- The Beverly Arts
- Mar 10
Updated: May 27
Samira Kazemeni, president of Samira's Network, actress/TV personality Marla Maples, Sharon Amezcua, TV host/former news anchor Carlos Amezcua, and TV host Joey Zhou, founder of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA)
Universal City, California, USA. 2nd March, 2025. The Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) Icon Awards were held at the Luxury Gala 2025 Academy Awards Viewing Party at the Universal City Hilton Hotel. Led by the LABA Biennial International Art Festival organizing committee, the LABA Icon Awards brought together a distinguished team of professionals including presenters, artists, and entrepreneurs for an evening of elegance, entertainment, and recognition of achievement at the Luxury Gala 2025.
Photo credit: JR Foto
Photo credit: JR Foto
The LABA Icon Awards were hosted by TV host Joey Zhou, founder of LABA, TV host/former news anchor Carlos Amezcua (winner of 22 Emmy® awards), model/actress Dustin Quick, and special guest actress/TV personality Marla Maples. Other LABA guests included sound designer Paul Ottosson (3-time Oscar® winner), director/filmmaker Harrison Engle, renowned artist Todd Williamson, financial entrepreneur Sharon Amezcua, producer Douglas Ivanovich, artist Rosana Largo Rodriguez, music artist Karen Han, Sir Laurent Khaiat, international investors Jacky (Jiahao) Zhang and Dr. Binghua Chen, Professor Lingyun Xiang, and Freda Ou, Chairman of the LABA Asia Region.
Entrepreneur Wai Man Yip, entrepreneur Gene Yuxin Chen, actress/TV personality Marla Maples, artist Hanyu Yu, and artist Ke Yi
The winners of the LABA Icon Awards for 2025:
1. LABA Icon Award 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award in Art - Jiannan Huang
2. LABA Icon Award 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award in Art - Ke Yi
3. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Entrepreneur - Wai Man Yip
4. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Entrepreneur - Gene Yuxin Chen
5. LABA Icon Award 2025 Best Visionary Master Artist - Hanyu Yu
6. LABA Icon Award 2025 Best Visionary Entrepreneur - Zehra Sun
7. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Visual Artist Chun Liu
8. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Visual Artist - Jun Tan
9. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Entrepreneur - Peter Wu
10. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Entrepreneur - Freda Ou
11. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Visual Artist Xia Yang
12. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Design Artist - Wenkang Xue
13. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Visual Artist - Tian Chen
14. LABA Icon Award 2025 Best Visionary Visual Artist - Youben Hu
15. LABA Icon Award 2025 Most Visionary Entrepreneur - Calia Lin
All winners were present at the ceremony except artists Jiannan Huang, Chun Liu, and Xia Yang who were unable to attend.
Artist Ke Yi received Lifetime Achievement Award in Art
Zehra Sun, CEO of MDSUN Skin Care, received award for Best Visionary Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Peter Wu received award for Best Visionary Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Freda Ou received award for Best Visionary Entrepreneur
Artist Hanyu Yu received award for Best Visionary Master Artist
LABA Blue-chip artist Jiannan Huang received Lifetime Achievement Award in Art
Artist Chun Liu received award for Most Visionary Visual Artist
Artist Xia Yang received award for Most Visionary Visual Artist
Designer Wenkang Xue
Artist Tian Chen
Professor Lingyun Xiang
Jacky (Jiahao) Zhang and Dr. Binghua Chen
Artist Rosana Largo Rodriguez
Karen Han and Paul Ottosson
TV host Joey Zhou
The Luxury Gala continued on throughout the evening with gourmet appetizers, the viewing of the 97th Academy Awards, multi-course dinner, entertainment, fashion shows, and a special awards ceremony for industry leaders and those who contributed to the success of the event.
The Beverly Arts News is sponsored by Cynthia Clarté, MDSUN, Youben Hu Art Studio, En Guangzhi Art Studio, and The Beverly Arts Foundation
- The Beverly Arts
- Mar 2
Updated: Mar 16
Ke Yi plays the violin
Artist Ke Yi is Winner of the LABA Icon Award for Lifetime Achievement. His distinguished career in music was followed by a crossover into art where he formed a unique creative style by “incorporating musical thinking into painting”.
I. Basic Information and Educational Background
Ke Yi, Han ethnicity, was born in Fushun, Sichuan Province in August 1953. He is a second-level professor and a master’s supervisor. (He was once appointed as a doctoral supervisor for interdisciplinary research between literature and music at Sichuan University.) He started working in 1970 as an educated youth. In 1982, he graduated from the Composition Department of
Sichuan Conservatory of Music, majoring in composition. He was engaged in music composition and music education management for many years.
