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These pieces were created within the last few years in collaboration with Rescue Missions and shelters where men and women are receiving services and finding a way forward in life.
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Skid Row
Skid Row
In my first ever series of relational portraits, created in 2013, I started by walking the streets of Skid Row, Los Angeles and meeting people living there on the sidewalks. These twelve portraits were exhibited in a temporary street gallery on San Julian street, making it accessible to the Skid Row community.
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Tents
Tents
In the tent series, created from 2020-2024, I am addressing the tents and encampments that appear on sidewalks and abandoned lots as temporary shelter for those who feel it is their best option. At best we overlook these sites and at worst we complain or scoff. But what if every time we saw a tent we realized it represents a person with a story that is likely suffering and teetering toward the end of their life?
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Clay: Fighting for the Fatherless
Clay: Fighting for the Fatherless
Clay is fighting to be a father. This portrait is from the first weeks of recovering his life after a decade of rock bottom. He had been shattered by not having a father growing up, which caused his empty quest for fulfillment. “All I longed for was my dad to just hold me,” he said. After a long struggle, a near-fatal car accident, and time in prison, he was given a second chance at Faith City Mission in Amarillo. One evening in the dish pit, Clay released control. “Lord, I wanna be a dad to my little Cora,” he prayed. “Whatever the outcome of my legal situation, I put it in your hands.” The very next morning, his 20-year sentence was wiped clean. “My first thought was, Go be a dad.” Clay reflected. The Program Director said she noticed a new confidence in him after his portrait session. Through the retro clippings and the old hymn board found at the rescue mission, his portrait tells a story of a man who follows after God’s heart to be a present father for his children.
Displayed at Faith City Mission, Amarillo TX
Sid: We All Bleed Red
Sid: We All BLEED RED
Sid is a full-time driver, often working over twelve hours a day, yet still relying on basic resources from the HUB in Orange. His leased car consumes most of his income. Despite this, he encourages every passenger, often speaking about what truly matters beyond this life.
His name—“Said” in Arabic—means “happy.” His parents are Palestinian, born in Jerusalem. I created this portrait during the 2025 Israel-Palestine war. Carrying both Palestinian and Israeli heritage, Sid expresses a deep desire for peace. He often expresses our common humanity in the phrase “we all bleed red,” a phrase inscribed in English, Arabic, and Hebrew at the base of the work.
The composition reflects this tension: one panel shows the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 attacks, the other children in Gaza grasping for a ration of food. The portrait is created on a cardboard box that once held 200 styrofoam food containers—the very same ones I would see Sid holding and giving away at the HUB. The portrait attempts to depict Sid’s generous heart, bleeding for others as he shares the little he has.
Price: $2400
Liz: Lakota Rain
Liz: Lakota Rain
Liz is a wellspring of resilience. After a lifetime of battles and losses, she recovered her life at Phoenix Rescue Mission. Her family is from the Lakota Tribe, and she is proud of her roots. She continues to seek how she may follow after God and honor her native culture.
The materials in this portrait are symbolically important. The clay roof tiles and old Bible were found In the dirt in an unseen corner of Phoenix Rescue Mission’s campus where Liz recovered her life. Their inclusion honors the vital role PRM staff and its programs played in Liz’s journey toward renewal. The uniquely turquoise Bible symbolizes how her Christian walk is impacted by her native culture. She says her goal is to share her newfound freedom in Jesus with other Natives. In a culture that is wary of this integration, she wants to “help somebody else reach out for him.”
To the Lakota Tribe, rain is associated purification. Joy and growth always follow the rain. This rain, coming down from the Word of God, is a symbol of the renewal that has happened in Liz’s story and the joy she has to share it with others.
On Display at Phoenix Rescue Mission, Phoenix AZ
Protected: Urbana Presentation: Arts on Mission
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Rice and Beans Team Resources
Thank you for joining the Rice and Beans challenge to stand with those who do not have a choice in what they eat tonight. Your commitment to take action is inspiring! Here are some resources and tips for you to make your challenge and sharing successful.
The Challenge
Eat rice and beans for 6 meals. This can be 1x per week for 6 weeks, or six dinners (or lunches) in a row. You may also choose other types of simple meals. The point is to sacrifice regular comforts for the sake of others. Between all of us, we are believing for $30,000 to be raised this fall. Choose an amount to raise whether it be $500 or $5,000.
- Challenge window: October 1 – December 31, 2025. With World Homeless Day on October 9.
- Each simplified meal = $10 (per person) to donate it to Sacred Streets. So a family of 4 would free up $240 through this challenge. You can donate the funds you save to your own campaign to get it started.
- Match X2: Every dollar you raise or give will be DOUBLED up to $25K because of a matching grant. That means $20 = $40
- You can eat any simplified meal like beans and potatoes, simple soups, simple pastas, or any other cost-effective foods.
CREATE YOUR PAGE HERE
About Sharing with Your People
The way people will be able to support and donate to this cause is through you sharing it. Whether it be through email, social media, or text messaging, you can invite people to rally behind you and this cause by sharing it themselves or donating to the cause. Here’s some content, text and images you can use to share in creative ways with your community.
