LA Commons

South Los Angeles, CA

Winter 2017

LA Commons develops artistic and cultural projects that reveal the unique stories of L.A.’s neighborhoods and engage visitors as part of cultural tours.  Artists lead teams of youth age 15-25 to collect stories and information from the community, lead the team in design and create temporary public art to share the stories.  LA Commons is partnering with Building Healthy Communities South LA (a project of The California Endowment) to produce two art projects January-April 2017:

Promoting Affordable Housing – Partnership with UNIDAD Coalition to facilitate community engagement and create an artwork that contributes to efforts to resist gentrification and displacement and incorporate visions of community centered change. The artwork will also be used to commemorate events in recognition of the 25^th anniversary of the 1992 uprisings. *Special Note: Artwork must be moveable and interactive so that it can have visual presence and be relocated through multiple sites.  Workshops will take place at Esperanza, CD Tech and SAJE.  Additional partner is St. John’s Clinic.

Promoting Restorative Justice – Partners include Augustus Hawkins High School, Labor Strategy Center, St. John’s Clinic and additional BHC SLA partners to collect stories about the groundbreaking work happening in restorative justice and to contribute to campaigns to broaden the strategies used in school and community settings as alternatives to criminalization. The artwork will also be used to commemorate events in recognition of the 25^th anniversary of the 1992 uprisings. Workshops will take place at Augustus Hawkins High School.

The Role the Artist/Designers in this project will be:

1. To participate in story/image gathering process with the community arts team.
2. To mentor the Core Youth Arts Team to further youth in the development of skills in image making and design.
3. To create final artworks based on youth designs and community images gathered.
4. To attend the Opening Celebration.

Timeline

Mid January 2017 – Late April 2017

Artist Qualifications

1. Experience in visual and public arts.
2. Experience working with youth and community.
3. Connection to South Los Angeles.
4. Interest and experience in collaborative process.

Compensation

$2,200 stipend for Lead Artist.

*Fee includes conducting weekly workshops with a team of youth, story gathering, and completion of design review and final artwork. The supplies and youth stipends are included in another budget.

To Apply

Please submit these materials via email to Beth Peterson [email protected] by January 20, 2017.

1. Current resume and contact information
2. 7-10 Work Samples via email or web links
3. Artist statement: include interest in project and connection to South LA.