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Centering the Voices of Survivors
Violence, Hope and Healing in Los Angeles: The Storytelling Project is a collaborative effort between the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture (Arts and Culture) and the Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) housed within the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The project is part of Arts and Culture’s Creative Strategist-Artist in Residence program, in its Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative, and places artists in County departments such as OVP to work alongside staff, researchers, and practitioners to develop artist-informed solutions to social challenges (Arts and Culture, 2018).
The Storytelling Project was led by artist Olga Koumoundouros, who served as the Creative Strategist in residence at OVP from 2019-2022. The project used art-based trauma-informed techniques to record the narratives of LA County residents from diverse backgrounds who have experienced violence at the individual or systemic level. For more than a year, a total of 100 stories were recorded and 55 photographs of storytellers were taken, a selection of which have been incorporated into a book.
Recognizing the opportunity to inspire greater public dialogue and discussion about race, violence and community solutions to promote equity and inclusion, the Anti-Racism, Diversity and Inclusion (ARDI) Initiative provided funding to expand the project in 2023. Subsequently, Mia Livas Porter, OVP Policy Analyst and Project Lead, interviewed an additional 43 Storytellers to collect more stories. A total of 143 stories were collected, many accompanied by beautiful individual portraits, taken by local photographer Johnny Perez. Together these stories illustrate the impact of violence across the lifespan. The stories presented below contain descriptions of violence that some readers may find upsetting. We invite all readers to trust their instincts and proceed with caution. The Violence, Hope and Healing stories can also be found on the Department of Arts and Culture website. The Violence, Hope and Healing stories can also be found on the Department of Arts and Culture website.