Post Guide:
- 6 times. Share every time you eat a simplified meal. That would be 6 times.
- Multiple Channels. Use email, facebook, instagram, or even texting.
- Choose a Deadline. Share the dates, with a deadline for your challenge. People are extremely motivated by knowing their last day to donate to you.
- Share your personal insights and what’s happening in your posture as you go along. Each post can be how you’re experiencing that day of doing the challenge.
- Share photos with captions
- Try to share a personal video at least once during your challenge.
General Campaign Link:
https://givebutter.com/riceandbeans
Your Personal Page link will be created after you launch you page. It’s best to share that one so people don’t have to search for you.
Words to Share
Helping People Understand
Pick and choose anything you would like to share from the below. you can change it to match your personal tone.
I am choosing to eat rice and beans this fall season to enter solidarity with those who have less and to raise support for their needs. I am doing this to support the mission of Sacred Streets, which frames the identity of some of the most vulnerable and marginalized people through relational portraits. These portraits give people vision for their invaluable life. I invite you to stand with me by donating to my page below and help me reach my fundraising goal.
It’s like a Walkathon, but we’re challenging the stomach instead of the legs.
I personally want to do this because ___________________________.
Our challenge activates 3 things:
- Solidarity with the disenfranchised
- Prayerful posture
- A call for generous giving
Facts, Quotes
- 3.5 Billion people around the world live on less that $7 per day. Rice and beans is a standard meal for this population.
- Sacred Streets portraits have a track record of seeing 2 of 3 people expressing true impact. 1 of 3 make a radical life turnaround.
- “It’s going to be really hard for me to love the poor the way Jesus loves the poor if there’s not a sacrificial practice by which I’m training myself.” — Tyler Staton
Pictures to Share
Some of the best pictures to share will be your own, featuring you!
Like a selfie with you and your plate for that night. Or a video of you sharing your thoughts for the night. But please use these photos however you’d like and hopefully it will take away one step in the process if you need it.
Challenge Photos For Use
Ministry Images For Use
Spiritual Guide
One moral tension that may arise is, “Isn’t sharing that I’m fasting violating Jesus’ instruction to not publicize your fasting?”
Good question! You will see in the scriptures below that fasting without action to literally help others is only half of the picture. So if you were fasting without trying to give back or call others to do the same, making it public would be questionable. But what you’re doing by publicizing it in order to give money back to the poor is the most comprehensive and beautiful ways to fast.
Scriptures
These scripture speak of a “fasting” that also actively gives back to the poor:
ISAIAH 58:6-8
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”
PSALM 12:5, 7
“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
Podcasts
Listen to these podcasts to get your bearings for a healthy spiritual posture during this time.”
Listen to this Rule of Life podcast episode from with John Mark Comer.
The scripture says of Jesus, we have a great high priest that can empathize with our weaknesses. And so wne way that I become like Jesus is I willingly discomfort my body in a way that other people are unwillingly discomforted in their body. [Then] I can grow in empathy.” – Tyler Staton
Or here’s one on Radical Generosity for those who don’t have much to start with. Rule of Life: Generosity 04
Join the Rice and Beans Challenge
What if your only choice for dinner was a cup of rice and beans?
💥 LET’S JOIN IN SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NO CHOICE.
With every simple meal eaten this season, there can be real impact for those in need. You can either take up the challenge or donate to someone who already has. All donations will go towards the ministry of Sacred Streets to continue affirming the immeasurable value of those who have less. Our challenge activates four things:
1) Solidarity with the disenfranchised
2) Prayerful posture
3) Extra funds to give
4) A call for others to donate.
It’s like a Walkathon, but we’re challenging the stomach instead of the legs. It’s like Dressember, but we’re eating different instead of dressing different.
Through this challenge we are hopeful to raise $30,000 to support the ministry of Sacred Streets.
Watch the Video | Donate | Join the Challenge
Shroud of the Unhoused
Logan and Kristen: Enlightenment and Trust
Logan & Kristen: Enlightenment and Trust
This piece exhibits Logan’s philosophies and my perspective of humility and holiness. It was a collaborative effort with Logan and Kristen whom I met on the streets of Santa Ana. Our art-making time (and relationship) was cut short by the police who abruptly forced us to split up and vacate the area we were creating. The writings and diagrams are Logan’s work and ideas and the portraits are by my own hand.
In the tent series, I am addressing the tents and encampments that appear on sidewalks and abandoned lots as temporary shelter for those who feel it is their best option. At best we overlook these sites and at worst we complain or scoff. But what if every time we saw a tent we realized it represents a person with a story that is likely suffering and teetering toward the end of their life?
Price: $1800
Monte, 2020
Monte
Speaking about how the lack of proper mental health and the homeless crisis are one and the same. When individuals with severe mental illnesses are left untreated or maltreated, their chances of living on the streets increase drastically. The call is to compassion and understanding for those who find themselves in these circumstances.
In the tent series, I am addressing the tents and encampments that appear on sidewalks and abandoned lots as temporary shelter for those who feel it is their best option. At best we overlook these sites and at worst we complain or scoff. But what if every time we saw a tent we realized it represents a person with a story that is likely suffering and teetering toward the end of their life?
Price: $1200