From 2010 to 2014, he served as the president of Sichuan Conservatory of Music. (In 2019, Shinhan University in South Korea awarded Ke Yi a Doctor of Education degree.) Even after retirement, he has remained active in the art field. Currently, he serves as the Honorary Dean of the Violin Art Research Institute of Sichuan Conservatory of Music and the Honorary Director of the Guqin Research Center of Sichuan Conservatory of Music.
Artist Ke Yi
II. Music Composition and Academic Contributions
Representative Works
Yi is renowned for his compositions that integrate traditional Chinese music with modern techniques.
Award-winning Musical Works
Pipa Concerto: Man Jiang Hong
Flute and Orchestra: Epic of Ashima
Erhu and Pipa Orchestra: Reflections on Reading “Song of Everlasting Regret”
Chinese Orchestral Music: Rhapsody on the Dadu River
Hammered Dulcimer and Chinese Orchestral Music: Ode to the Goddess
All these works are included in The Collection of Chinese Music Works over the Past Century.
Academic Research
He has published several important papers, such as Analysis of the Current Situation of Online Music and A Brief Explanation of Schenker’s Concept of “Improvisation”, and has translated Schenker’s theoretical works.
Promotion of Discipline Construction
1. In 2010, he participated in the compilation and publication of the five-volume Selected Works of Wang Guangqi (serving as the deputy editor-in-chief). This book won the first prize of the Sichuan Provincial Social Science Award in 2011.
2. In 2011, he took the lead in establishing the Electronic Music Department of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, filling the gap in the cultivation of high-level electronic music talents in Western China. He also published the first set of domestic “Series of Theories and Techniques of Electronic Music”.
Education and Management
Yi has long held teaching and administrative leadership positions at Sichuan Conservatory of Music. He once served as the Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of Higher Art Education of the Ministry of Education and the Vice President of the Chinese Polyphonic Music Society. He participated in national-level teaching evaluations and review work, making important contributions to the development of the art education system in Sichuan Province.
Artist Ke Yi
III. Artistic Crossover and Oil Painting Creation
After retiring in 2014, Yi embarked on a career in oil painting creation, forming a unique creative style by “incorporating musical thinking into painting”.
Creative Achievements
As of 2025, he has completed more than 2,200 oil painting works, including The European Refugee Crisis, Returning Soul to Seda, Scenery of Beihai, Chasing the Wind, My Heart Will Go On, and a series of works about musicians and artists. The themes cover portraits, natural landscapes, and human history.
Artistic Concept
He advocates “the purity of art” and emphasizes that art should carry the depth of thought and the thickness of emotion.
Crossover Integration
He integrates the thinking of harmony and polyphony in music composition techniques into the composition and color of paintings, and has been praised as “composing silent music with shapes and colors”, breaking the boundaries of art and traditional thinking.
Artist Ke Yi
IV. Honors and Social Influence
Personal Honors
He once served as a consultant to the Chinese Musicians Association in the United States, the Vice President of the Musicians Association of Sichuan Province, and the Honorary Chairman of the Musicians Association of Chengdu.
Social Evaluation
Art critic Huang Zongxian said that Yi’s oil paintings “carry the depth of emotion with shapes and colors, and are more touching than works that show off techniques”. He is praised as “a dark horse in the art circle”, and his works show the “patriotic feelings” and social responsibility of intellectuals. In 2019, Shinhan University in South Korea established the “Ke Yi Hall” art gallery in the new teaching building for Ke Yi’s paintings.
Artist Ke Yi (upper right)
V. Artistic Concept and Life Realm
Yi’s artistic career is characterized by “purity” and “crossover”: Resonance between Music and Painting. He believes that art is “a sincere expression of life experiences”, and creation requires “seeing oneself, seeing the world, and seeing all living beings”.
Collection and Inheritance
Over the past 50 years, he has collected more than 4,000 Chinese and foreign musical instruments, reflecting his respect for and inheritance of diverse cultures. Yi’s multiple identities as a composer, art educator, painter, and collector jointly construct the image of an “omnidirectional artist” who adheres to the essence of art in the process of the development of the times.
