Mndsgn from Ron Finley’s Gangsta Garden

Grand Performances presents a magical Feature Presentation celebrating the release of Mndsgn’s new album Rare Pleasure captured in Ron Finley’s Gangsta Garden. The colorful performance will be broadcast from Ron’s headquarters, a former swimming school teeming with plants, flowers and produce located in South Los Angeles. ⁠Mndsgn grew up in south New Jersey, raised with Gospel music at church, and B-Boy culture at home. Experimenting with beat-making, he befriended fellow producer Knxwledge and the two formed the Klipmode. Mndsgn’s music flourished when he moved to Los Angeles, catching the attention of Stones Throw who released his music since his debut album Yawn Zen (2014).⁠

⁠Horticulturalist/artivist Ron Finley, a self-described “Gangsta Gardener” plants gardens in public spaces around the city of Los Angeles as an act of resistance and empowerment. Equating gardening with graffiti, Finley transforms unused urban spaces into places of community and congregation. The “Renegade Gardener” unknowingly started a revolution by planting organic vegetables in the parkway in front of his home. Finley’s TED Talk on guerilla gardening in South Central L.A. enjoys over 3 million views to date, and thanks to his petitioning, Los Angeles has since legalized curbside gardens for community use. Finley now travels the world speaking to international communities and hosting workshops on how to take back the soil.