Musician Karen O And Ashes & Diamonds Winery Collaborate To Donate Funds To The Okra Project
NAPA, CA – July 14, 2020 – Offering her artistic talents to help those in need, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has collaborated with Napa Valley winery Ashes & Diamonds to create eighteen uniquely individual, hand-painted magnum Rosé bottles which are on sale today HERE. In the spirit of assisting Black Trans people struggling with financial and food disparities, each singular, exquisitely handcrafted bottle by Karen O will sell for $250, with 100% of the proceeds going to The Okra Project, a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by providing home-cooked, culturally specific meals, monetary grocery assistance and food education.
“I had been yearning to just sit at my desk and paint and draw for years,” says O. “The part of my brain that I use to make music shut off when the pandemic hit, so this quiet project of falling into a Kenneth Anger-esque fairytale was a nice place to go when I couldn’t go anywhere. Where I could lean my head on the shoulder of Lou Reed’s muse Rachel as the underworld closed in around us, where nymphs have tangled tresses and swim with stilettos, where I could wash and be clean in the smoke and the rain. I’m grateful for the opportunity to support The Okra Project who provide meals and resources to the Black Trans community and thankful for Ashes & Diamonds and The Okra Project and the work they are doing. This little project fed the soul in these troubled times.”
Since opening in 2017, Ashes & Diamonds has demonstrated commitment to pro-social initiatives and global activism, contributing to a wide range of non-profit organizations such as AIDS/LifeCycle, Baby2Baby and CUESA. “The ground is fertile for positive change right now,” says Ashes & Diamonds proprietor Kashy Khaledi. “Given our current times, The Okra Project represents that change for us. Karen O’s magical illustrations are beautiful expressions of artistic nourishment, just as The Okra Project brings nourishment in meals to the Black Trans community. This is our expression of friendship, unity and a call for brighter days.”
KAREN O
Karen O is a vocalist, songwriter, artist and the iconic frontwoman of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. In addition to four albums with Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a solo album, Crush Songs, O has contributed to soundtracks for Where The Wild Things Are and Her—for which she was nominated for an Oscar; staged an experimental opera, “Stop the Virgens,” at New York’s legendary St. Ann’s Warehouse; collaborated with fashion house KENZO and such iconic artists as David Lynch and Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; and headlined festivals worldwide. Last year O released her latest project, a full length album with Danger Mouse entitled Lux Prima, which was released to widespread critical acclaim and earned a Grammy nomination for single “Woman”. The pair also worked to bring their album to life with an immersive multimedia experience “An Encounter with Lux Prima” that premiered at Los Angeles’ Marciano Art Foundation.
ASHES & DIAMONDS
Located at the gateway of Napa Valley along its main artery, Highway 29, Ashes & Diamonds Winery is a love letter to Napa Valley as it was when it took the world stage in the 1960s, revealing itself as a geological wonderland capable of world-class wines. In homage to this golden era and its pioneers, winemakers Steve Matthiasson and Diana Snowden Seysses, with proprietor Kashy Khaledi, adhere to an ethos of light-handed winemaking and transparency of terroir as a guiding light for all of the wines they produce—a Burgundian approach to Bordeaux varietals. Having opened in August 2017, Ashes & Diamonds is the ultimate convergence of modern and old-school flavors.
THE OKRA PROJECT
The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever we can reach them.
During the Middle Passage, our African ancestors snuck okra onto captive ships to sustain themselves and plant in the new world. Black Diasporic cooking traditions often use the okra plant for its versatility and it is often associated with health, prosperity, and community.
In this spirit, The Okra Project hopes to extend free, delicious, and nutritious meals to Black Trans people experiencing food insecurity.
Based on individual donations, The Okra Project pays Black Trans chefs to go into the homes of Black Trans people to cook them a healthy and home-cooked meal at absolutely no cost to our Black TGNC siblings. For those Black Trans folks currently experiencing homeless or whose homes cannot support our chef’s cooking, The Okra Project has partnered with institutions like Osborne Association and other community spaces to deliver foods.
