Families at Housing Project Receive Passes to Museum

Rembrandt and Monet might not be household names to many children in the Nickerson Gardens public housing project, but they soon may be more familiar thanks to efforts by some residents at the Park La Brea apartments near the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Thirty families who live at the housing project Thursday were given one-year memberships to the art museum, an idea stemming from a Park La Brea art exhibit and fund-raiser earlier this year.

Nearly $2,500 was raised at the event, and Park La Brea officials decided to use the money to help those who were less fortunate.

“Everyone thought it would be a shame not to make some sort of contribution with the money,” said Pat Houston, Park La Brea’s general manager. “I’ve been in property management for 10 years and I’ve never heard of a property doing something like this for another property. It would be wonderful if this caught on.”

Karla Ramos, 15, was thrilled to learn that her family was selected for one of the museum passes.

“I think it’s great. It’s something educational,” she said at a ceremony held at Nickerson Garden’s Sage Child Care Center. “I know most of the kids here haven’t been to the museum, but I have and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes I think about drawing and being an artist.”