The Beverly Arts News is sponsored by Cynthia Clarté, MDSUN, Youben Hu Art Studio, En Guangzhi Art Studio, and The Beverly Arts Foundation
- The Beverly Arts
- Mar 1
Freda (Xinwen) Ou
Freda (Xinwen) Ou, who previously served as the Chairman of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) South China has been named Chairman of the LABA Asia Region in an expanded role. She graduated with a Master of Business Administration from the University of Canberra in Australia and an EMBA from Huashang College of Jinan University. At the helm of the "WahYang Lane" cultural industry brand, with her exceptional leadership and forward-looking vision, she navigates the waves in the business world. In the brilliant galaxy where business and culture blend, Ou shines like a radiant star, exuding a unique and charming glow.
Moreover, Ou is an enthusiastic participant in community activities. In Liwan District, Guangzhou, she serves as the President of the Women Entrepreneurs Association, leading a group of outstanding female entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams. Over more than two decades, she has delved deep into the operation and management of commercial real estate and five-star hotel management industries, accumulating profound professional expertise. With her keen insights into business and art, she has become a highly acclaimed commercial real estate brand planner and spatial artist. At the same time, she also founded "Wealthy Weekly" which is published in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau, leaving a significant mark in the field of financial and entertainment magazines.
The mission of "WahYang Lane" is warm and steadfast: to enable Eastern and Western cultures to embrace each other affectionately across mountains and seas; to let ancient and modern times converge among the bricks and tiles of the buildings, awakening the sleeping history; and to ensure that everyone who steps into this place can reap joy and happiness nurtured by culture. It harbors a grand vision of creating a super commercial cultural tourism complex that integrates the charm of Guangfu culture, historical heritage, top-notch luxury, and modern technology, and becoming a new landmark of urban culture. The values of "The earth's condition is receptive devotion. Thus the superior man who has breadth of character carries the outer world; Embracing all things, magnanimous and vast, all beings will enjoy good fortune and prosperity" are like the cornerstone, supporting "WahYang Lane" to move steadily forward on the path of cultural inheritance and business development.
Freda Ou
The "WahYang Lane" project is like a huge stone thrown into the long river of culture, creating layers of ripples and having a profound international impact. It not only injects new vitality into the historic city of Guangzhou but also becomes a model project in the field of revitalizing cultural relic buildings in China. During the project's implementation, Ou and her team, with a sense of awe for history, conducted in-depth research on every historical and cultural site, as if they were having a dialogue with the past and listening attentively to the stories sealed by the passage of time. They meticulously restored the cultural relic buildings, and while preserving their historical features, they skillfully incorporated modern facilities, allowing the ancient and the modern to coexist harmoniously.
What's even more commendable is that Ou was not satisfied with mere protection and restoration. With an innovative mindset, she introduced diverse cultural and creative industry brands. Among them, the LIGHTHOUSE art space won the "Honorable Mention in the Renovation Category" of the Cultural Architecture Group at the Architecture MasterPrize™ in the United States in 2021. In the ALICE YU fashion design studio, young designers are brimming with inspiration, lighting up the future with their creativity. In the folk customs museum and traditional handicraft experience hall, visitors can immerse themselves in the charm of traditional culture. The trendy Laihui Coffee and MSTAND Coffee brands have become popular places for young people to check in and relax. A series of wonderful cultural activities are held here one after another. Under the nourishment of modern culture, the ancient buildings have regained their vitality, becoming a bridge connecting the past and the future. They have also driven the economic development of the surrounding areas, promoting a harmonious symphony of development between culture and the economy.
In 2025, "WahYang Lane" sets sail on a new journey, embarking on a magnificent global cultural dissemination campaign. After successfully revitalizing the Shamian historical block, Ou has set her sights on the world stage. She has been invited to serve as the President of the Asian Region of the LABA International Art Festival in Los Angeles, USA, and is determined to create a world-class art platform. Here, artists from around the world will gather, with the artistic concepts of the East and the West colliding passionately, and cultural elements of tradition and modernity, as well as the East and the West, blending with each other and bursting into brilliant sparks. The online and offline display and communication network will break down geographical barriers, enabling traditional Eastern culture to cross national borders and reach the world. At the same time, through in-depth cooperation with international brands, a rich variety of art and fashion peripheral products will be derived, injecting a continuous stream of vitality into the historical block and making Eastern culture shine brightly in every corner of the world.
Ou is like a cultural envoy, using love and wisdom to build a solid bridge between business and culture. She has not only achieved remarkable accomplishments in promoting international urban development and cultural heritage protection but also contributed Eastern strength to global cultural exchange and integration, making the ancient and splendid Eastern culture shine even more brightly in modern society and becoming a dazzling pearl in the world's cultural treasure trove!
The Beverly Arts News is sponsored by Cynthia Clarté, MDSUN, Youben Hu Art Studio, En Guangzhi Art Studio, and The Beverly Arts Foundation