Las Fotos Project's The Foto Forum is deeply honored to have had the ongoing support of our community as we transition into new spaces in the midst of much uncertainty In the second year as a winner of the generous grant from the LA2050 Challenge, we have started a journey that solidifies why Los Angeles is the best place to CREATE and CONNECT.

In 2020, Las Fotos Project was able to create a space for young photographers to lead in the development of our youth-led studio. Having just moved into our new studio space in August of 2021, our team has slowly started to build out our studio space and has already been using it for studio portrait sessions and for our more advanced Creative Entrepreneurship Opportunities (CEO) students to practice their skills and techniques at no cost to them.

With the same token, the organization envisioned setting up our backyard space to present works in our Digital Promotoras classes whose work centers around advocacy and community.

The vision for our outdoor space was to bring our community together around the work that our advocacy-focused students create. In the midst of ongoing challenges with the safety of meeting in person and having a shared space, the idea for our Foto Forum emerged. With the help of Studio MLA, an LA- and San Francisco-based landscape architecture firm, we have been able to create a plan for what we envision this outdoor space to look like. As the first plans have been drawn up, we are thrilled to share what the Foto Forum will look like, engaging and fully immersive space where our students and the larger community can come together and view the advocacy-focused exhibitions, immerse themselves in nature, and have a space in their own backyard to sharing space once again with their community.

Currently in the final phases of planning, our new outdoor plans have been altered to include a wheelchair-accessible deck where not only will our Digital Promotoras exhibition be showcased, but where future community events can be hosted. Additionally, the developed plans include planting boxes and trees that are local to Los Angeles, ensuring that the space we create is organic to our community and sustainably produced. The juxtaposition between the inside of the studio and our future outdoor space is representative of the holistic power that photography and expression can bring and create a natural flow from our conventional gallery space to our outdoor Foto Forum.

Once the final budget for the project is solidified, we anticipate construction in our backyard space beginning in late March. We hope that the space will be complete by the end of our spring semester so that we can launch our first Digital Promotoras Exhibition during the summer. Having the opportunity to develop our new studio space to fully incorporate our three core values which extend into our programming: self, community, and career. As we get to know our neighbors in Boyle Heights and continue to welcome our students, teaching artists, and mentors into our space, we hope to truly embody and highlight the voices and experiences that truly make Los Angeles the best place to CREATE. Our collective voices and the platform they are given, make our city of Angeles unique and welcoming of the stories that are waiting to be told.

We thank you for your support of Las Fotos Project and for we look forward to being able to welcome you to The Foto Forum soon!