Greetings friend,

Long before Greetings existed, our story started with a gap and two systemic experiences I felt myself, as a first-gen south-central kiddo and aspiring art administrator.

As a college student in 2009, I learned that I was, at least on paper and grant applications, exactly who arts and culture access programs were designed for. I grew up super interested in art, and I always knew art was my passion. I was the "prime candidate” and “target audience” for programs. 

Yet, the opportunities I was supposed to qualify for barely reached my peers and me, so understanding why became my new mission. I was introduced to the world of art education, and from there I began teaching in out-of-school settings and became interested in working for a local arts organization. As time progressed, however, the field kept telling me I needed more administrative experience, or more of this and less of that.

I carried my expertise into school communities, and as a teacher, nearly a decade later, I still noticed that students and their families were living the same gap I had lived. Arts funding in schools was being cut, and where funding did exist, it was murky and unclear. Opportunities were hard for families to find and navigate, and were often not built with our community in mind or in consultation with it.

This experience is unfortunately not unique to just our community or to me alone.

The following is our formal inception and how Greetings has worked towards bridging that gap for future generations. 

Thank you for reading our story, Karina.

As a classroom art teacher, I began experimenting with ways to extend learning beyond the four walls of the classroom, specifically, finding ways to get my students into arts and cultural spaces they otherwise would not access (for numerous reasons).

When parents and students asked about arts and culture organizations in our community, I gave suggestions, but since this task was frequent, I created monthly flyers listing events. From there, I made a website because I thought that would be more sustainable! It was this website!

Here is a screenshot from that time.

I created a map that would geotag arts & culture organizations within a 5-mile radius of your location. (This is now called cultural asset mapping.)  I was also recommending youth art organizations throughout the city, creating what I called at the time a “tool kit”. Learning quickly, however, that information alone is not enough.

Knowing a museum or cultural center exists does not always mean a family feels welcome to walk through its doors. So I stopped just recommending places and began taking students there myself.

We went anywhere families would agree to! (Thank you to our founding families!) We often took the METRO during that time.

We went to places like LACMA, MOCA, The Broad, South Coast Botanical Garden, David Kordansky Gallery, and Art + Practice. I was also testing our after-school partnerships with local elementary schools, driving around town as a graduate student.

By late 2019, it was clear this could not keep running out of pocket, and that the occasional donation from community supporters was not sustainable in the long term. The need was only growing, so in early 2020 I filed the paperwork to become a nonprofit.

Then the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What timing.

Once we received non-profit status, we pivoted immediately. Our signature program, Art School for College (now our Arts & Culture Club), launched online with weekly virtual sessions for students.

Huge shout-out and thank you to Jose Chavez-Verduzco and Rhombie Sandoval for volunteering their time during this period.

Enjoy this adorable screenshot.

We cannot thank enough all the artists who volunteered their time during those long stay-at-home order days.

Around mid-2021, we moved into a hybrid model, meeting in person twice a month. Eventually pivoted back to in-person.

We have had after-school partnerships, turned our Saturday Morning Cartoons class into our Comic Book class, which was led by teaching artists Parker West and Jo Mitchell. From there, our offerings continued to grow, adapt, and pivot as the world changed.

We are currently running the seventh iteration of our Arts & Culture Club, which runs monthly during the school year. 

Along the way, since 2019, we have also shown up alongside dozens of other local nonprofits at community events across South Central and Los Angeles County, providing art activations and introducing folks to accessible art skills that community members can often try at home, for free.

Thank you for following this journey!