Sandwiched between a bargain store and, well, I believe, another bargain store (formerly a you-know-what kind of coop) on Sunset Boulevard is an Echo Park art gallery space. Formerly Bandit Gallery, it now holds the name Sancho Gallery, and – for a week – it’s the place of the Echo Park Community Art Project (EPCAP).

EPCAP is a nonprofit event aimed at provided youth in Echo Park and the area with basic art supplies like pens, pencils, and paper. They are curating art that has been donated by young, local artists from high school students, non-professional artists, and even some bigger local names. 100% of the money raised with the sale of these art pieces fund these “Art Survival Kits” – hand-printed tote bags filled with bi-lingual educational materials that “equip individuals with tools for making and exploring art.”

This weekend, they’ll have an opening celebration and a weekend full of free workshops, from photography to creative writing to animation, and are open to all ages.

EPCAP is curated by nonprofit team the Negative Space Curation, led by art-lovers Meredith “Mere” Rosenbluthand Angela Gonzalez Hall. Mere is a Los Angeles native as well as a curator, educator, writer, photographer and printmaker. Angela is also a curator, educator, writer, and gallery enthusiast, and she’s completely in love with LACMA.

In a press release, the curators told us about why they created this event:

“The idea for this project came from a shared love of art, a deep belief in the importance of art education, anda frustration with some of the systems that the art worldis hinged upon—namely, that of commerce, of the gallery, of an elite space that only few can truly access and that reaches out to a very select public.”

Yesterday, we checked out EPCAP and are excited about their project, even bought some Peter Shire ceramics (score!). It’s for a good cause, and all the neighbor kids should go check it out (we hear all they have to do is talk about their favorite piece of art to snag a bag).

Check it out:

Echo Park Community Arts Project
Sancho, 1549 Sunset Blvd.
May 9-15, 2011 from 12-7:00 pm
Opening celebration: Friday, May 13, 2011 from 7-10:00 pm
Workshops: Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15

Please visit the EPCAP website for details about the free workshops going on this weekend!

Here are some photos from our recent visit:

PS the are also participating in this weekend’s Echo Park PDA/Art Walk (which we’ll dedicate another article to).