Mission

Our mission is to give artists of all ages the ability and means to support their creative endeavors. We are devoted to community-centered artists through community-led programming that promotes creativity, well-being, and the potential for collective growth.

Values

Side Street Projects is a mobile, artist-run organization that supports artists, projects, and programs to foster leadership through socially engaged art and a DIY (Do it yourself) & DIT (Do it together) ethos.

We are devoted to community-centered artists through community-led programming that promotes creativity, wellbeing, and the potential for collective growth.

We are centered and led by the justice-impacted communities of Pasadena and LA County.

We work through the lens of DIY/DIT values including using resources respectfully and with a (re)generative and symbiotic relationship to the environment and the communities they come from.

We honor our relationships and partners as precious resources. We recognize that resource abundance is also connected to the strength and care of our relationships.

We are empowering and centering justice-impacted communities to continue envisioning and implementing their survival, and thrival strategies.

We are co-visioning new and alternative ways to navigate bureaucratic or societal obstacles, while deeply highlighting the ways justice-impacted communities are already envisioning + practicing a DIY/DIT ethos. This is done as a means of surviving and thriving - in climates that want these communities to do neither.

We support independence & interdependence through Skill Sharing and horizontal learning.

Even as we come together and use interdependence as a DIY/DIT tool we are all not the same. We carry different privileges, oppressions, hxstories, needs, and wants. Interdependence does not mean erasing difference- it means accepting and embracing our differences as we come together to resourcefully skill build and co-vision “creative” ways to make art, do, survive, and thrive.

We foster leadership in the artists in the community that is Side Street Projects, with hopes of causing a ripple effect in our society that moves us towards collective growth and regeneration.

Vision

The culture of working, learning, and sharing is a defining characteristic of Side Street Projects. We create a space for cyclical dialogue with our community. Through this dialogue, we pledge to commit to furthering social justice. To accomplish this, it is essential that we work with artists who have a full spectrum of cultural experiences and identities. We employ artists to teach in schools and pay our artists working in communities. The artists at Side Street Projects share what they have learned to strengthen the field of artists who work with communities, schools, and organizations.

We are working to address the needs of artists, youth, and the community at large. Our work employs horizontal pedagogical methods in order to break down hierarchies so that we can make space for folks to truly be creative. We work to fill the gaps in service in our community, educationally, programmatically, and geographically. Equitable access to the arts is essential to the mission of our organization. Equitable access to the arts is an issue of social justice.

Through consistent rejuvenation, the organizations core values remain the same: Side Street Projects connects artists and communities in facilitating dialogue, collaboration, and creative problem solving within a hands-on artmaking context.

Our Story

Founded in 1992, by Karen Atkinson and Joe Luttrell. Side Street Projects began as a community fabrication shop and exhibition space located in the 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica, California. The goal was to support artists who create work outside of the traditional gallery system.

In 1997 Sheila Dawson, the inventor of “The Woodworking Bus” passed her programmatic model onto us, expanding our mission to supporting artists of all ages. We continue to function under the original vision of a creative laboratory that balances hand and high technologies and acts of risk taking and responsibility to promote innovation in arts and education. Our scrappy versatile model allows us to quickly evolve to meet the needs of the community and the field. We often work as an innovator and a connective tissue supporting important movements including business support for artists, socially engaged art, and mobile programs.

Everything that we do encourages creative problem solving and self-reliance within a contemporary art context, which is reflected in our unusual operating model. After moving 6 times in 16 years Side Street Projects transformed into a completely mobile, self-sustaining community arts center in 2007. In 2010, our mobile facilities were recognized as the “most innovative artist space in the nation” by Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) a collaboration including: MIT, NEA, the Ford Foundation, and the MetLife Foundation.

Our Team

Side Street Projects is artist-built and artist-run. #ArtistsWorkHere

Emily Hopkins (she/her/they/them), Executive Director
Emily works to develop sustainable, community-based systems that connect working artists directly to communities. She is an advisor to PUSD and, the Vice President of her Neighborhood Association. Emily has a BFA & MA from CalArts.

