Zane, 8 year-old, student visiting Inner-City Arts loves to draw as much as he can so he is taking lessons from art teacher and co-founder of Inner City Arts, Bob Bates, in the art classroom of the Inner-City Arts building located on Skid Row in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, January 25th, 2013.

“I am so excited to be here. I am from Uruguay and we do not have prom there, we only see it on T.V.,” said Perolini. 

On a Saturday night in early February, Perolini and many others walked into a 8,000-square-foot facility taken over by Unique LA and decorated like a high school gym to host a “Fake Prom”. Tucked away in between of several worn down buildings on Skid Row, at first glance, one could easily miss the Inner-City Arts building.

Unique LA founder Sonja Rasula said she wanted to help Inner-City Arts raise money, and instead of doing a banquet dinner "or something kind of stodgy," the idea of a Fake Prom was born.

"It’s a way to have a really good time, to drink and dance and dress up while celebrating arts and culture,” she said.

Inner-City Arts is a 24-year-old organization that provides arts, music and theatre activities to 10,000 children annually. Prom tickets for the event cost $35 or $50 based upon the length of time prom-goers wanted to sponsor a child at the center. 

One ticket not only provided inner-city children with a sponsor but also provided attendees with a chance to attend a prom they never had, a chance to dress up, the classic prom photo every couple takes, free cocktails and desserts, free nail polish, and the opportunity to have made your very own corsage or boutonniere. 

Among the string lights, the laughter, wine, and awkward dances moves, a sense of solidarity for the cause of helping at-risk and children in general was strong. Inner-City Arts offers children a safe space where regardless of their economic background, they have the chance to express themselves through acting class, animation, drawing, dancing, and much more. 

A safe space is exactly what Esther Miller needed as a teenager.

A Survivor of Clergy Sex Abuse Speak Out

“It was too much, until I attempted suicide,” said Miller. 

Miller, 54, a member of the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and a University of Southern California graduate, stands outside of the Cathedral of the Lady of Our Angels with a handful of photos in her hands. The photo in her right hand is of a youthful, smiling cheerleader. The photo in her left hand is of a smiling priest, better known as Michael Nocita and the man who sexually abused Miller. 

“I was 17 when I tried to commit suicide, and then I told my parents what happened. They went to the church to try and figure out what had happened and the church said this was an isolated case and that I was the one who was causing it,” said Miller.

Thirty-seven years after Miller told her story, a California judge forced the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to release 12,000 pages of church documents revealing its handling of abuse allegations, 250 of those pages describe Miller’s case. 

She said the documents are incomplete though.

"Things have been redacted, I was told they wouldn’t be and they have been!," she said. "This is the time to ask the people in the pews, what are you going to do to help the people in your church? Because I am not a practicing Catholic, I will never go back to this cult.” 

Miller has been married four times and has held 27 jobs, she also now has kids of her own. When it comes to children, Miller believes in the protection of children, at-risk or not. 

“I want to tell people, build museums! Create beautiful art museums! Create music awareness, create modalities, and give kids a space to relate to something, something beautiful,” said Miller.

The president and CEO of Inner-City Arts believes the center is the space Miller describes.

"We are a very important resource to the community," said Joseph Collins. "We provide access to the arts to a community of folks that do not normally do not have access to state of the art classes and equipment."

L.A. Dodgers Provide Key Backing

This past January, the Los Angeles Dodgers visited Inner-City Arts as a part of their Community Caravan tour, to dance, sketch, act, and create animation with some of the center’s students. One player believes that it is especially important to help and protect children amid the reports of child abuse in the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts.

“Anytime you can help the kids, it’s a big deal. We are at a point right now where we could really change one of these kid’s lives, maybe they are able to get away from something like that for a split second. Maybe we can get them thinking positively where in the future they can have a better life. If we are here putting a smile on a kid’s face then we’ve won,” said Javy Guerra, a Dodgers pitcher.

The center hosts celebrities throughout the year to afford children the opportunity to meet their role models. 

“Having the Dodgers come onto our campus gives the kids hopes and dreams of what is possible in their lives. Many of the players look like the children, and the kids can relate to who the players are and what their future could be,” said Collins. 

Another pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers fully supports Collins.

“Spending time with the kids at this center is really important, I remember when I was a kid I wanted to see a superstar, I wanted them to come to town and spend time with us, and that’s what this is for them, it is a dream come true,” said Kenley Jansen. 

Statistics & the Importance of Art

A 2011 report on Child Maltreatment from Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services quotes a section from the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) which focuses on “improving the CPS [Child Protective Services] program’.  CAPTA believes in the “creating and improving the use of multi-disciplinary teams to enhance investigations, improve risk and safety assessment protocols…” 

A professor in the school of Social Work at the University of Southern California has seen first hand the impact the arts and art therapy can have on children who have been abused.  As stated in CAPTA’s mission, Michael Sela-Amit said that prevention is key and that art centers give children a safe place. 

“It allows them to self-express, which a lot of kids don’t know that they are allowed to and it can also come out what they object to,” said Sela-Amit. 

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