He begins his performance with his back to the audience. His blonde curls are pulled into a casual pony-tail. Tan pants splattered with red, yellow and green paint and a loose grey shirt are his costume. He begins to work on the nine-foot- high canvas mounted onstage.

Green paint is followed by pink, then liquid silver squeezes from bottles onto the canvas in circular patterns. His rhythmic motion intensifies, matching the beat of the techno music playing in the background. He loosens his pony tail and lets his hair flow free. He begins to paint more traditionally, the brush and pigments now telling a story. But his words are getting jumbled, so he adds more paint; lime green, yellow and purple, all running together and forming new colors. He forsakes the brush, using his hands directly on the canvas to smear the colors together. Distinctive lines are lost as the colors merge together, just like the participants sitting in the audience, who listen with their eyes as he tells them, wordlessly, the story of themselves: a culturally diverse community joined together as one.

Todd “Spark” Jones-Donahue moved to the Bay Area to attend a Master’s Degree program in Transformative Art Painting at JFK University in Berkeley.

"Although my artwork is spontaneous and spurred on by the public audience, it has aspects of storytelling," he says. "The people and the environment transform me to create my work.”

Donahue’s intriguing performance-art piece opened the 7th annual OMI (Oceanview, Merced and Ingleside) International Family Festival, in the Ingleside neighborhood of San Francisco. The corner of Faxon Street and Ocean Avenue is closed off to make space for an entertainment stage, game booths, arts and crafts tables, and various ethnic food vendors. Children of different ethnic backgrounds bounce together in the jumping castle, next to the magician who entertains with more than a few tricks up his sleeves.

"This is a great community event," says Mayor Gavin Newsom, stopping to pose for pictures with the locals. "It creates a sense of place and pride, which characterizes the city's diversity. It is important for the city to celebrate and encourage these kinds of festivals. That's why I come out."

There hasn't always been a strong sense of community involvement in the OMI neighborhoods, according to Woody La Bounty,Vice President of the neighborhood's Board of Directors.

"These neighborhoods are some of the most diverse in an already diverse city such as San Francisco," says La Bounty. "There were so many different cultural groups that there were times when they would clash. So many people wanted to help and have a say as to what went on in the neighborhood that sometimes it did more harm than good."

During the 1950's, there was a large influx of African-Americans into the OMI after redevelopment forced them to move out of the Fillmore district. Approximately 50 percent of the area now consists of Asian-Americans. “There has been a constant change of ethnic groups within the OMI,” says La Bounty. “It is hard to put people in a certain category of ethnicity. I would say we have a little bit of everyone.”

But this cultural “melting-pot” still experiences separation amongst its inhabitants.

"The problem that we face now with new-comers to the area, is getting them involved as first-generation immigrants," says La Bounty. "They are more concerned with getting their lives set up, while figuring out the things that would benefit themselves and their families, instead of their place within the community. As a community we want those people involved from the start, so we can work together."

La Bounty believes that the International Family Festival is a way for all of those groups to put aside their own concerns for the neighborhood, and see the bigger picture: that the community needs to work together to makes things happen.

"Our problems are much different from West Portal or the Sunset's," he says. "Our issues are things like higher crime, or the fact that we don't have a grocery store. As a community, we have to act together to make a difference, but we have to get together and make sure that people are involved first.”

Maria Picar, Executive Director for the OMI Cultural Participation Project, said that the International Family Festival gets the entire community involved-- from businesses, to community leaders, to the people themselves.

Picar notes that involvement is what dictates change. "You can't complain unless you try to do something about it," she says. "It hasn't always been easy trying to coordinate an event with so many people wanting to get involved. The outcome is worth it-- to see so many people from different backgrounds and traditions working together.”

Donahue and Picar have discussed the possibility of creating art workshops in the OMI area so they can continue to work together to bring the OMI community closer. A performance like Spark’s transformative art is one way for people to gather and experience culture in a hip, new way.

“Much of my life has been dedicated to inspiring people through creative expression,” says Donahue. “I help spark the inspiration, and then the fire is provided by something much larger than myself, namely spirit.”

The OMI neighborhoods are constantly changing. Older residents, still around from the time when houses were first being developed on the flower-filled hills of Merced Heights, are now joined by first-generation immigrants and young students annually matriculating into the community.

"In these neighborhoods, there is so much diversity. Not only in ethnicity but in lifestyle," says Tasha Fernandez, a San Francisco State student participating in the festival. "It is great that the community can come together and embrace one another, and meet someone of a different culture that they wouldn't have gotten to meet before. It is unfortunate that this event only takes place once a year.”

Jessica Ziganti, a Senior Girl Scout, joined her troop leader Nancy Schlesinger at the festival, showing support by volunteering at the arts and crafts table. "When I am in Girl Scouts I meet people of all different nationalities. So, the Girl Scouts is a good way to promote multiculturalism within the community here," says Ziganti. "We may not have the same traditions or speak the same languages, but we come together and are friends."

Peter Vaernet, a resident of the neighborhood for 20 years, stumbled across Merced Heights while studying at SF State. At the time, the area wasn’t as desirable as it is today. “I feel like I’m traveling when I’m in the neighborhood,” he says.“There are breathtaking views of the city from the top of the hill where I live. I saw the potential that this neighborhood had.”

When Vaernet and his wife moved to the neighborhood 20 years ago, the area was experiencing a higher crime rate than most San Francisco neighborhoods. The streets were dirty and it wasn’t safe to go out after dark. In an effort to bring people closer within the neighborhood, Vaernet and his neighbors in the OMI decided to plant a garden on top of the hill that was covered in weeds and broken glass. A community village was built at Brooks Park on top of the hill at Ramsell Avenue and Sheilds Street to bring all ages and cultures together.

“It is sometimes difficult for people within the OMI to connect to one another when they don’t speak the same language. At Brooks Park people can feel connected to one another within the community without talking to one another,” he says. “My neighbors are from Russia, Guyana, Ecuador, China, and Vietnam. The whole world is here on top of this hill.”