Award Funds to be used for LACI Educational Program Introducing Students from Disadvantaged Neighborhoods to Art and Innovation at Campus Advanced Prototyping Center
LOS ANGELES (October 25, 2017) —The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) are proud to announce that the La Kretz Innovation Campus and Arts District Park will be honored with the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence today, October 25, 2017, beginning at noon at the La Kretz Innovation Campus (525 S. Hewitt Street, Los Angeles).
Featured speakers to include:
– Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar (14th District)
– Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Chief of Staff, Ana Guerrero
– Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Chief Sustainability Officer, Nancy Sutley
– Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) President and CEO, Matt Petersen
– Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering City Engineer, Gary Lee Moore, PE ENV SP
– John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects Principal, Alice Kimm
– Morton La Kretz and Linda La Kretz Duttenhaver
– Rudy Bruner Award Founder, Simeon Bruner
The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) is a national design award recognizing transformative urban places distinguished by their economic and social contributions to America’s Cities. Completed in 2016, the La Kretz Innovation Campus + Arts District Park were created to position the City of Los Angeles as a cleantech industry leader and sustainable urban center. LACI will use the $10,000 in award funds to bring students and artists from disadvantaged neighborhoods, including Boyle Heights and Watts, into the campus to learn about the Advanced Prototyping Center and work with the organization’s new Artist in Residence (AIR) program.
LACI, a non-profit organization creating an inclusive, green economy by unlocking innovation, transforming markets and enhancing community, manages the La Kretz Innovation Campus on behalf of LADWP. Currently, an ecosystem of more than 500 campus members, including LACI’s cleantech portfolio companies, leading environmental organizations and non-profit partners call the La Kretz Innovation Campus home.
The new Artist in Residence program utilizes the on-site Advanced Prototyping Center featuring an electronics lab, chemistry lab, cell lab, CNC center, water jet center, welding shop, industrial 3D printing, laser cutters, sand-blasting equipment, woodworking, print and sew shop, and use of premium CAD software. The AIR program is the first of its kind in the country providing unique training to professional artists on how to use prototyping equipment to create art focused on issues surrounding climate change in collaboration with LACI portfolio companies. Students from Boyle Heights, the neighborhood adjacent to the campus, and Watts, where LACI is partnering with Community Healing Gardens to create an urban tech garden, will have the opportunity to learn from experts in prototyping and entrepreneurship.
Envisioned as an industry hub where engineers, scientists, and policymakers interact to promote the development of clean technologies and LA’s green economy, the La Kretz Innovation Campus occupies an LADWP-owned 3.2-acre parcel of land in the center of the vibrant Downtown LA Arts District. The campus is a place where LADWP customers – residential, commercial and industrial – can learn about existing and envisioned technologies and programs intended to save energy, water and money by utilizing LADWP rebates, testing smart appliances and learning conservation-minded behavioral changes.
Its interior functions are located in a 61,000 square-foot, one-story masonry warehouse structure, transformed by John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK). The fully seismically upgraded building features offices, conference rooms, an Advanced Prototyping Center, training classrooms, and exhibition and event spaces, as well as LADWP’s Customer Engagement Center, research and development labs and a case study home. The exterior features the half-acre Arts District Park – the first public park in the neighborhood. The campus also features California-friendly landscaping and examples of working bioswales, greywater systems, solar panels and cisterns, as well as LA’s first public microgrid system, creating an example of how clean technology can function effectively in local homes and businesses.
Photo and Interview Opportunities – Please RSVP to:
Laurie Peters, LACI Communications Director
lpeters@LACI.org
(213) 358-6500
