Paula’s Story

Paula Lee is simply phenomenal.  In 2005, as a West High School student, she dreamed of creating culinary delights as a chef.  Today, she works with one of the top ten website and development companies in Colorado in quality assurance, returned to college and declared her computer science major at Metro State.  What transformed her artistic visions into technical reality?  She became a participant at Arts Street.

At Arts Street, Paula got hands-on training in cutting edge computer and media programs. Teaching visual arts workshops to young children -- picture vibrant wall murals and colorfully decorated trash cans -- Lee also found time to put together an animated short film called The Average Asian using green screen technology.  Thanks to the training from her Arts Street instructor and the nonprofit program’s technical resources, she utilized the editing program called Final Cut Pro.  She also learned good fundamentals, including how to analyze the movie making process and outline her film using storyboards. Her final product debuted locally at the Buntport Theater, and connected her with her current employer.

Mentored by Arts Street Executive Director Stella Yu, Paula appreciated the networking opportunities afforded by Stella’s extensive partnerships in the Denver community.  Through these networks, and by marketing herself as a “fast learner,” Paula found her first job, as a dental assistant in an office where Ms. Yu had connections.

Articulate, intelligent, and confident, Paula emerged from her Arts Street experiences motivated to stay involved.  She has been working closely with Ms. Yu and the Board of Directors to organize and promote an Arts Street alumni association, encouraging young alums to stay in touch and give back.  She propelled the group into launching “Cinebites”, an annual fundraising event for Arts Street that encourages and showcases new film-makers. She also serves on the Arts Street board as board secretary.

“Arts Street formed me into the person I am now,” Paula states matter-of-factly.  The organization provided her with the technical skills to read code, the artistic skills to support her creative drive, and the practical experiences to widen her horizons and open doors to a variety of employment opportunities.  Thanks to Arts Street, and more than a little bit of her own self-determination, there is no limit to what Paula can personally or professionally achieve.  To hear a young woman speak in the same breath about her love for “reading code” on the computers and her passion for helping young people stay plugged into the arts, it brings even the jaded among us a large dose of hope.

Paula Lee IS Arts Street.

When Kiawa Lewis graduated from George Washington High School in 2004 he didn't know what he was going to do with his life. Lewis commented “just graduating from high school was a feat for me given the obstacles I dealt with growing up.” Lewis briefly studied at a medical college but found that it wasn’t for him. In the next few years, Lewis held jobs at Wal-Mart, a cleaning company and a telemarketing firm. Lewis bluntly says, “I hated those jobs.” Hoping for a better job, Lewis sought out help from the Denver Westside Workforce Center. A counselor at the workforce center suggested Arts Street, to which Lewis replied to the counselor, “I don't want to learn to make art, I need a job.” However, after learning that the Visual Informatics Program offered by Arts Street was in fact a job training program that focuses on Web site design and programming, video production and publishing, and GIS mapping, he decided to give it a try.

At Arts Street, Lewis found that he had a passion for Web site design and GIS mapping. Through the program, Lewis was able to learn industry-leading software programs like ESRI’s ArcView, ArcCatalog and ArcMap. Lewis worked on several community service projects while in the program. One of the projects required staffing a booth at STEMapalooza, a two-day event designed to create urgency and enthusiasm about the importance of science, technology engineering and math (STEM) education. While on a break during the event, Lewis began talking with other exhibitors. When one exhibitor heard about Lewis’ interest in GIS, they gave him information about a contact they knew at TechniGraphics, a multi-national GIS company headquartered in Fort Collins. Lewis called the individual at TechniGraphics that day and told her about the GIS skills and experiences he was attaining at Arts Street. The representative was so impressed with what Lewis was learning and his passion for GIS that she scheduled a job interview with him the next week. Lewis traveled to Fort Collins for the interview and was offered a job the very next day.

Two Arts Street students Ratha Sok and Bimmer Torres were honored for their social entrepreneurship and innovation at the 4th Annual Fire Within Dangerous Minds Conference, produced by Regis University. One of three recipients of the New Ventures award, the two students presented the story of their business, 2KoolHats.

"Risk innovation and multi-generational leadership are the unique themes of our event," said Sally Spenser Thomas, conference coordinator, and Director of Leadership Development Programs for the university, which includes presentations by business leaders, educators and others who "demonstrate the innovative processes at different places along the way."

"What Bimmer and Ratha are doing is totally in line with what this conference is about  — taking things in different directions for the betterment of the common good," Spenser-Thomas said.  "We asked them to share the universal qualities of their experience, to inspire other people," she continued.