Program areas at Venice Arts
Art mentoring and education: in 2023, Venice Arts saw growing enrollment in its programs for children and teens, ages 10-18, reaching 75% of pre-pandemic enrollment. Among other programs, young people participated in our sequenced (beginning-to- advanced) curriculum in filmmaking, photography, animation, and comics; in our portfolio workshops targeting rising seniors at culver city high school; and in a collaborative photography project in partnership with the getty museum. Venice Arts was also able to re-institute some of its college pathways programs, including college day; support for national awards and competitions; and support for scholarships for unique learning opportunities. The latter included 3 full scholarships to the residential idyllwild Arts academy, 1 full scholarship for otis college's summer of art, and 5 full scholarships for grand canyon youth expeditions, with 10 days on the Colorado river. Venice Arts' students remain primarily low-income (95%), with over 50% living in poverty. They are highly diverse, with 84% bipoc participants and, while approximately 50% live in neighborhoods with high pockets of poverty on the west side, the balance come from throughout los angeles, including 31% from pico-union, south la, inglewood, and watts, and 17% come from as far as east la, southeast la, boyle heights, norwalk and the san fernando valley.
Gallery & public programs: in 2023, we were able to again offer in-person exhibitions of work by young people in our programs. However, we were not able to relaunch our pre-covid series of exhibitions, film screenings, and public programs by professional photographers and filmmakers. We hope to launch our first public exhibit in summer 2024.
Creative pathways: center for creative workforce equity: the center provides a diverse range of programs designed for low-income young people, ages 16-24, living throughout la county and interested in working in the Arts and entertainment. These range from exposure to the myriad of pathways into work to two state-registered pre-apprenticeship programs (editing, digital storytelling) that result in certifications and employment placements meant to serve as the first step on a pathway to high-road employment; these include internships, apprenticeships, and jobs. Priority is given to former or current foster, homeless, justice-involved, and/or lgbtq youth. Partners include large companies (nbcu, sony, dreamworks, pbs socal), as well as small to mid-size production studios and post-production houses. Of note, in 2023 6 pre-apprenticeship graduates were placed as apprentices with key individuals on a creative team (producer, director, dp, editor) to produce psas for nbcu's grantees. Graduates of ccwe are also supported in their applications for awards and other recognitions. In 2023, 5 pre-apprenticeship graduates were selected for the cbs pipeline challenge, a program "designed for early career storytellers to step up to creative leadership positions;" two received 5,000 power of storytelling grants from nbcu; and one was awarded a 2024 original voices accelerator fellowship.
Consulting programs: 0 in 2023, Venice Arts' consulting program, providing consulting and training to national and international ngos, foundations, and academic institutions remained on hiatus due to pandemic impacts.