General Announcements:
Scroll down to read our latest news, program announcements and more!
CELEBRATE THE VERNAL EQUINOX WITH US THIS MARCH!
JOIN US AT THE GARDENA WILLOWS WETLAND PRESERVE MARCH 22ND!
Save the date for this Spring Equinox event on Saturday, March 22, 2025. Our team will be there leading — what else? — an eco-art and education activity focused on wildfire remediation, habitat restoration and community resilience.
There will also be guided tours through the preserve (keep your eyes peeled for a peek at our 2024 mural piece “Sacred Earth Symphony” while you’re at it) an educational panel, music and more!
WILD ART BEGINS THIS SPRING — AT TWO NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES LOCATIONS!
WILD ART IS BACK! We’re excited to bring our flagship program to Altadena Library and Isana Octavia Elementary School this March, with facilitator Leah Olbrich at the helm! This year’s theme centers around the recent wildfires, with a focus on local animals and plants that help with habitat restoration! Youth and community members will be offered a creative outlet for processing and healing through art and skill-building — all using recycled materials to celebrate the planet and its biodiversity!
If you’d like to join us on Thursday, February 27th, register for the Altadena Library Wild Art Workshop (ONE DAY ONLY) here!
To L.A., with love…
To our beloved city:
Never have we been so heartbroken, and never have we been so proud to call Los Angeles home. The resilience and level of community care we have witnessed every day since the fires began is beautiful beyond words, and it is also not surprising. This is the Los Angeles we know. The people who live here are generous, big-hearted, creative and strong.
Our immediate team members are safe and for that we are grateful. Many within our community are experiencing loss and displacement and we are here to help in the ways we best know how.
Please reach out via the links below if these offerings would be useful to you or someone you know. We are also open to partnerships to expand our impact, so please contact us if you have an idea for one!
In the words of the late, great David Lynch, “ Ideas exist outside of ourselves. I think somewhere, we're all connected off in some very abstract land. But somewhere between there and here ideas exist.”
WE HAVE A NEW STAFF MEMBER!
Chandi Gordon is our newest hire, and will be taking on the role of South L.A Project Coordinator to work with communities in Hawthorne, Gardena, and others providing crucial support for our A.L.I.V.E programming there.
South LA born and raised Chandi (“Shan-de”) is a self-proclaimed earth nurse, changemaker, and just urban designer. With a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA, Chandi is passionate about designing infrastructure and spaces that combat environmental injustice and climate change. She is also an artist and designer, a fellow of Amigo de Los Rios, and a former intern at Climate Resolve.
In the past Chandi, has worked in toxicology, food waste prevention, children’s literacy, extreme heat planning, and more. More recently, she has been focused on increasing pathways and access to nature for underserved communities.
Championing sustainability, equity, and inclusivity, Chandi aims to incorporate her creativity and love for art into projects with RuckusRoots that bolster and empower communities of color.
Welcome, Chandi! We are truly thrilled to have you on the team.
GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT
General Operating Support from Perenchio Foundation
We are proud to share that the Perenchio Foundation selected us as one of 🌟 35 Los Angeles organizations 🌟 to receive a General Operating Support Grant! This multi-year funding will allow us to focus on our core mission and strengthen our infrastructure for future growth!
We're so thrilled about this news and want to send out a hearty thanks to Perenchio Foundation & team, as well as a big congrats to all our fellow recipients! Check them out by clicking the button below!
Program Updates:
WRAPPED! From Earth to Art (Fall 2024)
From Earth to Art, (the first RuckusRoots program of it’s kind) offered participants in Northeast L.A opportunities to connect and learn together in a series of outdoor, intergenerational workshops focused on natural building skills.
The focus was on activities rooted in ancient forms of making that offer real solutions to today’s climate crisis, including:
Digging for & harvesting wild clay
Earthen brick-making & fire pit building
Earth plaster experiments & mosaic-decorating
Earthen bench-making
54
Participants
10
124
Workshops
Projects made
Thank you to the California Arts Council for supporting this project.
Mural Unveiled at The Rebel Garden!
This mural represents the love and labor put into the Rebel Garden over the years since its inception. Designed by Rebel Garden co-founder and artist Erica Montelongo, this colorful mural honors mentors from Chuco’s Justice Center both past and present, symbolizes interconnectedness of nature and humanity, and pays homage to indigenous knowledge.
