Nonprofit Art School Helps Youth Thrive in Skid Row, Los Angeles

Students paint glaze on handmade pieces in one of Inner-City Arts' two ceramics studios. “For many of them, it’s their first time learning about ceramics, touching clay and expressing themselves in a three dimensional form. It’s great to see their amazement of the possibilities that clay gives them,” said artist-teacher Lizbeth Navarro. | Photos by Sean Myers

Eight pottery wheels line a glass window. Architect Michael Maltzan sought student input when his firm designed Inner-City Arts' second ceramic studio. Children said they wanted a jungle, so Maltzan incorporated large windows facing an outdoor garden.

Students also asked architect Michael Maltzan for a volcano, so his firm designed a dramatic skylight with bright orange walls that casts an orange hue throughout the space.

Students watch a glazing demonstration by a ceramics artist-teacher. “At the beginning of the session, some of them are hesitant, but by mid-session, all of them see themselves as artists,” said Lizbeth Navarro, a ceramics teacher-artist.

Navarro said she typically gives a brief tutorial at the beginning of her class and then lets students experiment for the remainder of the session. “At the end of the class I’m always amazed with what they come up with after only a few minutes of instruction. They’re always really curious to experiment on their own and do their own thing,” she said.

Aprons line a wall of Inner-City Arts' original ceramics studio. Artist-teacher Lizbeth Navarro said the equipment and instruction available to young students mirrors that of some college courses. “They’re really getting a wide range of techniques and materials that they get to experience,” she said.

A student sings during a lunchtime open mic inside of the original studio space at Inner-City Arts. The daily event encourages children to share their creativity with classmates. “As soon as you step outside of judgement, you are closer to the reality of life itself. We become more open, we become capable of perceiving what is really going on,” said co-founder Bob Bates.

Students play a card game and eat snacks as their classmates perform songs at the daily open mic.

A student walks along a path toward a collaborative art piece in one of several outdoor spaces at Inner-City Arts. “The environment itself at Inner-City Arts is a place of total and complete safety. It’s not a place of competition, a place where people are striving to be on the cutting edge, although that happens continuously as we work in the creative arts, but the environment allows students to explore, to make mistakes, to be accepted in their failures and in their strengths and in their growth,” said co-founder Bob Bates.

A student finishes decorations on her handmade pinball machine. “There are so few points in a child’s day when they truly get to make choices. Being able to make a choice about your own creation and then being able to talk about that choice and being received in a positive space ... hopefully that can contribute to a storehouse of positive emotional experiences for a child,” said Jennifer Carroll.

A student finishes a digital piece as an artist-teacher oversees his work. “Part of our teachers' job is to bring people who may not identify as artists into that experience so that they can witness their own thoughts and feelings,” said Associate Director of Education Jennifer Carroll.

Students play drums as a group inside a music studio at Inner-City Arts. “So much of what the arts do is puts us in the present moment. It allows us to slow down time and really be engaged in the flow of our work, ideally. The arts really do allow for a different kind of presence, whether you’re watching or engaging and participating in them,” said Jennifer Carroll, associate director of education.

Students arrange themselves in a line before executing dance moves for a self-made music video.

Students gather around a computer to review a project they created during class in the digital lab. “The arts reach deep into the spirit and soul of the human being and enable them to really grow, develop and be themselves,” said Bob Bates, the organization's artistic director and co-founder.