Jessica Koslow

Syd Stewart does not consider the work she does a job. It is a purpose, a calling. In her own words, “There’s nothing like being a hope broker and a blessing distributor.” 

As the founder and CEO of Better Youth, Inc., Stewart is celebrating the organization’s more than 15 years of service in Los Angeles as a social impact nonprofit that builds creative confidence, closes resource gaps and prepares foster and system-impacted youth ages 17 to 24 for sustained personal growth and professional success in the creative economy.

An extension of Better Youth’s social support services for Transitional Age Youth (TAY) is housing, which is why members of the organization are standing at 280 North Oakland Avenue in Pasadena on Saturday, Nov. 22, alongside its partner organization, Community Builders Group (CBG), and 21-year-old Ayanna Lockett, who will be receiving the keys to her own micro unit courtesy of their new collaborative housing initiative, Opening Doors. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Steve Croteau is not from around here. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and landed in Downtown LA, home of the Fashion District, via San Diego. His journey to fashion entrepreneur is as winding and adventurous as the landscape he’s been riding for decades as a BMX biker.

The founder of the streetwear brand PeepGame LTD started BMX riding as a kid. At a local skate park, he saw and got to meet world-class rider Dave Mirra.

“I was like, this is so cool that this guy is on TV and he’s actually hanging out with the kids,” Croteau said. “It made me fall in love with BMX immediately. It was completely different from regular sports. You wouldn’t be able to hang out with a New York Mets pitcher.” . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Ruth Kennison is a chocolate educator. Some people pick history or science. Kennison has made the choice to educate the world about chocolate: how it is made, where it comes from and who picks the beans. 

“My mission is to connect people to the flavor and the story of chocolate,” states her website, The Chocolate Project.

In her late 30s, Kennison, who was pregnant, started baking — a lot. She loved sugar and sweets and followed her nose to the French Pastry School and the Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Chicago, where she received her certification as a pastry chef. She joined her friend, Clemence de Lutz, and began teaching baking classes at Surfas in Culver City, when Lutz shared with Kennison that she planned to open a cooking school. Lutz suggested that her friend become an expert in one thing. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Friends of Ballona Wetlands has a lot to be proud of. It brought the El Segundo Blue Butterfly back to Ballona, which, according to director Scott Culbertson, everyone thought was gone forever. It hosts more than 5,000 students every year on field trips to the wetlands and including pre-and post-lessons in classrooms that number totals 12,000 student interactions each year. About 74% of the schools it serves are Title I, and it provides about 60 bus scholarships annually to schools.

Forty-seven years ago, a small group of concerned citizens started Friends of Ballona Wetlands to save the wetlands from being developed by businessman Howard Hughes’ heirs. The state of California purchased the land 25 years later, and the nonprofit has an access permit to run education, science and restoration programs. . . .

Read the entire article at Playa Vista Magazine.

Asia Yu grew up in Denver in the 1970s. Her mom was from Iowa and her father from China. She credits her pull to community work to the diverse neighborhood of Park Hill where she lived and the spirit of community organizing that surrounded her.

“I was impacted by the leadership in our city, by the powerful people of color, including the Chicano movement that came out of Denver,” Yu, also known as Asia One, said.

While she was attending community college and taking fine arts classes, she decided to open up a hip-hop shop in an undeveloped part of town near the railroad tracks. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Create Protest has mailed out over 80,000 artist-designed postcards to voters across the country, who have then handwritten notes on and sent them out to more voters across the country. It is what Create Protest does: It is a community marketplace of message makers — individuals with something to say and a will to act. The artists live around the U.S., many are based in LA, and the items include hoodies, hats and mugs. Certain items are of the moment and others are more evergreen.

Juliette Bellocq, who runs Handbuilt Studio, designed the “Truth Matters” merchandise. Deaf and unable to speak as a child, art became Stephen Glassman’s primary means of communication. He created the “We” items, referencing the first word in the U.S. Constitution. Man One’s designs read “Vote.” His work has been exhibited at MOCA LA, The Getty and LACMA and in 2002, he founded Crewest Gallery in LA to legitimize graffiti. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Two times a year, The Castle Green opens its doors for public tours: in June and for the holidays, which this year is scheduled for Dec. 14. The rest of the year this majestic centerpiece of the city houses 52 fully occupied condominium units and hosts around 50 weddings, among other events.

The Castle Green has been held in high esteem since its origins in 1898, when architect Frederick I. Roehrig unveiled the seven-story annex of the famous Hotel Green at Raymond and Green Streets. Roehrig incorporated Moorish, Spanish and Victorian influences to produce one of the most cherished historic — and only fireproof —buildings in Pasadena.

Crowds gather to roam the 125-year-old halls and grounds and study and savor the building’s domes, arches, pillars, balconies, and verandahs, the Penthouse and the iconic Bridge, which at one time tied the annex to the first part of the hotel complex on the east side of the street. . . .

Read the entire article at Arroyo Monthly.

The bright city lights make it hard to see stars in LA. Sure, you see lots of celebrities — we’re not talking about those kinds of stars — but Angelenos miss out on the ones that appear like shapes up above and fall from the sky. Just two to three hours from LA (depending on traffic), the stars are on parade in Twentynine Palms, a desert gateway to Joshua Tree National Park where the Mojave and Colorado Deserts meet. 

Stay

Just outside of Joshua Tree National Park, there is a new hotel in Twentynine Palms: RESET, with mountain views, minimalist design and the comforts of a boutique hotel. Its 65 rooms are situated on 180 acres that also include a pool and private cabanas. Each room features its own private patio with a stove fire pit. Its most recent addition comes courtesy of a partnership with Celestron, the world leader in telescopes and optics. Now guests can gaze at the stars through StarSense Explorer telescopes, binoculars and the Celestron Origin; RESET is the only hotel in the world to feature it. . . .

Read the entire article at Arroyo Monthly.

On a Friday earlier this month, Emmy-nominated “Saturday Night Live” comedian Kevin Nealon is playing basketball at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, with some of his best pals: Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey and Kevin James. It’s the routine he followed on Sandler’s two-week “You’re My Best Friend Tour.” 

“It’s just a blast,” he shared. “Every day we go to a different city, and when we get to the city we go right to a gym to play basketball or swim. Then we go to the venue and start doing the soundtrack for the show, and it’s the same thing over and over every day for the last two weeks. We go to restaurants late at night, and we just eat too much food, and we laugh, and it’s really pretty surreal.”

Although Nealon enjoys performing in front of crowds of 10,000 to 12,000 people, he confided that he’s more of an intimate crowd guy, which is why he is looking forward to his BroadStage debut. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Although Porchfest seems like a perfect fit for LA, this is not the fest’s first iteration. Ithaca, New York, was the first city to launch this music festival in 2007. And L.A. resident Hélène Udy heard about another Porchfest from her musician friends in Montreal — both fests continue to this day. 

But Udy, who is an actor, director and event producer, had her own vision for Porchfest LA, and it included clowns.  

Udy was involved in a clown show that was produced by her friend who, in 2016, asked her to take it over. Overnight, she got an idea: “Was Ist Dat?” . . .

Read the entire article in The Argonaut.