order to advance civic pride. As a Lynwood native, Becerra has been a Commissioner for over 10 years and is currently is on the Public Safety and Traffic Commission and is the founder of the Lynwood Union Gallery which houses a professional historian. As founder and current president of the Lynwood Union Gallery, Becerra is dedicated to increasing civic pride through local history and art through hosting workshops, festivals, live performance, and receptions for artists in our community. He has led a number of public art and History in public spaces projects within the city of Lynwood. 

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Dakota McMahand-Owens is a classically trained pianist who has spent her life merging arts education and activism to create social change on a grassroots level. Having been personally impacted by the transformative power of the arts, she knows it cultivates creative expression, supports relationship building, and nurtures social-emotional healing. She is a first-generation college graduate with more than ten years of experience working in the community arts space. In 2023, she was named Women of Distinction for Senate District 33 by Senator Lena Gonzalez. Dakota earned her Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from California Baptist University, and a Master of Arts in Education Administration from the University of South Dakota. She also holds a Community Teaching Artist certificate from California State University, Los Angeles and is a trained facilitator for Social Emotional Arts on a Shoestring from UCLArts and Healing. Dakota loves spending time with her husband Phoenix and their feisty rescue cat, Anjuna.

The Lynwood Recreation & Community Services Department, under the leadership of director Mark Flores, is responsible for the year-round management and programming of Lynwood’s nine-park system and five community centers. The industry-leading Department’s programs were an instrumental part of the City of Lynwood’s national recognition as an “All America City” by the National Civic League in 2010. Recently, the Department’s Ricardo Lara Linear Park has received multiple national and world recognitions for its design and environmental & social benefit elements. The Department successfully hosts over 750,000 visitors and participants each year in its scores of programs, special events and open space opportunities. The Department offers an array of traditional and innovative, on-going and accessible activities and specialty programming for all ages and abilities. The Department aims to create community through diverse and innovative programming and strategic partnerships - leading to a safer, more united and healthier community. It operates by the motto “Parks Make Life Better!”