EPACENTER 2024
ANNUAL REPORT
Art Classes for Youth of All Ages
Arts Education Program
Increasing the Number Served to 800 Youth a Year
We increased the number of 6-18-year-olds served by 45%, providing free arts education classes and private music lessons after school, on Saturdays, and during the summer for kids and teens hailing from East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park, Belle Haven and Redwood City. From energetic dance classes that prepared students to perform on stage, to culinary classes that helped students make healthy, home-cooked meals, the variety of instruction offered developed their creative, critical thinking, and socio-emotional skills, and prepared them for high-wage careers and leadership opportunities tomorrow.
EPACENTER Creative Corps Program
Partnerships & Workforce Development
Providing Free Services to Local Nonprofits
Serving as a Community Resource for Non-Profits in Need
With funding from the San Francisco Foundation, our Creative Corps Team of nearly 25 artists spent a year of service providing free design and marketing services for local non-profits. Five Creative Corps teams provided 400 hours of free social media, graphic design, audio, videography, and building beautification services to eight nonprofits across the Peninsula, increasing the visibility and impact of these nonprofits.
Organizations helped this year included the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media, Onyyx Village Connection, RYSE & The Little Blue House, Fresh Approach, Anamatangi Polynesian Voices, Nuestra Casa, and El Concilio in Redwood City, and the East Palo Alto Community Archive. The 17 emerging artists who participated in the program gained valuable skills, built up their resumes, made connections, and contributed to the betterment of their community. The nonprofits, all of them serving countless numbers of constituents per year, expanded their reach, improved the quality of their messaging, and identified affordable artists and designers who can continue working with them on their design and marketing needs.
Public Art
Installing Artwork on Electrical Boxes in EPA
With funding from the California Arts Council and the San Mateo County Department of Health, we conducted a city-wide public art project in January and February involving 145 students who made artwork to be featured on electrical boxes in the city. Lead artists from EPACENTER and East Palo Alto interns created vibrant backdrops inspired by nature in EPA and space. East Palo Alto youth then designed clay sculptures that come to life through augmented reality when you scan the QR code on each utility box. With this project, East Palo Alto’s landscape becomes an interactive journey, combining youth art and state-of-the-art technology to reveal the hidden beauty of the city and the sky.
This project was featured in the following news outlets
Public art
Creating a 5-Foot-Wide Glass Sculpture with Residents at Bay Oaks Apartments
We completed the design of a community-created artwork for an affordable housing complex in East Palo Alto in June. The artwork is a 450-pound, 5-foot wide, metal and glass globe that will rest on a plinth at the front entrance of Bay Oaks Apartments. The design process was led by artist JD Beltran and the concept for the design was created by the youth and adult residents of Bay Oaks. As a next step, residents will engage in the process of creating the glass panels that will be inserted into the globe at classes that will be held at EPACENTER.
Building an Earthwork at Cooley Landing
We unveiled our first environmental art installation, “See the Light,” at Cooley Landing in July. Created under the direction of artist JD Beltran, the earthwork was commissioned by the Peninsula Open Space Trust and the City of East Palo Alto. Students, ages 12-15, in our summer public arts class conceptualized and created the earthwork from start to finish. The youth artists used all nature-based materials to create a sundial-inspired design.
Public Murals at Bloomhouse
We were commissioned by The Emerson Collective to create a mural along a fence while The Center for Economic Mobility in East Palo Alto undergoes construction. The purpose of the mural is to highlight how the Center will serve as a resource to residents for career training and job opportunities in high-wage fields. The artist, Cheryl Derricote, and interns from EPACENTER will collaborate with community members to create a vision and images for the mural that will reflect the goals of the community and the Center. In the workshops, the team and community members will also decide on the media to be used in creating the mural.
We are so grateful to our community partners Bloomhouse for giving us the opportunity to create a mural on their campus! We asked youth in the community what they would like the mural to be about, and they decided to celebrate the nature and beauty of East Palo Alto. Our lead artist Helen Herrera- Montano and assistant artists, Olivia Herlihy and Sara Aguilar, took that idea along with inspiration from the Bay’s shoreline, and made it come to life!
Collaborations with Renowned Artists
Connecting EPA Youth with Grammy-Award Winning Musicians
Connecting youth with accomplished, world-class artists is an essential element of what we do at EPACENTER. When students work with professional artists in the classroom or on the stage, they gain inspiration and push themselves to achieve even greater heights. This past year, at our annual gala, music students performed on stage with esteemed percussionist Pete Escovedo and Grammy award-winning composer and musician Mason Bates. Our kids got a chance to see excellence in action and make valuable connections—results that will benefit them for a lifetime.
Launching the “We’re Still Here” Digital Media Project
Youth Leadership Initiative
Youth Leadership Program
Activating the Next Generation’s Sense of Creative Agency
We launched our Youth Leadership Program, which provides a diverse cohort of youth and young adults, ages 15-25 with the opportunity to activate arts and culture as a way of building community and vibrancy in the city. Youth in the Leadership Program are moving strategies forward to develop a more livable future by working on affordable housing for artists living here in the community, creating an annual series of concerts and art and cultural festivals that will uplift local artists, and developing STEAM classes that they conceive of, develop, and teach to younger students themselves.
Serving as a Neighborhood Resource
EPACENTER hosted Artists-In-Residence (AIR) that advanced the work of EPA-based artists and EPA-serving arts and youth development nonprofits by providing free studio and event space.
AIRs conducted educational programs related to their discipline for EPA youth every semester, produced public programs for the community, and conducted a culminating exhibition or performance featuring the creative work of youthin the City.
Partnerships
We also provided a half-dozen EPA-based arts and cultural and youth-serving non-profits with free and low-cost space for youth enrolled in their programs to rehearse and perform for performances, take classes, and study for college. Organizations that utilized our building free of charge or at a low cost for ongoing programming this past year included: Anamatangi Polynesian Voices, the Foundation for a College Education, Raices de Mexico, Step It Up Dance, StreetCode and CoolineKids. We also launched a partnership with The Walt Disney Family Museum, which led a 4-week long animation camp for dozens of youth at EPACENTER. These non-profits brought an addition 950 youth to EPACENTER this past year. By supporting each of their missions, EPACENTER helped the entire region thrive.
IMPACT
Over the Last Year
Students served this year Including interns and students
Hours of Instruction offered for free
Hours of Intern work experience
Student Survey Results
Increased capacity to work well with others
Confidence to find solutions to problems
Increased ability to persevere
Willingness to try new things
Increased ability to focus
Proud of the work they created
