LOS ANGELES POVERTY DEPARTMENT

Programming during the fiscal year continued to creatively serve housed and unhoused members of our low-income Skid Row community and the public at our Skid Row History Museum & Archive SRHMA and other public spaces. In October 2023 LAPD hosted our 15th annual 2-day Festival for All Skid Row Artists in Gladys Park Skid Row attended by an est. 1,500 people and 150 artists. In January we published and distributed free to community members 2,000 newspapers documenting the festival and featuring the participating artists. LAPDs Welcome to the Covid Hotel exhibition was on view at the SRHMA through December 2024. LAPDs related theatrical performance The Covid Hotel Welcomes You to the Future was performed at the closing of the exhibition and January through September we performed it 12 more times in theaters and community settings throughout Los Angeles County for combined audiences of 1200. 9 of the performances were followed by community conversations with doctors nurses and other community health workers. The project documented and disseminated the experiences of frontline workers at County Quarantine and Isolation medical shelters for Covid patients. Total participants: approx. 40 Skid Row rehearsals with 10 Skid Row cast members 26 panelists at community conversations; and 1200 audience. During the year the Skid Row History Museum & Archive also hosted 3 exhibitions curated by outside curators Tents & Tenants curated by the Echo Park Collective ran for 2 months February and March 2025 and was visited by over 600 people. The exhibition Walk with Me featuring Skid Row visual artists working at the People Concerns Studio 526. The exhibition was up from April 11 through June 28 and was curated by Alice Corona Director of Studio 526. The exhibition was viewed by an estimated 600 people and Studio 526 produced 3 community events during the run of the exhibition. Scratching the Surface: 40 Years of Visual Arts in Skid Row opened on September 6 and continued through the end of the Fiscal Year on Sept. 30. The exhibition was curated by Hayk Makhmuryan of the Community Arts Depot. It has been viewed by over 400 people. Throughout FY2024-25 SRHMA hosted free monthly workshops and meetings as well as special events for Skid Row community members led by individuals and grassroots groups. These included Creative Writing Sock Puppet Making other meetings organized by community groups and the annual Bob Marley Day and Juneteenth celebrations organized by Skid Row community member DJ Sir Oliver. LAPD produced Movie Nights twice month and Open Mic Nights monthly. In all Museum programs engaged an estimated 10,000 participants including exhibition visitors and public program audience members in FY2024-5. Working with other Skid Row arts organizations LAPD created and distributed 2,500 copies issue a quarterly ArtsZine highlighting neighborhood artists and activities. Throughout FY2024-25 LAPD archivists worked with 9 volunteers to continue to put our archival holdings into a Central Management System while also acquiring and processing new materials generated through LAPD activities and donated from Skid Row leaders and organizations. There were another 11 volunteers who supported LA Poverty Department projects throughout the year.