The Walk The K! Story
The Kester Avenue Magnet Parent’s Association (KAMPA)’s “Walk The K!” project brought 18 professional sidewalk artists to create playful, inspirational art on the sidewalks surrounding the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)’s Kester Avenue Elementary School. The art highlighted the city sidewalks as a place to walk, exercise, and inspire play for Kester kids and the surrounding community.
“Walk The K!” was made possible by a Let’s Play Everywhere LA, a city-wide competition held by KaBOOM!, Let’s Play (an initiative by Dr Pepper Snapple Group) and the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office that awarded grants to fund creative solutions that make play a way of life in everyday and unexpected places.
The art creation phase provided Kester Avenue Elementary School students with the opportunity to meet the artists, as they were working, and ask questions about the process of being an artist and creating art. This phase also created a bond between the students and the “Walk The K!” project to inspire play on the city sidewalks surrounding Kester Avenue Elementary School.
The artists worked on paper, where the art was preserved, reproduced on banners, and then hung on Kester’s sidewalk fences.
The project launched at an event on Monday, January 8, 2018 at 12:30pm PST at the corner of Lemona Ave. and Weddington St. next to Kester Avenue Elementary School and ran for four weeks through Friday, February 3, 2018.
VIPs in attendance for the inaugural launch were Ryan Kurtzman, Bohnett Policy Fellow, Neighborhood Services of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office – Stephen Haynoski, Official Walk The K! artist – Wendy Gordon Kester Avenue Elementary School Parent Volunteer – Tom Tsao, President of KAMPA, Kester Avenue Magnet Parents Association – Jesse Smith, Kester Pops Coordinator – Christophe Abiragi, Treasurer of KAMPA – Victoria Christie, Principal of Los Angeles Unified School District’s Kester Avenue Elementary School.
To spread the spirit of the Let’s Play Everywhere LA partners listed below, KAMPA inspires play at other schools by providing the Walk The K! installation to other elementary schools.
Click here to see pictures of the Walk The K! installations!
Please support Signs Idea, the official Walk The K! banner service,
that generously provides free and discounted banners supporting play for kids
for the Walk The K! project.
