
(June 11, 2024)
Richard Foss is Executive Director for Collage, “A Place for Art and Culture”, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that opened in July 2021, at 731 Pacific Ave in San Pedro. He also does reviews of restaurants for local publications, such as the Peninsula magazine and the Easy Reader.
He has been an author, theater director, culinary historian, museum consultant, science fiction author, and graphic designer, among other things. Before starting Collage along with George Woytovich (Collage Creative Director) and Patti Kraakevik (strategic planning), he had produced concerts and cultural events for groups such as the Culinary Historians of Southern California, Autry Museum of the American West, and other organizations.
Collage provides adventurous and accessible community art programs including the visual, performative, culinary, and literary world, and making culture inclusive to consider ethnicity, affinity, ability, and emerging ways people are brought together. Collage builds relationships with artistic and cultural communities and provides a space where they can come together to teach, learn, and entertain. Performances include live music, poetry, drawing classes, art shows, and culinary programs, and are open for jam sessions.
Collage has programs to donate instruments to young musicians who don’t have them, and to provide space so they can play there. It contacts local schools and private teachers to recommend students, and also offers services to disabled veterans, formerly incarcerated people, and others of any age for whom the community of musicians would be a joy and inspiration. They believe music brings value to every life.