Welcome to Life Art. A non-profit organization that helps, guides, and supports at-risk youth in Southern Oregon. Our mission is to empower young Latino men and women with compassion, honesty, and respect. With trained mentors, we encourage adolescents to achieve their full potential personally and academically.  We strive to be a trailblazer in the education and art realms to drive positive change and make a lasting impact on the world.

Life Art was founded in 2009 by Felipe Ortega and Yolanda Ortega. Felipe overheard spraying activity behind his Medford shop. As he looked around to see who it was, he saw the two young men spray painting and tagging his shop. Felipe invited the two young men inside and learned they were there to paint a mural for their cousin and brother who had recently committed suicide. Felipe encouraged them to put that story on a canvas, but the teens lacked the required art supplies, and in their words “Who would listen?” 

Felipe bought them art supplies to paint their grief and invited them to his home. Through word of mouth, the Ortega family began having many kids at their home for art sessions. Life Art eventually got an art studio in downtown Medford and hosted many young artists to express their ideas, grief, and complexities in their lives. Life Art has now evolved to hold youth support groups, and mentorships in local high schools, but at its core remains a safe place where kids learn to cope with adversities through art.