“What Is a Good Job Now?” Asks New Partnership Between the James Irvine Foundation and Zócalo Public Square

The Event and Editorial Series Will Elevate the Stories and Experiences of Low-Income Workers Across California

Zócalo Public Square, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that connects people to ideas and to each other, today announced a new partnership with The James Irvine Foundation to explore the question “What Is a Good Job Now?”

Zócalo will begin a series of public programs and editorial essays under this title in spring 2023. The partnership will elevate the individual stories and experiences of low-income workers in California—in health, logistics, agriculture, tourism, retail, and tech, among other sectors. The series will examine the real-life effects of changes in state and local policy …

December 16, 2022

Can Books Build Community?

Putting California’s Inland Empire on the Literary Map

By Cati Porter | December 31, 2015

Ahtziri and I are sitting on a stone garden bench outside the church in Riverside, California, where my children take piano lessons. In her hand is a stack of papers—typed …

When Choreography and Secrets Collide

A Collaborative Art Project Seeks to Turn Community Memories Into Dance

By Sue Roginski and Casey Avaunt | December 16, 2015

Does a work of art have to be created by one person with a singular vision? Our experience says “no.”

Art-making also works when a group of specialized artists—or even …

Why Do Coachella Valley Festivals Rock So Hard?

The Best Arts and Music Festivals Are Devoted to Quality, Diversity—and Their Communities

by Sarah Rothbard | April 15, 2015

There are 15 major arts and music festivals in the Coachella Valley each year, from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival to …

What’s So Great About Coachella?

The Power of Indie Pop, Shakespeare, and Fine Art Festivals to Create Community and Make People Happy

April 11, 2015

This weekend, tens of thousands—maybe even nearly 100,000—music fans are rocking out at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. With multiple stages going full-blast, festivalgoers will face …

Don’t Count on Your City to Build an Arts Scene for You

In Riverside, Coachella’s Director, the Local Arts Walk Founder, and a Historian Say the Best Thing Artists Can Do Is Make Things Happen for Themselves

by Sarah Rothbard | March 19, 2015

Who or what creates and builds a city’s arts scene? How can a flourishing arts community advance to the next level? At a “Living the Arts” event co-presented by the …

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