Los Angeles Poverty Department

07/28/2026

It's the end of the month again, and that means it's time for the monthly Sock Puppets Workshop and Open Mic Night at the Skid Row History Museum & Archive! Come get crafty at 3PM, when you can make a sock puppet in this fun, soothing activity for all ages. Then, stay for the 5PM Open Mic Night--a Skid Row neighborhood party!

07/06/2026

The next SRAA community meeting is coming up this Thursday, 7/9!

07/04/2026

***THIS PERFORMANCE IS FROM 1984; THE DATE ON THE VIDEO IS INCORRECT***

Did you know LA Poverty Department was founded as an indirect result of the 1984 LA Olympics?

In 1984, performer John Malpede began creating a performance about the LA Olympic Games. A New York City resident at the time, he visited LA and became involved in the legal organizing around how the Olympic games were negatively affecting the Skid Row neighborhood. His performance, "Olympic Update," is a hallucinatory vision of psychological impact the 1984 Olympics had on unhoused Los Angeles residents.

The next year, inspired by his experience creating "Olympic Update," Malpede moved to LA permanently to work as a paralegal at the Inner City Law Center, and began holding theater workshops for what would become the LA Poverty Department.

With the Olympics coming to LA again in 2028, these archival holdings document the rich history of activism around the impact of the last LA Olympic games, and offer examples of how to respond to the upcoming games.

07/02/2026

July is here! Here's everything happening at the museum this month.

06/15/2026

LAPD theater workshops are postponed until July 9, 2026.

06/03/2026

Friday, June 5, 2026, 7pm
Screening BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Directed by Benh Zeitlin Produced by Josh Penn
Runtime: 1hr 32min

Q&A with producer Josh Penn & writer Lucy Alibar!

Faced with both her hot-tempered father’s fading health and melting icecaps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.

06/03/2026

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY7f8P-NkYr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

05/27/2026

https://youtu.be/BIfrSlsagd0?si=F5BDqQ0HyRn5ep2y

"In Focus" visits a nonprofit called the Los Angeles Poverty Depart...

05/27/2026

Last Saturday, we celebrated the Skid Row community in the eighth biannual Walk the Talk parade!

We were particularly grateful to carry these beautiful portraits by artist Van Hanos, and we wanted to share them here. In the order in which they were honored along the parade route: Iron Donato, Stephanie Bell, Al Ballesteros, Pastor Blue, Amelia Rayno, Tom Grode, Sean Gregory, Soma Snakeoil, and Anthony Ruffin.