Los Angeles Poverty Department


The Los Angeles Poverty Department is a Los Angeles-based performance group closely tied to the city's Skid Row neighborhood. Founded in 1985 by director and activist John Malpede, LAPD members are mostly homeless or formerly homeless people who collaborate with advocates, social service professionals and community members to create performances and multimedia art that highlight connections between their lived experiences and external forces that impact their lives.

History

Performance artist John Malpede moved to Los Angeles from New York in 1984 to start work as an outreach paralegal at the . He began leading theater workshops for the neighborhood's homeless population out of the ICLC's offices on Skid Row, gathering a group of performers and artists who now create their art as the Los Angeles Poverty Department. At the time it was founded, the LAPD was the first theater by and for homeless people in the country and the first arts-based initiative for the Los Angeles homeless population. Since its inception, the LAPD has been dedicated to giving expression to the homeless community's struggle to create meaning out of their own lives and to avoid a sentimentalized or stereotyped narrative of victimization. Material is often developed and rehearsed through community workshops and feedback sessions, continually evolving through conversation with the community.
The ultimate enactment of ensemble members' lives in front of an audience seeks to transform the audience into witnesses rather than spectators.
In addition to ongoing workshops and the creation of new work, the LAPD's activities include touring of their repertory and commissions. Their community partnerships include SRO Housing, the L.A. Community Action Network, The Downtown Women's Action Coalition, St. Vincent DePaul Center, The Salvation Army's Women's and Men's drug recovery programs, and the Inner City Law Center.
In 2014, the Queens Museum mounted the first museum survey of the Los Angeles Poverty Department's activity, showcasing nearly thirty years of materials. The Queens Museum and Autonomedia also released Agents and Assets: Witnessing the war on drugs and on communities, timed to coincide with the exhibition and containing the script, notes, and conversations accumulated over 12 years of performance of one of LAPD's best known and widely toured works. LAPD is the recipient of the Robert Rauschenberg Award.

Exhibitions