LOS ANGELES — On Thursday, artworxLA, an arts education organization that works with alternative high school students in Los Angeles County, will hold An Evening of Art at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.
The event will celebrate the nonprofit’s 30 years of service. It also will serve as a fundraiser to continue bringing the arts to underserved students, artworxLA Executive Director Jaime Zavala said.
“In the darkest corners of our education system sit the brightest students,” Zavala said, adding that their experiences allow students to create “some of the most beautiful art” by allowing them to express their voices and perspectives.
The organization serves mostly Black and brown students who are in continuation school for varying reasons, including falling behind on credits or becoming pregnant. The nonprofit serves about 1,000 underserved youth across LA annually and also works with incarcerated youth.
“Your past doesn’t have to define your future,” Zavala said of the message aimed at students.
ArtworxLA partners with school districts, including LA Unified, Pasadena Unified, Lynwood Unified and the LA County Office of Education.
Although schools provide some resources, Zavala said the money raised will go to student programming. The nonprofit offers after-school programs, art workshops, art museum field trips and scholarships. It also connects students with local artists.
Every year, they partner with local museums such as MOCA, the Autry and UCLA’s Fowler to give students a chance to showcase their work.
Recently, students used the Autry Museum’s “Waterways” exhibit, which explores the relationship of Indigenous people with water, as a prompt to inspire their own art, Zavala said. Through their projects, students shared strategies for becoming water protectors.
“Our passion is to connect them to art,” Zavala said, adding that teaching artists play an important role in motivating students.
As the chief curator of An Evening of Art, Global Community Arts Curator Vida Patricia Rodriguez said she hand-picked artists for the fundraising event who are making a difference in the world.
One of those artists is Estevan Oriol. Known for his gritty black-and-white photos documenting everything from Chicano culture to celebrity life, Oriol is no stranger to working with youth.
“Estevan continues to be this strong figure in support of this culture that he was brought up into and has become this amazing, brilliant light,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what the perils of life brought him, he just rises above.”
Once based in Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles with tattoo artist Mister Cartoon, their story is told in a Netflix documentary directed by Oriol called “LA Originals.”
“That’s always been something that I’ve been doing ever since I — I guess you could say became successful at doing art,” Oriol said in a phone interview. “Even before that, me and Cartoon were always into giving back to the community and working with youth and working with people that didn’t have a lot going on.”
Oriol said he was raised by his mother on “food stamps, well fare and medical” after she became disabled and it didn’t work out for his parents. He saw their struggle, and that was a motivator for Oriol, who said he wanted more. Now, he talks to students to encourage them to stay in school.
“I talk to them and tell them, you know, that I come from a place where they, kinda similar to a place where they come from. And to follow your dreams and anything is possible. And don’t accept failure as an option,” Oriol said.
Oriol, who is among some of the artists expected to attend the event, said he’ll present four pieces, including two of the iconic hands flashing the LA sign that he’s known for. Oriol’s pieces and others from established, emerging and student artists are up for auction through Thursday.
On the day of the event, some of the students’ artwork will be displayed in the main lobby, Rodriguez said. “That will really engage and bring in the people to understand who we are and what we stand for and the significance of the movement and how we impact our students,” she said.
Rodriguez said the event will also highlight the trajectory of artworxsLA and show how the nonprofit is “making good for the people and for the youth.”
An Evening of Art will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on May 25. For ticket information, visit the artworxsLA website.
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