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Ava Renée Notkin

@avanotkin

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🖤 Tedx Speaker
🪬 300k @tiktok
🖤 Creative soul / Biz brain
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What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

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It was an absolute honor to attend the first ever Jewish American Heritage Month Celebration at the White House hosted by @kamalaharris @douglasemhoff @joebiden and @drbiden. We did what us Jews know how to do best: eat, laugh, cry, dance… and talk about how we can work together to make the world a better place: Tikkun olam. תִּיקּוּן עוֹלָם. Repair the World.Growing up in the Pittsburgh Jewish community and witnessing the largest massacre of Jews in US History, the tragedy of 2018 at Tree of Life Synagogue, the need for awareness and education of the Jewish peoplehood is quite clear. Tree of Life was my neighborhood place of worship. For years, my family lived in Texas where we were ostracized for our culture, meanwhile at Tree of Life synagogue, I celebrated my ancestors’ stories over dinners with Holocaust survivors. It was a stark reality shift when such a safe space became one of pure horror. I’m grateful to live in a time where I can speak proudly of my ancestry and say the words my ancestors could not. To be me: my own version of a 21st century Jewish woman. One of the many who continue to define Judaism through their own lens; Though Jews are beautifully expansive and different, we are somehow always connected by a common thread. If not me, who? If not now, when? My grandparents and their grandparents and the ones strived for justice in this world…and it's a privilege to be able to continue in their footsteps. Thank you to @repairtheworld @whitehouse and @potus for this powerful night. 🇺🇸#jewishamericanheritagemonth #jahm by @avanotkin

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3 years ago

A look into my Tedx Talk ‘the Dark Side of Social Media- and How to Take Back Control’ at my alma mater with 6 other inspiring individuals on April 9th, 2022. Nearing 2 weeks from the event, I find it hard to describe the overwhelming gratitude I have for this experience and everyone involved. To be able to use my career and life experience with social media, mindfulness, and mental health to address a larger paradigm shift affecting us all has been one of the highlights of my life thus far. A massive thank you from the bottom of my heart for the outpour of support and love. Thank you for trusting me with this stage. I hope my talk can resonate with you and encourage us all to look at things a bit more LUCIDLY 👀❣️ (Slide 1: Behind the Scenes, Slide 2: Portrait, Slide 3: Official TedxTalk excerpt…)#tedtalk #tedx #tedxtalks #mentalhealth #tech #socialmedia #tiktok #genz #socialcapital by @avanotkin

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4 years ago

3 weeks. 252 hours. Night Shifts. Sleep deprivation. Delirious laughter. And some good hard work. Words can’t encompass the gratitude I have towards the fever dream that was working on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (@nbcolympics) with @nbcuniversal . To have a part in such a globally unifying experience was beyond my wildest dreams. Watching the world come together to celebrate the raw beauty and awe of human spirit was so special. As I take my corporate hat off, I am proud to not only have felt the inspiration, wonder, and fascination y’all felt at home, but to have helped create that feeling. This project will be deeply embedded in my heart. And truly (before I turn to a pile of moosh), it wouldn’t have been possible without the kindness, love, support, and company of my colleagues and the energy we created together. Colleagues I can confidently say will be friends far after this experience. Thank you for the lessons. Thank you for the memories. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Shout out to Coffee, Boxing, and 10 am post-work strolls for moments of daylight. 🏅 ☕️ 🥊 by @avanotkin

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5 years ago

On a cool mid-summer evening, @craigthompsonphoto and I put on some 80’s music and made rock n’ roll magic. No better time to share it than the witching hour of pre-Halloween madness. 🖤 by @avanotkin

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10 months ago

Resurfacing this bizarre Super8 short film I made over a decade ago. Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, and other classic horror and surrealist greats, I aimed to take my perception of the ‘loss of innocence’ into the art house realm. Looking back at my budding creativity and the way I allowed it to be a catharsis of sorts hits hard as I reflect on my career and the evolving nature of creation. Extremely grateful for programs that nourished the young arts and allowed me to shoot super8 film, learn the darkroom process, inversion of coloring, transforming film to digital, and familiarizing self with digital production processes and software. Soon film with its high expenses, labored craft, and digital alternatives may become a thing of the past. However this little gem will exist for eternity. However weird, strange, and amateur. How many of us look back at our childhood creativity and wish we could harness that imagination once more? How often are we making art for arts sake as adults? Once it was a means of understanding the world for me. In ways it still is, in ways it is not. Anyhow. Enjoy this short film from a dark little corner of my underdeveloped brain. 🌹 #super8 #super8film #super8mm #film #darkroom #shortfilm #horror #bizarre #staycreative #creativity #art #experimental #innocence by @avanotkin

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2 years ago

Queen Midas brought some glitter and shine to the @mattressfactory Garden Party 👑♥️ On the other hand, Ava will be picking glitter out of their hair and clothes for the next month… but i did have my Romeo + Juliet circa 1996 moment. 👼Honored to have partnered with @mattressfactory for this amazing event. The Garden Party proceeds support local and international artists to work in-residence on Pittsburgh’s Northside to create wonderful art at Mattress Factory for our community.#contemporaryart #gardenparty #pittsburgh by @avanotkin

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2 years ago

An excerpt from my Tedx Talk ‘The Dark Side of Social Media and Taking Back Control’ about the search for community, #groupthink, #thoughtbubbles, and #diversity of perspectives that feels more pertinent now than it did 2.5 years ago. How do we truly learn from one another? How do we regain control over our own perspectives, thoughts, beliefs? How do we engage in tangible community locally and globally? Food for thought. #socialmedia #politics #socialcapitol #tedtalk #tiktok #tedx #community #education by @avanotkin

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3 years ago

Story of a Girl 🐈‍⬛Ft. the incredible works of @nakashimawoodworkers @theoriginalfourwindsgallery jewelry & @evanrsanders artistry by @avanotkin

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3 years ago

Love in a Library 🤍A magical night celebrating an even more magical woman and marriage ✨(Excuse my janky photoshop attempt to remove the trash can behind the lovely lauren) by @avanotkin

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3 years ago

A heart full of gratitude to Colombia & @stevanvillegas for showing us your incredible home 🇨🇴 No words could do this place justice… but I’ll list a few highlights:1. Buñuelos, oxtail soup, aguacates, arepas, + mamoncillos are holy gifts to our tummies and souls. 2. I will be listening and dancing to Colombian music for the foreseeable future. 3. Nothing like being awoken by a rooster at dawn. 4. Gratitude to chosen families. 5. Note to self: never hike through the jungle without long pants ever again. 6. Humanity: though we’re all different, connection is always possible - if not through common language… through simple things like laughs, hugs, dancing, listening. 7. I hope the @americanair agent who made me lose my luggage, cry & nearly miss my flight has found happiness. 8. In Colombia you aren’t a Bad B*tch, you’re a Bichota 👑 by @avanotkin

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3 years ago

moments in nyc that tickled my brain 🧠 by @avanotkin

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3 years ago

I once wrote a poem that began “But what if the voice of a god were locked within the frame of a little girl?” 🌹 Most wouldn’t blink an eye. I encourage everyone to try to find the voices of gods in their everyday. For example, today the voice of a god purrs incessantly in my cat and laughs loudly in my 80 year old art collecting neighbor. 📸: @bryanberry by @avanotkin

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3 years ago