Excited to reopen my studio and in respect for my desire to continue to reach at-risk youth, I went to breakfast with friend and Los Angeles Council President Eric Garcetti to share my news. I wanted to open the studio in a neighborhood where I had relationships with nonprofit organizations. Eric introduced me to real estate developer Samir Srivastava who offered me studio space in the same building where Eric had his field office at Hollywood and Western. Eric also agreed to introduce me to the top chiefs at a few of the local youth-based service agencies where I would be building partnerships.
I went out on these meetings eager to meet my new students. Only I didn’t find Latinas. Instead, I found homeless young adults. Many of them looked a lot like me when I was their age.
I shared with them my idea to open a ceramics studio up the street. And to invite them to come build things with me. The reaction? Dead pan. Nothing. Not interested. Ceramics, what?
So I asked them in what they were interested. Music. Film. Fashion. I put the two kilns I had just bought in storage. And I opened Hollywoood Arts. The first educational facility in the nation to use arts, performance and music-based education to help the over 18 homeless and newly emancipated foster youth population feel good about themselves and get excited about learning….
In the beginning I programmed at group homes and shelters. I ran three classes and brought in incredible talent to work with the kids– film maker Andrew Lazar who taught a class on pitching ideas, actor Persia White, screen writer David Elliot, animator Andy Clark, actor Garrett Hedlund, writer Martin Olson, producer Doug Davison. By the 6th month I was preparing to do our first seated dinner honoring video game sound composer and hero, Tommy Tallarico. I was ready to have my own building.
The photos below are of the first event I held a few weeks after the idea. I raised enough money at the event (and thank you to Paramount Pictures for helping!) to start programs at partner agencies, before I leased our own space on Wilcox in Hollywood. The kid in the white, featured twice, is my foster son John.
