Frank Gehry + Ellen Ochoa Learning Center

Ellen Ochoa Learning Center is one of 36 schools that have worked with Turnaround Arts California to reimagine learning. In 2018, Co-founder and architect Frank Gehry, architects from Gehry Partners, and former California Former State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon visited the school and encouraged middle school students to envision the future of their community through the arts.

Frank championed the unique creative voice and innovative ideas within each student at Turnaround Arts California’s partner schools, and his goal through projects like Build a City was always to encourage them to take creative risks. In a 2019 interview, Frank reflected on his work with students in public schools and in what he observed with his own children, sharing:

It’s hard. It requires a certain amount of trust to go forward [in the creative process]. That’s the hardest thing I think. How to take the chance and jump off into the unknown and not be afraid to do that. For better or for worse – it may be great or it may be terrible- but you have to take the chance, right? An artist can do that. – Frank Gehry

Turnaround Arts California is proud to carry on Frank’s vision of building students’ confidence, creativity and curiosity in and through the arts.