Come celebrate Koreatown Storytelling Student Kimberly Espinosa at her first solo photo exhibition! As an artist resident with the Las Fotos Project (@lasfotosproject) for over a year, Kimberly will be debuting her project Memories that Make Home on Saturday, August 13th. 

Koreatown Storytelling Program is SO proud to announce that @CalArtsCouncil is once again supporting our intergenerational program through their Cycle A Grant program.

KSP aims to establish connections across generations, languages, and cultures in Koreatown and is looking forward to furthering this work with CAC’s continued support. KSP’s summer has been full of meaningful events and we are excited about our upcoming programming.

KSP Program Director Katherine Kim presented a short video on the #KoreatownStorytellingProgram at the #Gen2Gen Innovation Showcase hosted by Encore.org. The showcase highlighted 15 Gen2Gen Innovation fellows and their #intergenerational work in programs from around the country. Using the Citizen University model, the showcase practiced “cogenerational mutual aid” and called upon the 1,100+ members of the audience to commit to partnering with the programs.

On Sat., June 25, KSP joined partner organizations @gyopo.us and @ssiyagi at the @cultivala1 Westlake Community Garden for a sit-down listening party celebrating and honoring our elders, their stories, and their food memories. Dinner was provided by @shikulosangeles and was inspired by the stories and recipes the elders shared.

On Fri., June 17, KSP hosted a kimchi making demonstration as a part of LA Opera’s Arts and Health Week programming which aimed to explore the intersection between arts and health on wellness across LA County. LA Opera, KYCC staff, and KSP students joined each other in learning the process and technique of our foodmaker’s, Mrs. Jeong, Napa Cabbage Kimchi 배추김치.

On Sat., June 11, KYCC and KSP joined the Getty Museum’s celebration of Koreatown in honor of their 25th anniversary at Liberty Park. KSP students and interns teamed up to promote our program and talk to community members about the project goals and objectives of KSP.

On the night of May 31st, Koreatown Storytelling Program students and interns came together to commemorate the work of the W/S 2022 student cohort and to wish our Program Associate Sarah Jho a warm goodbye. Old and new faces enjoyed the Oaxacan cuisine at Guelaguetza as we said goodbye to some of our own, met incoming interns, and enjoyed each others company.

One of our longtime participants in the Koreatown Storytelling Program, Abbi-Hope Jihye Park made AAPI Lessons and Activities as a part of a project to teach AAPI curriculum. Thank you for your hard work @abbi.hope.park!

KSP partnered with Korean American Story to produce and interview Los Angeles community members who were deeply affected by the violence in our Los Angeles community in 1992. Legacy Project - Sa-I-Gu LA Riots is an important collection of Korean American oral history narratives and will be archived at the Korean American Digital Archive at the University of Southern California.

Friday, April 29, marked the 30th anniversary of the LA Uprising, honoring and remembering the Los Angeles civil unrest of 1992. KYCC, along with LA based community and faith organizations, brought Asian and Black civil rights leaders together to present the LA UPRISING | SAIGU Peace Gathering.

For the Winter/Spring 2022 “30th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Civil Unrest” semester, Koreatown Storytelling Program (KSP) Intern Evan Kim’s multilayered, yearlong project investigated the history and changing perception of the armed Korean Americans who defended their property and livelihoods in the absence of police protection during the 1992 civil unrest.

On Fri. April 29, on the 30th anniversary of the Los Angeles Civil Unrest, KSP Participant Eunice Shin co-moderated a fascinating panel with the @lapubliclibrary for actor and author @johnthecho’s new middle-grade novel, Troublemaker.

KSP partnered with GYOPO for their "Korean American Young Adult Fiction Today” event on Sat. April 16. The event consisted of a panel discussion moderated by Amy Kahng @queenkahng and conversations with the authors at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center by three Korean American authors—Mary H.K. Choi @choitotheworld, Sarah Suk @_sarahsuk, David Yoon @davidoftheyoon,—and Nicola Yoon @nicolayoon.

KYCC's Koreatown Storytelling Program is honored to be a recipient of the Grants for Arts Projects by the @neaarts!

Our Koreatown Storytelling Program (KSP) connects high school students and local elders to celebrate and document immigrant stories. “It is tremendously exciting to have KSP’s work recognized on a national level,” says Katherine Yungmee Kim, KSP Program Director.

Johng Ho Song, KYCC's Executive Director adds, “We are excited to incorporate more of the arts into our current program, which should be a very important part of nonprofit work."

In partnership with the Koreatown Storytelling Program, @Emerson_la students created a short video project in discussion with Latinx participants who lived in Koreatown during the 1992 Civil Unrest.

Last Friday, Koreatown Storytelling Program and our partner @lasfotosproject visited St. James Manor in Koreatown for a portrait session with our community elders. Our incredibly talented KSP intern Evan Kim played the Bach Cello Suites for the residents in their garden courtyard as they waited. Super special to hear the elders praise and thank Evan for gifting them with a live performance—after so many months of not being able to go out to musical venues.

Loving our partnership with Las Fotos—they have been training KSP students in portraiture, photojournalism and photo essays for the past year. Special shoutout to Maria Romero, Helen Alonzo Hurtado, Sarah Jho and Samantha Dar for making this sweet event so meaningful.

A huge hurrah for @fotosbykimberly, a yearlong Koreatown Storytelling Program participant, for being awarded at The Foto Awards 2021 as the Advocacy Youth Recipient.

In September and October 2021, students and interns from the Koreatown Storytelling Program (KSP) have helped set up Google Home Assistants for the residents of St. James Manor.