The ‘Festival for All Skid Row Artists’

All participating artists receive a pair of yellow shades, with the inscription “Skid Row Artist: menacing cool" imprinted on the left temple. The ‘Festival for All Skid Row Artists’ gives a menacing-cool face to the creative community of Skid Row.

Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, released “Making a Case for Skid Row Culture: Findings from a Collaborative Inquiry by the Los Angeles Poverty Department and the Urban Institute”. This study by John Malpede (Los Angeles Poverty Department) and Mario Rosario Jackson (Urban Institute) documents the role of arts and culture in Skid Row. The paper is available at www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy/pdf/reading_room/LAPD.pdf   This study found that culture comes from the ground up in Skid Row and is often initiated by residents and resident driven initiatives. This festival is undertaken to recognize these people and initiatives and to stimulate a new way of envisioning and talking about this neighborhood.

The ‘Festival for All Skid Row Artists’ moves the case for Skid Row culture forward in practice by creating a unique context that both generates cultural participation and documents it. This project encourages known neighborhood artists and identifys and brings together arts makers who are unknown even in their own Skid Row neighborhood.

FESTIVAL FOR ALL SKID ROW ARTISTS - FRIDAY AND SATURDAY JANUARY 27 & 28 from 12-4 PM, GLADYS PARK

Los Angeles Poverty Department produces the 2nd annual 'Festival for All Skid Row Artists'  in Gladys Park, at the corner of 6th and Gladys Street in Skid Row.

Because there is so much creative energy in the community we are expanding this years ‘Festival for All Skid Row Artists’ to two afternoons of performances, visual arts exhibitions and activities by artists who live and work on Skid Row. We are also inviting a few artists from outside Skid Row to create artistic exchange.

Neighborhood artists will perform and Los Angeles Poverty Department will collect digital data to create an artists’ registry and an archive of artists work. We will film and photograph visual art, writing, song and performances of neighborhood residents in Gladys Park.

Artists can exhibit their work and sign up in advance to reserve performance time up to 15 minutes. There will be time for open mic performances as well, so people can participate spontaneously. To reserve a time, send an email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call/text Henriëtte: 310-227 6071 or Kevin Michael: 213-948-6159.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

!!! Just like last year, if you register as an artist we will give you some 'menacing cool' shades !!! and we'll film your performance and give you a DVD with clips of all the performances and art works for free.