[photo credit: Armory Center for the Arts]
The workshop, called Youth Prophecy: Futures Beyond Wildfire with Altadena Library, runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Armory’s gallery at 145 N. Raymond Ave. in Old Pasadena. Participants will work through drawing, poetry, and collaborative zine-making, transforming their ideas into printed works that circulate within the community, according to the Armory’s event listing. Participants will receive copies of their work to take home. The workshop is free, but RSVPs are required through a form linked on the Armory’s website.
Armory Teaching Artist Sergio Hernandez will lead the program. The Armory says the workshop is designed to let participants “reflect on cycles of loss and regrowth while envisioning futures rooted in thriving.” Workshop teens can also tour the current exhibition at no cost.
That exhibition, “Material Prophecies: Craft as Divination,” is on view through Saturday, Aug. 1, at the Armory’s Caldwell Gallery. It brings together eight artists working with earth, fiber, metal, cyanotype, terracotta, and film: Jackie Amézquita, April Bey, Calethia DeConto, Emmanuel Louisnord Desir, Joel Gaitan, vanessa german, Sky Hopinka, and Lani Trock.
The exhibition is curated by Taylor Bythewood-Porter, the Armory’s Director of Exhibitions, with exhibition management by Danielle A. Hill. Its curatorial statement describes the artists’ materials as “both medium and oracle, connecting with Spirit, place, and ancestral knowledge,” and frames the work as rooted in the San Gabriel Valley, “where cycles of wildfire, floods, winds, and regrowth shape the landscape.”
“I think of artists as translators, channeling something intangible into form,” Bythewood-Porter told the American Craft Council, which featured the exhibition in May. The exhibition was also included in Hyperallergic’s roundup of art shows to see in Los Angeles this spring.
Beyond the Altadena Library partnership, the Armory has scheduled a free First Saturday Exhibition Tour for July 11, from 2 to 3 p.m., moved to the second Saturday because of the July 4 holiday. The Armory operates from the Gale Kohl Center for Creativity, a 1932 California Guard Armory in Old Pasadena. Lead program support comes from the Perenchio Foundation, and exhibition public programs are supported in part by the California Community Foundation, according to the Armory.
The Armory Center for the Arts is at 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. The Caldwell Gallery is open Thursdays through Saturdays, 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For information, call (626) 792-5101; to RSVP for the Youth Prophecy workshop, visit armoryarts.org.
The Youth Prophecy workshop is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The exhibition closes Aug. 1.
Material Prophecies: Craft as Divination (Exhibition) | Ongoing through summer 2026 | Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave. | Free admission. Gallery open Fri 2–6 p.m., Sat–Sun 1–5 p.m. | 🔗 https://www.armoryarts.org/exhibitions/2026/material-prophecies
