In 1993, Venice Arts, a center for media & imagination, was born in a basement on the Venice boardwalk. During this era, the majority of people in the neighborhood were living below the poverty line, making it much different than the Venice we know it as today. In addition to this, the LAUSD had immensely cut back funding on school arts programs. Venice Arts recognized the need to meet the children of Venice where they were in order to tell their stories. In doing so, the organization’s founder Lynn Warshafsky, along with a dedicated team of volunteer artists, established a creative center that focuses on the overall development of the young people in the community. From beginner art mentoring and education workshops to advanced fellowships and apprenticeships, Venice Arts quickly became a beacon of creativity for young people, ages 10-18, interested in photography, filmmaking and animation.
The primary mission of Venice Arts is to ignite, expand and transform the lives of youth through creativity and storytelling practices. Many of the students they serve are low income, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and foster youth. Programs are free to low-income families and are offered during the academic year and through summer camps. What sets Venice Arts apart from other arts organizations is that “a lot of early youth media programs focused on the mastery of the tool,” says Warshafsky. “For us, we're an arts organization. I don't think we ever had the attitude that the tool was the ‘it’.” Instead the emphasis is placed on the young people themselves and the stories they want to tell. “The idea is to give kids a camera to take pictures of themselves and their worlds. They tell us what it means versus everybody coming in as a third party and saying, ‘this is your life’,” says Karen Kiss, Director of Grants & Administration. This ability to create and share diverse stories is what drives every aspect of the organization from its creative workshops to its internships to its creative consultancy projects.
Youth participants exhibit their documentary work in free public programs like film screenings and art exhibitions which are attended by local artists, educators and members of the community. An example of this is the organization's 2019 “First Vote” exhibition which showcased a student-produced short film along with photography that documented the experience of voting for the first time. This is one of the many social and political themes that is explored in the stories of these young artists. Venice Arts champions “the creative voice, the compelling storytelling and how that young person feels in the production of their own story,” says Warshafsky.
Through career-advancing programs including college days and portfolio workshops, the organization provides pathways into the creative industry. “The kids we’re serving are often the first generation to go to college. Their families had no experience with the application system. So when it was time for college, the kids had no idea what to do,” says Kiss. Venice Arts utilizes mentorship programs like “Creative Conversations” to expand the networks of these young people while also building their confidence. In these conversations, students are able to virtually connect with directors, producers, cinematographers, executives and animators to learn about the diverse career pathways in the creative industry. By creating this connection, the young people are able to visualize their own roles within the creative economy and carve out a lane for themselves. Equally as important as a network is a competitive resume. Venice Arts puts together opportunities for scholarships, awards and recognitions that further validate the experience of the young people in their programs. “[The awards and recognitions are] fantastic on resumes, but they are really for self esteem,” says Kiss. “What it represents is huge.” The self-esteem that comes with having their work recognized contributes to the development of the whole person.
“That focus on the whole young person and our mentoring model is where we've really seen significant impacts,” says Warshafsky. The 1:1 mentorship model of Venice Arts is crucial in supporting the students’ transition into college and creative careers. “We've also always had a policy of staying small. The staff to student ratio is very low,” adds Kiss. At a time when the number of LAUSD college counselors is immensely outnumbered by the number of students in need of service, Venice Arts is a place where young people can actively have their concerns and needs met by creative professionals who walk them step-by-step through the process of building portfolios and applying to colleges, internships and early career jobs.
A uniquely troubling aspect of the creative industry is that there are many unpaid, early career opportunities designed to help young people advance. However, the lack of monetary compensation can be a deterrent for low-income youth to participate. “The lower your income, the more time is money. You need all the time you have in order to secure the means to pay for your rent, your food and your expenses,” says Kiss. In turn, Venice Arts created a "Bridge" program for alumni ages 18-22, as a way to provide more accessible pathways into the industry. Their Center for Creative Workforce Equity designs programs and partnerships that give young people the opportunity to enter the creative workforce while getting paid. One of the programs is their Digital Storytelling Fellowship where students train for 160 hours and at the end of the program are rewarded with a cash stipend and certification from Adobe and Venice Arts. Another similar opportunity is their Pre-Editing Apprenticeship where students interested in editing film, animation or short-form content can earn a certification through training and be prepared to compete for entry level roles. Once students complete these programs, the organization is able to set some up with paid internships both internally and externally with partners including Sony, NBC and PBS. Through this, Venice Arts paves a clear pathway from learning the basics to building confidence to excelling within the creative sector.
Outside of Los Angeles, the organization has served as a creative consultant for global clients in countries like Mozambique, South Africa and Hong Kong to harness the power of storytelling. Their commitment to bettering the whole person is what drives each project, and it’s what led to their appointment as the 2023 California Non Profit of the year. Lynn Warshafsky reflects on the impact that Venice Arts has had in its 30 years of existence:
“Recently an alumni who just turned 40 this year came back to connect. She was one of our really early students. [She was] very powerfully impacted by our programs and the community, and she came back to ask me to mentor her. Every time a young person connects in that way, I go, ‘Oh yeah, this isn't just a non-profit. This is real, and it feels really good.’"
Venice Arts, and the dedicated team of people who contribute to its success, continues to pave the way for young people to find their voices and tell their stories in their own, unique ways.
