EPCAP Fosters the Arts in Echo Park

The Echo Park Community Art Project wants you to make art.

Organized by Negative Space Curation, this non-profit group believes, in the words of their mission statement, that “access to and engagement with art (both in viewing and making) is essential to human development.”

LOCAL EXHIBIT

This past May, EPCAP curated an exhibition of works by local artists. Meredith Rosenbluth and Angela Gonzalez Hall are the creative force behind EPCAP, although neither lives in the neighborhood. Rosenbluth says of Echo Park that it “is one of the few places in Los Angeles that truly feels like a community—a place where people know each other and are invested in what goes on in their neighborhood.”

EPCAP, she continues, wants to create “an artistic and educational space where all Echo Park residents can participate and benefit equally.” The May show not only invited local residents to come in and observe art, but it also invited them all – no matter what their level of experience – to donate a piece for exhibition.

The exhibition ran from May 9-15, 2011 at Sancho, located at 1549 Sunset Boulevard. All of the works on display were donated, and were available for purchase. Those that did sell – like Siobhan McClure’s watercolor Secrets – helped fund the purchase of Art Survival Kits.

ART SURVIVAL KITS

The Art Survival Kit is a large hand-printed tote bag filled with art supplies and bilingual reading material. It is, says Rosenbluth, “something tangible to give back to the Echo Park community.” The literature includes information on visiting museums in Los Angeles, a basic art vocabulary and thoughts on how to view art. The kit empowers recipients to appreciate art and make their own.

EPCAP exhibited works by over 40 artists and gave away over 200 kits during May, says Rosenbluth.