Under the instruction of Theatre of Hearts/Youth First and Artist-in-Residence Michael Massenburg, the female youth at Juvenile Camp Kenyon J. Scudder participated in an intensive 14-week program learning the history of art, murals and design. The curriculum met the California State Standards for the Visual and Performing Arts. The young women then utilized the new skills they learned to design and paint a mural in Camp Scudder’s cafeteria.

Michael Massenburg utilizes collage techniques, painted figures, abstract images, and found objects within his work to explore social issues. The artist notes that his goal is to “inform, provoke thoughts or inspire” the viewer. Often Massenburg relies on incorporating recognizable images from everyday life into his work to convey stories that are reflective of the culture and history of the community. The artist exhibits at the M. Hanks Gallery and has completed several public art commissions including the Rosa Parks Station (with Robin Strayhorn) and the Watts Urban Greenway for the Los Angeles MTA, Mark Twain Los Angeles Public Library, Inglewood City Hall, and the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Theatre Of Hearts (TOHYF), founded in 1987, is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that promotes understanding between people through cultural and artistic forums, and empowers local communities through arts education. The Theatre of Hearts/Youth First Artist-in-Residence Program provides customized, long term, high quality, fine arts educational workshops at school and community-based sites countywide to help prevent and intervene in youth-on-youth violence. TOHYF curricula adheres to the California State Standards for the Visual and Performing Arts and all TOHYF artists are trained to develop curriculum that integrates those standards. TOHYF is recognized by local, state, and national agencies for its organizational stability, and quantifiable performance measures as well as for its standards-based curriculum.