Los Angeles Poverty Department
Fund: $25,000
Los Angeles Poverty Department’s (LAPD) mission is to connect the experiences of people living in poverty to the sociopolitical forces that shape their lives and communities. This mission is achieved through multidisciplinary artworks and cultural events that express the realities, hopes, dreams and rights of people who live and work in Skid Row, Los Angeles.
LAPD creates, produces and presents installations and visual arts exhibitions; devised theatrical performances; public discussions; screenings; an annual arts festival; and a biennial performance/parade that travels the streets of Skid Row. LAPD’s artistic work is developed and realized collaboratively with Skid Row residents and in partnership with community-based organizations. Their activities are presented at local and national arts institutions, in the Skid Row neighborhood and at their own Skid Row History Museum and Archive (SHRMA), located at the blurry border of gentrification and Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. LAPD’s mission is also achieved by their work to maintain and grow the SRHMA archive, which is focused on documenting five decades of art making, activism and agency in Skid Row.