Art at The Pico Youth and Family Center

M&F just got sent a story about the Pico Youth and Family Center from Contributor BILBAU.  The PYFC is providing a healthy productive environment for young adults, and the positive graffiti messages painted on the building itself drive that point home.  BILBAU says that "The Pico Youth and Family Center at 715 Pico in SM (near Santa Monica High School)  is a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of youth violence. It offers a variety of programs for young adults between the ages of 16-24. The programs include job development, music, art, and computer training. It also provides case management, tutoring,  and counseling. The PYFC receives the bulk of its funding from the City of Santa Monica."

Cool place, but unfortunately, "Because of a long history of alleged past improprieties in its fundraising efforts and bookkeeping, it may lose funding in the future unless the organization acquires new leadership and provides a solid plan for properly handling its financial affairs.".

What a cool place with great art.  Hope the PYFC can get its funding together to keep providing a safe space for young adults.  

Click the jump to check out all the art.  BILBAU says he especially digs the stylized electrical box made to look like a boom box.

Stay up!~

Teaching Graffiti at the LA Conservation Corp.

Bandit and Teacher visited the LA Conservation Corp. to give a demonstration on graffiti, stenciling, and street art techniques.

The LA Conservation Corp. is kind of a detention center for kids who get into trouble, and Teacher joked from the handstyle of some students that day that it was clear what they got into trouble for.

This session from Bandit and Teacher demonstrated how to make a stencil, and the goal is to help these kids find a way to channel their passion for art, and grow from 'vandalism' into an art career.

Dig it~  What an awesome way to help kids out.  Kids need more opportunities, and less punishments, and its great that Bandit and Teacher provided an opportunity through the some punishment.

Click the jump for more action shots from the LA Conservation Corp.  Stay up!

City Wide at Sunset

The LA Education fund is going city wide and getting up on everything from billboards to busses to advertising spots to bus benches with their campaign for public education.

This spot is in the Valley.  Support~

With some beautiful shots of LA at Sunset~

Teacher - Teachin' & Tributin'

One of our favorite things about Teacher is the way that his art packs a message to make the world better.  Teacher lives up to his 'artist mantra' with his personal life, and is one of the nicest, kindest, most helpful people around.  And when you add that message to the fact that Teacher's art is incredibly skilled, it is clear why Teacher has set himself up as one of the top street artists in Los Angeles.

Well, Teacher just hit the Barracuda parking lot with a fresh new piece that seems to hit on all of Teacher's admirable attributes.  The two new stencils are a combo of sorts. The top part is a tribute to Revok, who Teacher says is his favorite graffiti artist. Teacher says that he incorporated Revok's name into the wild style letters at the top so that it says 'Teach' and 'Revok', and 'Love' down each side.  And the bottom section is dedicated to Malala (the 14-year old girl who got shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for Women's Rights).  The Malala stencil says 'Teach Us Too' because that's what the girl wanted.  And at the bottom Teacher placed one of his signature Education Coin pastes, to signify the hope for some change.

Impressive.  And like all his earlier pieces Teacher did not use a computer or photoshop to create these stencils.  Rather, Teacher is the only artist around who can compose something like this freehand out of his artistic imagination.  Incredible.

To top it all off, Teacher says that the inspiration for this new piece was to honor his Dad, whose birthday it is today.  If he knows Teacher like we know Teacher, he must be proud~

Dig it.  Stay up, Teach!

Street Art Teacher: Education Bill

Banksy Gets Spot-Jacked

Banksy's Charlie Brown got spot jacked on Sunset.

Click the jump for more

Teach - Street Art

A stencil on Sunset that simply says 'Teach'.

They Are Now Teaching Graffiti in Schools

We heard from a friend that they are now teaching graffiti in some urban Los Angeles schools . . .