Swodeck

03/09/2026

Happy 78th Birthday to my dad, Raymond Glen Swodeck — March 9 🎉

My dad grew up in Los Angeles, off Manchester and Avalon, across from Avalon Gardens. Later he moved to Whittier, where much of our family life took shape.

When I was four, my brother two, and my sister just six months old, my parents took a leap of faith and moved our family to Miami, where he worked as a typesetter for Life Publishers while helping raise three young kids. During that season he also poured himself into the community, teaching Sunday school and encouraging young people to find their voice and embrace their culture.

Education and service would continue to define his life. He later taught at Turner Technical High School, and after returning to Southern California he served for many years as a substitute teacher in the Whittier and Hacienda–La Puente school districts. He also worked at the Whittier Public Library in circulation and passport services, helping thousands of community members in everyday ways.

But what stands out most about my dad is his heart for people. Throughout his life he has advocated for those who feel unseen or unheard—encouraging young people, supporting families in the community, and showing up for neighbors who need someone to care.
Even today in retirement, living in Upland with his wife of almost 56 years on the 4th hole, he still checks in regularly on his elderly neighbors, making sure they’re doing okay and reminding them someone is looking out for them.

Happy birthday, Dad. Your life has always been about lifting others up, and your quiet care for people continues to shape everyone around you. Grateful to celebrate 78 years of Raymond Glen Swodeck. ❤️🎂

03/07/2026

I am grateful for each day I spend in my community.

03/02/2026

We came together to celebrate my Grandma Bessie's 95th birthday. She was joined by 3 of her children, her son-in-love, 4 grandchildren, 2 granddaughters-in-love, and 2 great grandchildren. A simple intimate gathering in the patio at her new home, we shared stories, listened to music, ate some cake, and showered her with lots of love. Grateful.

03/01/2026

95 YEARS STRONG ✨
Celebrating my Grandma Bessie (Visinta Gonzales) Storey on her 95th birthday today.

Born March 1, 1931, in Vaughn, New Mexico, she was raised throughout New Mexico, including a memorable time in San Ildefonso Pueblo with relatives like Maria "the Potter" Martinez and Isabel Montoya Atencio. After losing her parents young, she fought to protect her siblings—eventually taking them in as her own. She later married my grandfather, and together they built a life that carried her from New Mexico to California, living in Palm Springs, Compton, Whittier, and now Anaheim Hills.

She went to school only through the 4th grade, yet worked hard her entire life—picking pinto beans in the fields as a child, working at a train stop diner, later at Winchell’s Donuts, and in the cafeteria at Rockwell Aerospace. She proudly became a long-standing member of the UAW. She is deeply proud of her Tewa and Diné heritage, and in recent years we’ve had the honor of taking her to pow wows, continuing traditions and sharing stories along the way.

She’s also legendary in quieter (and braver) ways—sneaking us out for donuts during long prayer meetings when I was little, and once fighting off a mugger and getting her purse back. Strength, humor, and fearlessness all wrapped into one.

I was her first grandchild (born shortly after the passing of my grandfather) and have been honored with the gift of learning her story in pieces as she continues to process it—always waking each day by thanking her Creator. She is a cancer survivor, a survivor of the colonization of New Mexico, and a living witness to history, remembering the white flakes that fell from the sky after the Trinity Atomic Bomb explosion.

95 years of perseverance.
95 years of love.
95 years of legacy.

Happy 95th Birthday, Grandma!
Thank you for the dances, the donuts, the protection, and the prayers.

02/26/2026

My quick drawing of Keith Haring as Waldo is my playful nod to the years he spent underground—literally—turning New York City subway stations into open-air galleries. Between 1980 and 1985, Haring filled unused ad panels with fast, fearless white-chalk drawings made for commuters, not collectors. Art you encountered on your way to work. Art that didn’t ask permission.

Waldo felt like the right disguise. Haring was everywhere and nowhere at once—anonymous, fleeting, easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention. His subway drawings were meant to be found in motion, absorbed in passing, speaking to everyday people about joy, resistance, unity, and urgency.
This piece is a reminder that some of the most powerful art lives in public space—temporary, accessible, and hiding in plain sight.

