Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Mack.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It was nearing the year 2000 and I knew I could be making a greater impact. I also felt the need to better align my work with my long held passion for the arts. I had an idea that had been percolating for some time. So I committed to developing it – spending months thinking, researching, planning, meeting with key people and eventually, I quit my job as a Vice President at Community Partners to take the reigns of an entity that did yet not exist.
My general idea was to use art as a vehicle for building a stronger sense of community in Los Angeles. This lack of connectedness made it extremely difficult to address any issue of magnitude and my feeling was communal engagements in the arts could make a difference in this situation. The name “LA Commons” referred to the places we would create where people in Los Angeles could come together for shared, participatory arts experiences. Initially, I had in mind cultural events like Mardi Gras in which people worked for months in groups to put their parade entries together which resulted in deep bonds of connection. I traveled to places like New Orleans, Salvador, Brazil and Minneapolis to see for myself how these events worked. I also read articles and books that related to my hypothesis, most notably Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone, a seminal work on the value of social capital. The big catalyst for me was going to Harvard’s Kennedy School and writing the business plan for LA Commons in Dr. Putnam’s class. That year-long experience was one of the highlights of my life and really gave me the courage to make LA Commons a reality.
I came back in 2002 not exactly sure how to start, but with the encouragement of friends, I led a caravan tour of Koreatown. This was an inspiring experience and energized my journey. What really got me going was when Beth Peterson, our current Community Art Programs Director, moved to Los Angeles. I met her on my research trip to Minneapolis and her organization there, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater was engaged in work similar to what I was envisioning. When she came to LA, she knew me and one other person. She called one day from MacArthur Park and suggested I needed to come see what was going at a place called Mama’s Hot Tamales. It was a hub for community connection and they were looking to bring art as part of the mix of activities as a way to activate the public spaces and attract even more people to the place.
Since that time, LA Commons has evolved to reflect a shared vision of an arts and cultural catalyst that brings people together across myriad lines, empowering them to tell neighborhood stories and in the process empowering them to build other dreams and their communities. We have completed 60+ in neighborhoods as diverse as Leimert Park, Highland Park, Koreatown and Sylmar. Each project brings people together using the power of stories, art and culture. We’ve also continued to do tours – our annual Found LA program offers free tours on the third weekend in October. This year it will happen a little later and be virtual.
Has it been a smooth road?
By far, the hardest challenge was actually starting the organization. It really has been like climbing a mountain between coming up with the programming and getting the resources to actually move it forward. Luckily Beth Peterson became a partner and continues to work with us to this day. I’ve had many other folks bring support and partnership over the years to further the journey and they all contributed to making a daunting situation easier. I would say the other big challenge has been keeping the organization resourced. We’ve been through several economic downturns since I started back in 2000 and weathering those challenges as a small organization has not been easy. After the recession in 2015, we almost went under. Thankfully, once again, I had friends and family to help us through that challenging time. In any endeavor such as I have been through, it is those partners that you can lean on for ideas, encouragement and support that provide the fuel to make it happen.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with LA Commons – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Studying in Boston also gave me a theoretical framework for my intuition about the power of art by highlighting that when people participate together in artistic endeavors, it opens them up emotionally and creates space for developing the bonds of trust that are the building blocks of social capital. People have to come together and interact in order for social capital to form – participatory art, in which the community engages in a collective process, creates the space for this connecting to happen.
Thus our mission to engage communities in artistic and cultural expression that tells their unique stories and serves as the basis for dialogue, interaction and a shared vision for Los Angeles. Empowerment. Our nationally recognized Neighborhood Story Connection (NSC) program engages youth in leadership roles, giving them a voice in the decision-making process and supporting them in expressing and developing their creativity and artistic talents. Beyond artmaking, their role is to document locally-driven solutions by creating a reflection of the vision shared by residents for a healthier community with the ultimate aim to mobilize them into action. The outcomes include increased civic pride, participation and agency.
Our community partners and teams of artists are essential to this process. In addition to our community arts program director, Beth Peterson, and professional artists, our core artistic team includes a youth facilitator, often an emerging artist, and 10 -15 young people. Once the team is in place, they focus on getting to know the community and what matters locally, based on interviews with stakeholders. Each 24 weeks cycle includes weekly after school workshops and a story summit that brings the broader community together to support the development of content for the artwork and increase the sense of belonging and empowerment.
At the foundation of our work is a desire to further opportunity for everyone, recognizing that communities require support to make their places more just, healthy and livable. Because discrimination has been a key factor in creating the challenges faced by our neighborhoods, promoting equity is integral to all that we do.
Through collaboration with local partners with whom we have built deep wells of trust, we leverage art and cultural approaches to create positive change.
We believe…
Culture is an essential community resource. All communities possess local knowledge and local assets.
Ordinary people have the power to help to meet the challenges facing our neighborhoods through our sense of connectedness with place and each other.
Artists have a leadership role to play in community development. Art is a powerful tool to share stories and create change.
Youth are vital participants in community development processes; their energy, hope and creativity transcend the limitations of the past to envision new futures.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I am in love with the diverse people that live here and the intersections of their cultural expression that contributes so much to the identity of our city.
I also love having access to world-class art, culture and ideas on the cutting edge of American and global society.
Proximity to nature has been a boon in the pandemic. Our family has relished being able to get away for a hike on the weekends to escape the confines of our home during the stay at home order.
I really dislike the traffic in Los Angeles and have enjoyed not having to deal with it much this year. One of the good things about coronavirus.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4343 Leimert Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90008 - Website: www.lacommons.org
- Phone: 323) 792-0366
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @lacommons
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LACommons
- Twitter: @lacommons
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