Join us in conversation with artworxLA Interim Executive Director Raúl Flores, Latino Film Institute Director of Education Programs Hector Chaira, and Academy Museum Director of Education and Public Engagement Christina Ybarra as they explore the importance of arts education, the power of creative expression for young people, the future of cinema, and more.

The conversation will take place in the Netflix Lounge on Level 2. Visitors are encouraged to explore the Stories of Cinema exhibition on Level 3 before or after the program and browse the schedule of upcoming Drop-In Workshops for Teens, Drop-In Workshops for Families, and family matinees.

Hector Chaira is a Boyle Heights native, nonprofit leader, youth champion and educator with a demonstrated 17-year history of impact work in marginalized communities. He has extensive experience in expanded learning, community school initiatives, workforce development, housing, and programs that support student achievement. Community driven and inspired by grassroots action, his goal is to create access to opportunities that cultivate potential for young people and advance their families.

In his work with the Latino Film Institute’s Youth Cinema Project, as Director of Education Programs, he has supported the organization’s growth by focusing on strategic planning, program development and the expansion and reinvention of YCP’s AfterSchool Program.

He firmly believes that the arts help us heal and thrive and is committed to fostering equitable and accessible opportunities that advance his rich Chicano Latino culture and the cultures of other disenfranchised people.

Raúl Flores (he/him) is the Executive Director at artworxLA, an arts education organization that combats the high school dropout crisis in LA County with a healing-informed arts practice. With over 20 years of experience in arts education and community engagement, Raúl previously served in teen, school, library, and outreach programs at MOCA and LACMA. At artworxLA, he forges partnerships and fosters dialogue with schools, museums, creative businesses, cultural and civic institutions to identify the intersections between youth voice and relevant content. Raúl is humbled to collaborate with multiple organizations in artworxLA’s expanded efforts into arts intensive academies, workforce development/creative pathways, and youth justice programming. He currently serves on the curriculum leadership team for Creative Wellbeing, an approach for fostering communities of wellness that was developed collaboratively by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, Office of Child Protection, Department of Mental Health, and Arts for Healing and Justice Network.