Children with Evelyn Serrano’s NOMAD Lab Art Project toured Sam’s trailer to inspect the progress since his last visit to their neighborhood in December.

Sam and friends gave neighborhood children a tour of the trailer during the Valle del Oro Neighborhood Festival, held May 6th at an apartment complex near Cal Arts. The festival was a chance to highlight the art work of  at-risk children, age 6-14, who participate in the NOMAD Lab Art Project.  Trailer Trash partners with the NOMAD Lab, exploring the importance of home and community through art.

In a public art “lab”,  the children made signs stating their views on the ingredients necessary for a safe and happy neighborhood.  In another lab they designed furniture for the inside of Sam’s trailer and gave pointers how to make it a welcoming place for young people.

Artist and teacher Evelyn Serrano directs the volunteer-run NOMAD Lab with help from Cal Arts students and others. The City of Santa Clarita is one of the project’s boosters and helps with the cost of materials.  In an email thanking the project’s teachers and helpers, Evelyn described  how happy the children were  to put their art (music, drawing, story-telling and photography) on display at festival:

Children at the Valle del Oro Neighborhood Festival watch as NOMADS receive certificates for participating in art projects held throughout the school year on the grounds of their apartment complex.

Test run on an experimental design for modular furniture inside the trailer.

Nomad signage filled in the blanks: "A good home is....", "A safe neighborhood is..."

I was at the verge of tears more than once during the festival. I was just so very proud of the young people and of the work we have accomplished this year. I can’t tell you how many of them came to me pleading that we have class THIS Saturday, that they can’t wait till September…

They have made friends in the program, they have become advocates of the program and understand the importance of it.

A NOMAD reads one of his stories while Evelyn Serrano holds the mike.

The girls shocked me with their impromptu speeches [saying why they like the NOMAD Project].  How proud I was! To see them exercise their collective and individual voices with power and fearlessness. How energized I felt after witnessing them. And seeing the boys so proud of their work (and rightly so).

My best wishes for an extraordinary summer.

Lots of love, Evelyn

Stay Tuned: On June 4th the NOMAD kids will exhibit their signs in a show called “ Slanguage” at a gallery in Willmington, CA.  For more information, check out the blog for the NOMAD Lab Art Project.

This post is part of a series documenting Sam Breen’a Spartan Restoration Project. Please see his first post here and check out the archive here. The CSPA is helping Sam by serving in an advisory role, offering modest support and featuring Sam’s Progress by syndicating his feed from http://spartantrailerrestoration.wordpress.com as part of our CSPA Supports Program.