History

Mission & Overview

Light Bringer Project is a nonprofit, Pasadena-based arts organization founded in 1990 by residents who were exploring the historic contributions that artists, architects and craftsmen made to the local environment. In keeping with its mission “to build community through the power of the arts,” Light Bringer Project has grown to deliver a range of unique cultural arts programs and special events that utilize high-degrees of collaboration, volunteerism and community-wide support.

Cultural Activities & Special Events

Through the 1990’s, Light Bringer Project became an active producer of visual, performing and literary arts programs that highlighted creative ‘voices’ from all sectors of the community. Our activities were designed to create public awareness, cultivate volunteers and bring additional resources to bear on areas of community need. The organization also emerged as a producer of major public art events. The most notable among these are the Pasadena Chalk Festival, the world’s largest street painting festival, and the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade, the annual spoof of the Tournament of Roses. Both annual events engage thousands of artists, spectators and volunteers, and have received national attention. 

Through a grant from the California Community Foundation, the organization operated Metro Gallery in Old Pasadena, a showcase for emerging artists of the Pasadena and Los Angeles-area. Continuing its support of the artists’ community, the organization produces selected exhibitions of emerging visual artists at the historic Castle Green in Old Pasadena along with unique performing arts salons. Light Bringer Project also maintains the 24-Hour Gallery, an outdoor visual arts showcase on Holly Street across from the Memorial Park Metro Station.

Arts & Learning Programs

In 1997, the organization turned its attention to the pressing need for arts education in the schools. After examining the kind of role the organization could play in support of public education, a number of diverse programs emerged. Below are some of our accomplishments:

• Cultural Passport, a partnership of Light Bringer Project, the Pasadena Public Library, Pasadena Unified School District and major arts organizations, served middle and high school students, developing literacy skills through arts and learning curriculum and live presentations. For its achievements in this area, the Program won the California League of Cities’ Helen Putnam Award of Excellence in the area of public-private partnerships.
• The organization also partnered with the Neutrogena Corporation in the design and delivery of the FACES Program, a folk art curriculum, exhibition and scholarship program offered to the students of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
• In association with the Mental Health America (formerly the Mental Health Association of LA County), Light Bringer Project produces Expressing Feeling Through Art, a prevention program that exhibits outstanding artworks and provides scholarships for students of the Los Angeles County School System.
• Since 2000, the Ad&Design Academy has offered mentorship training, team building and portfolio development for upper-level high school students. The communications curriculum has been delivered in collaboration with major advertising and marketing firms, including TBWA/Chiat/Day Advertising, DDB, GreyWorldwide, Muse Advertising, Rubin Postaer & Associates (RPA), and The Phelps Group.
• Light Bringer Project, in association with the City of Pasadena Parks & Natural Resources, participated in the Arroyo Trails Project. The initiative was committed to restoring five trails leading into the Central Arroyo Seco. Providing a youth component, we chose a team of public and private school students to research the history of the natural parkland, conduct community outreach and recommend design elements to be incorporated into the project.

Room 13

 What began as a local program, originating in Scotland in 1994, has grown into an international network of student-designed and operated creative studios, including Scotland, Britain, Nepal, Turkey, India and South Africa.

 In May of 2007, Light Bringer was invited to a global conference of TBWA/Chiat/Day held in Santa Monica. The agency has been a partner of our Advertising & Design Academy and encouraged us to listen to a presentation on Room 13, a program they have supported in Europe, India and South Africa.

 We became so impressed by the outcomes it offered these students that we researched the program further to see how it would fare in the United States. The more we learned the more inspired we became to initiate a model here. In 2008, Light Bringer Project launched the first Room 13 studio in America at James Foshay Learning Center in South Los Angeles. We also traveled to Scotland in summer of 2008 to meet with the international trusteeship to further clarify our understanding of the program. Since then, Room 13 has grown to be as successful as its’ sister studios and per school staff has had a significant and positive affect on the entire school’s culture.

 Our next step was introduce Room 13 in our own community. We spent several months exploring potential locations for the program. Today, we are proud to say that we found a perfect compliment in Eliot Middle School in Altadena. Eliot, which began with an arts immersion program this February, became the second Room 13 in America.