Amy Ruvalcaba (she/her/they/them), Director of Operations
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Amy Ruvalcaba is a multidisciplinary artist. She joins Side Street with over sixteen years of leadership roles within nonprofit organizations, foundations, and private companies.

Stephanie Aviles (she/her), Communications Manager
Stephanie is an artist, filmmaker, and photographer whose drive for knowledge and storytelling is never ending. She believes in the power of story to be of great value and capturing it for resonance, and connection. She received her BA in Mass Communication with a minor in Marketing from Cal State LA.

Max Geldman (he/him), Facilities Manager
Max Geldman is Los Angeles born woodworker and educator, who received his formal training at the Krenov School in Fort Bragg, CA. A tinkerer and experimenter by nature Max’s personal work interrogates traditional forms and explores solutions for individual and cultural utility.

Sarah Espinoza (she/her), Education Manager / Teaching Artist
Sarah has +15 years of experience developing and managing educational programs that serve our community. She’s been teaching with Side Street Project for over 10 years and brings creativity, fun and engaging approaches to empowering diverse communities in the creative arts. Sarah loves the outdoors, traveling and being an awesome mom!

Madeline Aubry (she/her), Programs Coordinator / Teaching Artist

Madeline is a multidisciplinary artist with a focus on storytelling through art. She has a BA from Occidental College in Urban Environmental Policy and a minor in Spanish. She is interested in exploring the ways that communities can and do use art to form better relationships with their built environments and each other. She is invested in learning about and preserving the history of the neighborhoods and surrounding communities in which she lives and works. She enjoys crafting with friends, rock climbing, and taking a neighborhood walk with a cup of tea.

Lila Chu (she/her), Teaching Artist
Lila is an artist, teacher, and gardener. Often working with reclaimed plants and materials, she loves building communal structures and spaces that challenge institutionalized space. She moved from NYC to LA to attend Occidental College where she earned her BA in Studio Art and Art History with a minor in Mathematics.

Angelina Coppola (she/her), Teaching Artist

Angelina Coppola grew up in Los Angeles and has worked with a variety of art nonprofits teaching students ages four to eighteen years old the visual and literary arts. She's bounced around doing small and large-scale community art events and enjoys bringing people together. You can find her rummaging for thrifted treasures and turning them into things.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Ching Ching Cheng (she/her), Teaching Artist

Ching Ching Cheng was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the United States in 2002. She is an artist, filmmaker, and art educator. Her work is focused on the relationship between identity and space. More specifically how the physical environment is juxtaposed with gender, culture, society, economics and politics. She received her MFA from Art Center College of Design, and currently lives and works in Altadena, California.

Teresa Espinoza (she/her), Teaching Artist

Teresa is a natural born dancer and enjoys expressing herself through many forms of art.

Teresa comes from twenty plus years of working in the mental health field. Currently, she is working on finishing her Master's in Marriage, Family, Therapy. "I am excited to be working with an organization that allows me to combine my love for art and community."

Samantha Harris (she/her), Teaching Artist

Samantha was born and raised in Pasadena. A PUSD student from kindergarten through high school, she was a former student in Side Street’s Woodworking Program at Longfellow Elementary School. She enjoys storytelling and worldbuilding through many art forms, including photography, 2-D animation, illustration, and printmaking. She received a BFA in Animation with a Concentration in Storyboarding and Character Design and a minor in Japanese Studies from DePaul University in Chicago.

You can view their work here.

Yara Nicté Herrarte (she/ella), Teaching Artist

Yara is a first-generation plant ecology graduate and wholehearted naturalist with a background deeply rooted in botany, California native plant conservation, pollination ecology, and ecological land stewardship. She is dedicated to tending+defending our native lands, gardening native food forests, cultivating native pollinator habitats, identifying native plants & pollinators, and advocating for the conservation of biodiversity. Yara's lifelong love+mission is to continue learning about our shared natural landscapes, sharing the importance and our obligation to protect these precious ecosystems with the community.

