This article was originally published on Getty News & Stories

In the middle of a park in Long Beach, local artist Mufasa was encouraging kids and grown-ups alike to unleash their inner creativity.

Along with fellow artists Mister Toledo and Josh Garcia, Mufasa set up big sheets of white paper, with cups of paint and paintbrushes scattered enticingly around. After a few hours, the paper was filled with colorful depictions of faces, a palm tree, the Queen Mary, and more.

This activity was part of the recent Getty 25 community festival in Long Beach, and it represents what Mufasa hopes is the future of art: an experience that is interactive, open, and welcoming to young people.

Mufasa was one of dozens of aspiring creatives who participated in Getty’s 10 community festivals to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Getty Center as well as LA’s thriving cultural scene. For these practitioners, the future looks alternately bright and uncertain. Despite the accessibility of digital platforms and other technology, young artists still contend with many of the same struggles their predecessors confronted for centuries: getting paid for their work and being recognized by cultural “gatekeepers,” like museums and galleries (a struggle that even masters like Nicolas Poussin, the “Father of French Classicism,” faced).

“Museums need to humble themselves and get immersed into what kids, teens, and young budding artists are doing and find ways to get their voices out there,” Mufasa said, before adding strokes of green and pink to the paper. “There are so many artists with immense talent.”

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