art workshops

(Pic #1) Young artist decorating his pumpkin at the Van Ness Recreation Center, South Central Los Angeles.

Forget the costumes. Trash the candy. For me, Halloween can celebrate so much more.

Every year, this holiday blows my mind. Not because little ones get to dress up in insanely cute costumes — or because I get permission to consume ungodly amounts of chocolate — but for the jolt of joy I experience when we paint pumpkins in South Central Los Angeles.

Our non-profit organization, Hope’s Nest, sponsors holiday art workshops in LA city parks every year. Our volunteers never know how many kids will show up, but they always surprise us with uber creative ways of making their orangey-golden globes come to life. This weekend, we saw a couple hundred earnest artists enrobe their round “organic canvases” with layers and layers of color, collage, and creativity. I swear, this never gets old. We are looking at our 29th year of service in 2018.

Scroll down to check out the work. Some are unabashed abstracts, others more like science experiments. But in every case, they are making art from their hearts, and no one ever wants to go home. Few of these children say they have art programs in their schools, so we see why they respond so readily to the opportunity to express themselves so fearlessly here. One Guggenheim comprehensive educational study reveals that children exposed to consistent arts programs show signs of improved literacy, and better behavior.

So just maybe we can start serving a healthy helping of acrylic paint with our Kit Kat bars this time next year?

Thank you to Benita, Donielle and staff at the Van Ness Recreation Center.

(Pic #1) Sharing a hug with my unsung hero, Tommy Tapia. Through his benevolence, he and the Tapia family in the San Fernando Valley have made joyful holidays for thousands of inner-city children. (Photo by Josh Kaplan.)

You’ve probably never heard his name, nor have the thousands of children whose lives are a little bit brighter because of his generosity. So I was thinking it’s well past time I introduced you to Tommy Tapia — the Secret Santa of Halloween.

(Pic #2) Young artist decorates her pumpkin during Saturday’s workshop at Denker Rec. Center, South Central LA

In October of 1989, I began holding art workshops for children and teens in the beleaguered South Central section of Los Angeles. I hadn’t a clue how to organize such things, and while the L.A. City Parks Department welcomed any supplemental enrichment programs, with city budgets perpetually tight, I had to rely on the kindness of others to make it happen. Happily for me, that’s when I met the Tapia family.

All in the Family

(Pic #3) Tommy Tapia handing over pumpkin “minis” for Foster Mom Charmaney Bayton, of Inglewood

The makeshift structures, hand painted signs, assorted critters and funky farm equipment show these three generations of crop producers are the real deal. Tapia Bros. is an extended family operation that began with their grandfather nearly 80 years ago. Tommy Tapia works with his brother Felix, Jr. and they make sure visitors — especially kids — leave with a smile.

(Pic #4) A tennis court full of little masterpieces at one of our early workshops, Green Meadows Rec. Center, South Central Los Angeles

The Tapia Bros. Farm stand on Havenhurst in Encino has been a part of (what’s pain relief left of) the San Fernando Valley’s agricultural landscape for nearly 30 years. You’ll find strawberries, tomatoes, and oh-so-sweet corn during the summer, and by fall you’ll discover tasty squash, pumpkins, corn mazes and hay rides — just because.

I remember asking the patriarch of the family, Felix Sr. if he wouldn’t mind donating a few pumpkins to our cause — and without hesitation he gave me a thumbs up.

We saw 40 kids attend our first workshop. Most of them were so excited to be given “their own” pumpkin to decorate. But the thing that stands out, and the thing that has driven me to keep these sessions going for nearly a quarter century now, was at the end of the day, when child after child came up to me to ask permission to take their pumpkins home with them. It was a really big deal to them, and a bigger big deal to me. It actually changed my life. And it wouldn’t have happened without the Tapia Brothers.

Most of the pictures you see here are from last week, when Tommy Tapia came through for us again. Only this time it wasn’t 40 pumpkins. See, our little workshop has grown some over the years. On Saturday roughly 350 kids painted their hearts out, and yes, every one of them got to take home their masterpiece. But what they might not know — is that they also took home a little piece of Tommy Tapia’s heart. That’s ok, as he proves to me every year around this time — there is always more where that came from.

(Pic #5) Left: Tommy Tapia “hauling happiness” for hundreds of young artists. Right: Brother Felix Tapia, Jr.

Art from the Heart

Halloween’s “Secret Santa” For Children Of South Central