08/02/2025

Wishing a phenomenal 46th birthday to the love of my life, Chara Nicole! Leave a birthday message in the comments 🤗💐🥳🎂🪅 8/2

03/19/2024

Today, I was honored to be a guest in a high school Enterprise class at The DTC-The School of Arts and Enterprise in Downtown Pomona. Shared about my career in the Arts and marketing strategy. We discussed how to monetize their art, building a marketing funnel, and utilizing the hubs and spokes strategy. I appreciate being part of these types of experiences and hope the students got something beneficial out of it.

12/07/2022

A little bit about me:

I'm a volunteer advocate for Arts, Education, and Community. I currently serve on the City of Pomona Cultural Arts Commission as the Mayoral appointee, Board of Directors of the School of Arts + Enterprise, and as an Association Member of the LA County Fair Association. I serve on the LACF Equity Committee (Co-Chair) and the School of Arts + Enterprise Equity Cadre/Committee. I continue to serve on the CTEC Art Advisory Committee at the Fairplex, and have served as an Art Advisor and Curator for Millard Sheets Arts Center. For over 8 years, I served on the Pomona Council of PTAs over 23 Pomona schools, and served numerous years on PUSD oversight committees. For over 6 years, I actively supported local seasoned and emerging artists through the creative gallery space, LOFTon2nd, through Downtown Pomona’s 2nd Saturday Art Walk, and continue to volunteer alongside my beautiful wife with the Alliance Community Cultural Center (African American Advisory Alliance) in Downtown Pomona. I've served as a grant panelist and judge for the National Endowment for the Arts (ART.GOV) and LA County Department of Arts and Culture, awarding millions in funding to Art programs. Earlier in my life, I spent over sixteen years, both professionally and as a volunteer, working with and mentoring young people in Miami, Brooklyn, Watts, Compton, Whittier, Covina, and Pomona.

As a professional, I've spent over twenty years working with innovators, thought leaders, and community organizers, clarifying their vision and developing specific strategies to forward their goals as a creative problem solver. I've supported CEOs, for-profits, creatives, nonprofits, and government agencies through Brand Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, and Creative Design for over eleven years as a consultant. In my previous work, as an Art Director, Creative Director, and Designer, I began focusing on the process of storytelling and guiding clients through the process of controlling their narrative.

I've lived in Pomona, CA for 20 years and have been married to for 20+ years; we have two awesome kids (17yrs & 8yrs).

10/01/2021

Getting better with using the ApplePencil on my iPad. Here's a one I did of Maria Martinez from San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico. I've shared before, my grandmother grew up on the Pueblo watching Maria and the rest of the family create.

Maria was always deeply connected with her pueblo of San Ildefonso, with the traditional life of a tribal member, partaking in tribal ceremonies and religious activities. Although she was successful in Santa Fe selling her pottery, she preferred living in her ancestral home. Maria was very unselfish with her talent, and she gave pottery lessons to other women in her village as well as in to potters in neighboring pueblos, thereby providing a new source of income to many.

04/19/2021

Honored to share the release of book “Love is at the root of resistance: Strategies of activism, advocacy and liberation” available on Amazon now! I was honored to work on the cover, but the content is what really matters. This is a handbook for activism. You can get it now on Amazon at http://bit.ly/DrGsBook
✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽❤❤❤

📕📚📖
Also was honored to help produce yet another book with my brother-in-love (Looking to publish? Hit him up)

10/07/2019

Sometimes I get to work with some pretty innovative companies.

We have been grateful to apps like for getting us around despite spending hours everyday in Los Angeles' traffic. BUT, it's time to get our time back and rethink our commute. Imagine literally flying over traffic in a Grand Caravan with an average flight time of 15 minutes from some of LA's small airports. Pull up, park, board, enjoy the quick view, land, and grab a quick ride to work. You can have time to spend with your family, go to the gym, read, or anything else. For many super commuters, that's almost 1000 hours a year wasted sitting in traffic.
✈ FloatShuttle.com