Casita character designed by Priscilla Hernández. Background image by Josiah O’Balles.
Check out the work the Youth Artivists have accomplished during their terms
Activations
2024 cohort
Emily Ordaz, Penelope Bernal, Tzasná Perez Espinosa
The 2024 Youth Artivism Interns focused their project around social housing. Their project was titled Behind the Photo/Detrás de la Foto.
From the Artivists:
“Behind the photo is a Youth-Led project based in Los Angeles, California that engages with the East LA community through free photography pop-ups. The project is an ever-growing archive that not only provides people with free photos but also a safe space to share memories and reflections. Folks are encouraged to respond to a series of thought-provoking questions during pop-ups : “What is one keepsake you've carried from home to home?”, “What is a joyful memory you have experienced within your community?, and “If you had all the power, how would your community look?” participants left behind dozens of insightful responses which this zine puts in center stage.
At the face of great housing insecurity and gentrification, we turn toward the concept of social housing for inspiration- a form of housing that is permanently affordable, as well as community managed and owned. Within a Social Housing system, housing is not a luxury – it is a human right. This is why we want to provide free portraits, to transform photography, a prime tool to preserve memory, into a public good, and make it so that money and time are not a barrier for those interacting with our project.”
You can acess the photo galleries here.
2022-23 cohort
Danielle del Rosario, Michelle Montenegro, and Alegría López
The 2022-23 Cohort focused most of their internship time on supporting the Stop the Gondola campaign. They hosted an art build and created a community engagement project to present during two events, a 'Community Dodger's Opening Day' and Clockshop's Community & Unity People's Kite Festival. They designed and created buttons to share and created activations to record community priorities. You can read more about the activations here. They also learned about the Eastside LEADS USC Accountability campaign and designed a zine to inform community residents about the impact of USC developments on the Eastside and South LA neighborhoods.
2021-22 cohort
Samantha Nieves, Josiah O’Balles, and Kimby Ruíz
The 2021-22 cohort’s core project was titled Eastside Speaks! Guided by the question “What is Home?”, the Artivists worked on a multidisciplinary project including a series of workshops with tenants, an installation, and two videos.
The project focused on uplifting the experiences of tenants who have faced displacement, live in uninhabitable units, cannot sustain rent increases, have or are experiencing homelessness, and continue the fight for permanent tenant protections.
2020 - 21 COHORT
Sophía García, Priscilla Hernández, and Vanya Navarrete
The inaugural Youth Artivism Internship cohort focused on direct action, supporting tenant rights, and creating art for rallies and protests. Their internship was packed with projects guided by their passion for activism and community.
They made two zines, one focused on tenant rights and resources and another on mental health as part of We Rise; they supported the SHG Youth Committee with a series of videos about housing justice and designed merchandise for a community fundraiser helping tenants who lost their homes to a fire. While at SHG, they developed and painted banners for different protests. Lastly, they collaborated with SHG Beyond the Press Artist in Residence Pável Acevedo on a mural highlighting tenant activists with a QR code for resources.