Alicia Echevarria (she/her), Teaching Artist

Alicia is a Los Angeles-based photographer, athlete, educator, and animal lover. Her work focuses on documentary-style photography. She is a student of martial arts. She approaches teaching as a tool for healing. She enjoys caring for horses. With over 10 years of experience working with nonprofits, she’s passionate about community engagement in every project she’s a part of. She is currently working toward becoming an art therapist.

Jamie Martinez (they/them), Teaching Artist

Jamie Martinez is a Boston-born, Los Angeles-based multimedia artist and art professional. They graduated from Occidental College with a Bachelor’s in Studio Art with minors in Education and Politics. Jamie is passionate about making art accessible to everyone by creating and supporting programs that offer free art activities, aiming to inspire and involve people of all ages and backgrounds in the arts as a restorative practice.

Caroline Zorthian, (she/her/they/them), Teaching Artist

Caroline is a native Los Angelino who has tremendous appreciation for art of all kinds! She can often be found organizing classes/workshops at a ranch in the San Gabriel mountains or out and about talking to strangers about their lives. She enjoys repurposing materials and likes to live by the Triple P rule: Performance, Permaculture, Play.

Eleanor Wells (they/she), Teaching Artist

Eleanor is a Mississippi born gardener, musician, and educator. They received their BA at Occidental College studying Urban and Environmental Policy and Spanish, and have remained rooted in LA ever since. They are dedicated to a lifelong mission of cultivating collaborative, inclusive, and ecologically sound gathering spaces.

Margaret Adachi (she/her), Teaching Artist
Margaret Adachi was born in Los Angeles, California. She has an MFA from Claremont Graduate University. She is a sculptor and installation artist.

Kelly Austin (she/her), Teaching Artist

Has spent 14 years at Side Street Projects and 30 years as a Professional Organizer and Bookkeeper, guiding financial and logistical processes with individuals and small businesses.

Board of Directors

Angelene Campuzano, Board Chair, Senior Manager, Art Asset Management & Conservation, Metro Arts Long Beach, CA

Victoria Plettner-Saunders,
Board Treasurer, Principal, The Arts at Work
San Diego, CA

David Plettner-Saunders,
Board Secretary Managing Partner, Cultural and Planning Group
San Diego, CA

Ashley Gibbons,
Board Chair, Marketing Consultant
Los Angeles, CA

Jeremy Levine,
Principal,
Jeremy Levine Architecture
Los Angeles, CA

Mark Steven Greenfield,
Artist, Distinguished Community Leader
Altadena, CA

Trinidad Ruiz, Community Organizer, Xinaxcalmecac Academia Semillas Del Pueblo School Los Angeles, CA

Nikki Elliot Ph.D,
Clinical Professor, University of La Verne’s La Fetra College of Education
La Verne, CA

Letitia Fernandez Ivins, Senior Director, Civic Strategies & Partnerships, The Music Center Los Angeles, CA

Michael Szeto, University Counsel, Legal Services, Stanford University Stanford, CA

Emily Hopkins,
Executive Director
Pasadena, CA

Advisory Board

Christine Mckay,
Founder,
Venn Negotiation
Los Angeles, CA

Debbie Fisher,
Leadership Council,
International Medical Corp
Malibu, CA

Elana Mann,
Artist
South Pasadena, CA

Glenna Avila,
Executive Director
Los Angeles, CA

John Agnew,
Vintage vehicle expert,
Funky Junk Farms
Altadena, CA

Steven Butcher,
Vintage vehicle expert,
Funky Junk Farms
Ventura, CA

Rick Lowe,
Artist and founder of Project Row House
Houston, TX

Mel Chin,
Artist
Asheville, NC

Our Mobile Fleet

Mobility allows us strategically to serve at-risk youth where there is the most need. Our Mobile Youth Education program teaches tool-based design and fabrication aboard mobile fabrication studios housed in buses and trailers. To learn more, visit our Mobile Education page.