We hope it will serve as a source of beauty and inspiration to folks onsite and the greater community of South Central Los Angeles for many years to come.
30
7
Youth participants
1
Weeks
Community Artwork
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My name is Erica Montelongo, born and raised in South Central, Los Angeles. I am one of the founders and caretakers of Rebel Garden at Chuco's Justice Center.
I'm also an artist and creative. I currently work for LA Compost as the South LA Compost Hub Manager.
Rebel Garden started in 2019 with three small crates, and now contains raised beds, a greenhouse, and a curriculum for students at FREE L.A High School through our collaboration with RuckusRoots.
Having the power to be self-sustaining even in limited spaces is crucial to our autonomy as a black and brown community; we have been disconnected from our gardening/farming practices, and stewardship of our lands. Our goal is to create a garden where community members can learn to grow/ harvest food and also utilize the space for healing.
Thank you to the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs for supporting this project.
Garden Magic is a FREE outdoor art series by RuckusRoots for youth age 7-10 in Los Angeles. Previous Garden Magic artworks have focused on painting, drawing and mural making, and this time we decided to play with clay!
Led by ceramicist Ching Ching Cheng, participants learned three different techniques for creating clay ollas, an ancient drought-friendly watering device. Participants also learned sustainability techniques and water conservation methods for use in everyday life, as well as how to make botanical prints and clay seed dumplings.
WRAPPED! Garden Magic: Play with Clay
Project funded in part by The California Arts Council.
Youth participants
30
Artworks Made
239
Weeks
8
WRAPPED! Spring 2024: WILD ART at Glenfeliz Elementary School
We just completed 3 months of Wild Art at Glenfeliz Elementary in which we explored the local desert, foothills and river habitats that exist right here in L.A.
Over 3 rounds, this 12-week program integrated collaborative art-making with lessons about plastic waste, creative reuse and wildlife endangerment and conservation for ages K-6th grade. Each round created a 4’ x 5’ collaged mural, made entirely of repurposed materials!
“Painted Desert”, feat. nearby Mojave Desert habitat
“Griffith Wonderland”, feat. Griffith Park foothills
“Fantastic Plastic L.A River”, feat. L.A river biome
155
Youth participants
12
Weeks
738
Individual Artworks
24
Classes
3
Collaborative Artworks
346
Trash Items into Art
Thank you to the TahDah Foundation for supporting this project.
Art is blooming in The Friendship Garden
Parents and youth alike have been enjoying this new green space on campus. Back in April, we inaugurated The Friendship Garden by creating art for it (check out those colorful pollinator signs) and learning about all the new plants thanks to our custom QR code markers placed next to each shrub, herb and tree.
Interest and engagement is growing in the Friendship Garden, right alongside the native milkweed, and we cannot wait to get back this Fall and make more art with the Eucalyptus Elementary community!
Spring Equinox 2024: Mural Unveiling and Community Event
On March 17, 2024, we spent a wonderful day in community and creativity celebrating the coming of Spring, and officially unveiling our mural, “Sacred Earth Symphony.”
Participating 8th graders, artists, organizers and other stakeholders were there to share what this mural means to them, the Willows Wetland Preserve, and the greater community.
If you were there, you’ll know it was an incredibly inspiring day! Thanks to all who attended, and if you missed it please check out these videos or scroll through the image gallery below to experience the event virtually!
Special thanks to Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and Friends of the Willows for their support of this project. 
Summer Apprenticeship Concludes at ECHS-Gardena!
Our first Public Art Apprenticeship has concluded at Environmental Charter School in Gardena! It's been a wonderful summer of creativity and collaboration as this select group of high school apprentices assisted artist NiNo Alicea as he and his team built large-scale, sustainable public art sculpture, "ATABEY'S TREASURE” in preparation for Burning Man 2023!
Congratulations on a great summer, apprentices — and good luck on the Playa, NiNo, we wish you and ATABEY a wonderful time sharing the artwork and the beautiful message behind its creation.
SHIPPING CONTAINER MURAL w/ L.A Dodgers
In January 2023, we had the privilege of helping out at L.A Dodgers annual Employee Day of Service in collaboration with L.A Conservation Corps. Over 150 employees came out to plant trees, do landscaping work, clean the community garden beds on-site — and paint a mural designed by RuckusRoots especially for the space! It features Southern California native plants painted by hand on an old shipping container to help beautify the space! We had a blast and loved seeing the power of what so many helping hands can do!
