History of the Eastside Arts Festival
A Note From the Founder, Itinerant Elementary Drama Teacher Maureen Longaker
Nine years ago Jon Weisbart from Malabar Elementary School came to me, full of energy after his students' recent performance at the school. Jon has always been a leader in Arts Education in the Eastside of Los Angeles. He planted a seed in my brain suggesting that we network with our peers and partners to showcase the Visual and Performing Arts that were, and still are, blossoming throughout LAUSD schools in East Los Angeles.
I was so excited that I began to drive around East LA engaging my elementary schools and seeking partnerships with middle and high schools. I didn’t know how we would do it, but I just said, "it would be done!" We found many eager participants, both classroom and discrete arts teachers. We also reached out to the Music Center, Arts for LA, City Year, Self Help Graphics, Dancing Classrooms and other arts providers who gladly came to organizational meetings, bringing a welcome community addition and offering to give workshops to students and adults on the day of the Festival. Our local leadership in our Educational Service Center, Roberto A. Martinez and Dr. Frances Gipson, were instrumental in the collaboration, organization, and funding of what became the first East Los Angeles Arts Festival. Without their guidance, funding and support, we would have been lost. Our School Board members Bennett Kayser and Monica Garcia were also very accessible and eager to involve themselves in the Festival, pledging busses to transport children to the festival. Carolyn McKnight, the principal of the East L.A. Performance Arts Magnet at Torres H.S., welcomed us to her school site, working tirelessly to ensure its success. Sixteen schools attended that first year, celebrating all aspects of arts education.
The subsequent year we decided to keep the festival at ELAPA and expand our instructional component, with more performances and workshops for students and parents, adding greater growth, depth and breadth. Last year we were fortunate to host over thirty schools at Eagle Rock High School, in the pouring rain, I might add! One thousand students, over forty arts and classroom teachers, and many parents participated. Our art gallery included student-led curators, and we supported film for the first time.
Teacher led and student centered, the Eastside Arts Fest is a grassroots effort--at its core, it is organized and attended by the most dedicated people I know.
And here we grow again! Please join us for the Eighth Eastside Arts Fest--it's going to be a blast!
A Note From the Founder, Itinerant Elementary Drama Teacher Maureen Longaker
Nine years ago Jon Weisbart from Malabar Elementary School came to me, full of energy after his students' recent performance at the school. Jon has always been a leader in Arts Education in the Eastside of Los Angeles. He planted a seed in my brain suggesting that we network with our peers and partners to showcase the Visual and Performing Arts that were, and still are, blossoming throughout LAUSD schools in East Los Angeles.
I was so excited that I began to drive around East LA engaging my elementary schools and seeking partnerships with middle and high schools. I didn’t know how we would do it, but I just said, "it would be done!" We found many eager participants, both classroom and discrete arts teachers. We also reached out to the Music Center, Arts for LA, City Year, Self Help Graphics, Dancing Classrooms and other arts providers who gladly came to organizational meetings, bringing a welcome community addition and offering to give workshops to students and adults on the day of the Festival. Our local leadership in our Educational Service Center, Roberto A. Martinez and Dr. Frances Gipson, were instrumental in the collaboration, organization, and funding of what became the first East Los Angeles Arts Festival. Without their guidance, funding and support, we would have been lost. Our School Board members Bennett Kayser and Monica Garcia were also very accessible and eager to involve themselves in the Festival, pledging busses to transport children to the festival. Carolyn McKnight, the principal of the East L.A. Performance Arts Magnet at Torres H.S., welcomed us to her school site, working tirelessly to ensure its success. Sixteen schools attended that first year, celebrating all aspects of arts education.
The subsequent year we decided to keep the festival at ELAPA and expand our instructional component, with more performances and workshops for students and parents, adding greater growth, depth and breadth. Last year we were fortunate to host over thirty schools at Eagle Rock High School, in the pouring rain, I might add! One thousand students, over forty arts and classroom teachers, and many parents participated. Our art gallery included student-led curators, and we supported film for the first time.
Teacher led and student centered, the Eastside Arts Fest is a grassroots effort--at its core, it is organized and attended by the most dedicated people I know.
And here we grow again! Please join us for the Eighth Eastside Arts Fest--it's going to be a blast!