Sheila, Bus 1 (retired)
Sheila, originated in Long Beach and found a new life as a woodworking bus in 1997. She wore her love of art on her sleeve as you can see from the fun images of children playing on the exterior in the mural designed by artist Gilbert “Magu” Lujan. Sheila was named after Sheila Dawson the inventor of the woodworking bus. She retired in 2012 and gave her heart and soul (and cabinetry) to Bus 3.

Dawson, Bus 2 (retired)
Dawson (Sheila’s Brother) also originated in Long Beach and started a new career as a woodworking bus in 1997. Dawson was invested in the history of California and its people as is evident in his mural featuring California poppies and a Mayan snake designed by artist Francisco Letelier. Dawson retired in 2013 and donated his organs to Animal Salad, Bus 4.

Cheddar, Bus 3 (retired)
Bus 3 originated in Compton, CA and migrated to Pasadena to fulfil her lifelong goal of becoming a woodworking bus in 2013. Bus 3 is still discovering her identity and eagerly awaiting a new paint job. Her hobbies include sanding, hammering in nails and sawcuts. She visits up to 6 schools a week and serves up to 200 students per week.

Animal Salad, Bus 4
Animal Salad started their career as a school bus in Silverton Oregon. They moved to California to start a new life as a woodworking bus in 2013. Animal salad is very invested in the community and the local ecosystem so they are adorned by animal drawings from neighbors and friends in a mural led by artist Blue Broxton.

Spartan 1953 Imperial Mansion (Main Office)
‘53 waited eagerly in a storage lot of the vintage trailer gurus Funky Junk Farms in Ventura County until she moved to Pasadena to become Side Street’s main office in 2008. She was lovingly renovated by a team led by furniture designer Ed Stevens. She is exceptionally proud of her black walnut trim featuring a fancy solid walnut breaker box.

Spartan 1949 Royal Mansion (archive trailer)
‘49 Royal Mansion retired as a vacation home at a trailer resort on the Colorado River in the 1980’s. He was left to pasture in a storage lot where he was coated in layers of house paint and his wheels were buried in mud up to the axles. In 2007 the Side Street Crew came to rescue him and dig him out. When he arrived in Pasadena he was relieved of layers of old paint, polished and restored.

Solar Trailer
Solar Trailer is a cosmic being who began their career as a diesel mechanic shop in Norco complete with a crane to pull engines. After a rough battle with termites Solar Trailer recovered and transitioned to become the glorious creature that they are now. They are a generous spirit whose only goal is to bask in the sun and give out power to those in need.

Rosie The Truck
Rosie is fondly named after Roja aka “Rosie” Side Street’s original dog. She shares Roja’s joy of wind in her face and rolling in the mud, and is not a fan of sudden loud noises. She was born in 2008 and was immediately adopted into the Side Street family. She has a strong back and spends her days moving the woodworking trailers between schools. She loves a good trip to the lumberyard.

Blue Trailer “Karen”
Karen was the first of the new generation of woodworking classrooms her shell was built in Hurricane Utah but her soul was realized in 2010 when she came into herself as a mobile fabrication studio. She sports a sharp mural by artist, Jonathan Stofenmacher featuring hand done pin striping and silverplating. She was named after our founder Karen Atkinson, and is equally a fan of getting her hands dirty.

White Trailer “Joe”
Joe also came from Hurricane Utah but was built to be taller than Karen. Joe was named after our founder Joe Luttrell and is a pretty good carpenter himself. His favorite thing to do is sit on school yards and teach students about kinetic sculpture and creative problem solving. He has been thinking about a new paint job, but can’t decide on what color.

Thing 1 Blue Container
After a long journey across the ocean from China, Thing 1 had a lot of time to think about what they wanted to do with their life. Stacked with a large community of containers they realized that serving the community was most important to them. Stocked with every art supply (digital and analogue), Thing 1 likes to open up their doors and walls and make space for art making.

Thing 2 Green Container
Thing 2 along with their sibling, Thing 1 were styled into a new life with the help of Architect Jeremy Levine and the IPME fabricators. Thing 2 is very pragmatic and likes to keep things very organized and safe. They house the Side Street woodshop. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are very close siblings and sometimes open up, unfold and connect to become a even bigger thing.