Here are some more thoughts along the lines of the title Transformative Arts — “Skid Row Museum”.
The narrative of the exhibit, partly set up this way and partly grew out of the experiences over the four days, is that there wouldn’t be a Skid Row Cooling Resources unless Skid Row was a Neighborhood. I had my Vote For A Skid Row Neighborhood Council T-shirt from five years ago on a hanger, the DTLA Weekly article honoring General Jeff after he passed away, and a plaque saying skidrowneighborhoodcouncil.com. The narrative was Skid Row fought so hard to get a Neighborhood Council, that effort is still in Court, but through in-depth engagement with Skid Row over recent years, the Department of City Planning named their work on the future of Skid Row Recognizing Skid Row As A Neighborhood in their September 2021 presentation to the Los Angeles Planning Commissioners. (The day after the exhibit closed we found out the Skid Row Neighborhood Council Formation Committee lost it’s Court appeal.)
I read a white paper recently on Creative Placemaking and I now realize that’s what this Skid Row effort was all about — creatively engaging an ongoing community/civic process. That’s not the only understanding of Creative Placemaking, but it’s one of them.
The sponsors of this exhibit were the Skid Row History Museum and Archive (Los Angeles Poverty Department) and Urban Voices Project.
Two ways to track all of this as it unfolds are the Skid Row Now and 2040 facebook page and the Skid Row Cooling Resources facebook page.
And here is something I posted on both of those facebook pages:
“an exhibit of community” — one of the special things about the space is how it developed over the four days. I was finished with the narrative Recognizing Skid Row As A Neighborhood: Skid Row Cooling Resources on the Advocacy Wall and there was still room. Lorinda Hawkins Smith brought a framed portrait of Biddy Mason as part of the Land Acknowledgement and that was put on the grass to lean against the wall. Then SC Mero brought a Laundry Parrot (later named the Biddy Bird after the Skid Row Heron) and that was placed next to the Biddy Mason portrait.
Then Lorraine Morland brought a dozen of her small paintings and I picked several of them (because Curators do that sort of thing) mostly of hearts since heart was emerging as a theme for the 24 by 24 space. Those were taped to the wall as well as placed on the grass leaning against it. And then Rosa Miller with Urban Voices brought a large pine cone painted purple and that completed the exhibit.
Transformative Arts — “Skid Row Museum”
Transformative Arts (Wikipedia) is the use of artistic activities, such as story-telling, painting, and music-making, to precipitate constructive individual and social change. The individual changes effected through transformative arts are commonly cognitive and emotional. This results from the way participation in a creative process and pursuit of an artistic discipline can promote a critical re-evaluation of previously held beliefs accompanied by unfamiliar feelings, which alters perception of the world, oneself, and others. The social change effected through transformative arts occurs when this altered perception manifests in new ways of interacting with others.
The annual LA Art Show at the Convention Center in Downtown Los Angeles is the biggest international art fair on the West Coast. For 2022 it goes from Thursday January 20 to Sunday the 23rd.
In this time of the new Covid outbreak, the Art Show consists of over eighty galleries from more than a dozen countries. The year before Covid appeared it was 120 galleries from 23 countries.
Within the Art Show each year is a special collaborative effort featuring Museums, Arts Nonprofits, and Community/Civic Engagement called DIVERSEartLA. The DIVERSEartLA theme for 2022 is the Environment.
And the reason for this blog is one of seven Museum exhibits within the DIVERSEartLA space is the “Skid Row Museum”. In essence, this is a Global pop up neighborhood. The Skid Row Museum exhibit is Recognizing Skid Row As A Neighborhood: Skid Row Cooling Resources.
From the Skid Row Now and 2040 Facebook page: ”Recognizing Skid Row As A Neighborhood: Skid Row Cooling Resources” is one of the Cultural Museum Exhibits in the LA Arts Show taking place this coming January 20–23 in the Downtown Convention center.
Recognizing Skid Row As A Neighborhood is the name of the powerpoint slide that the Department of City Planning (DTLA 2040) used in their September 2021 presentation to the Los Angeles Planning Commissioners to summarize their plan when it comes to the future of Skid Row. City Planning used their language in translating Skid Row community input and from that came up with 20 positive recommendations for Skid Row as a neighborhood. Regular updates here as the LA Art Show happens.
Go to laartshow.com and click on DIVERSEartLA to learn more.”
Birthed out of the brutal heat waves of September 2020, Skid Row Cooling Resources (SRCR) is an emergency public health response to the reality of Skid Row as a unique Urban Heat Island within the larger Heat Island of Downtown Los Angeles. SRCR successfully rolled out services on the streets of Skid Row this past summer.
Just as the Skid Row Now and 2040 Facebook page will have updates as the LA Art Show takes place from January 20 to 23, this blog Transformative Arts — Skid Row will also have updates.