ArtNight Pasadena at the Armory on April 29 will be a homecoming for our musical guest DJ Wyldeflower, one of the rising stars at KCRW—arguably one of the most influential FM music stations in the nation. Ro "Wyldeflower" Contreras grew up in Pasadena, took classes at the Armory, and remembers our Children Investigate the Environment program as an experience that is still "definitely bright in my mind."
After graduating from Muir High School, Wyldeflower was a Getty Multicultural Undergraduate Intern in our Communications Department and became a teaching assistant for our free community programs shortly thereafter. During that time, she and Armory Teaching Artist Sergio Hernandez created what is now our popular screen printing program for teens.
Wyldeflower remembers the Armory as "one of the most special places I’ve ever worked... truly was one of the most fulfilling environments I’ve ever worked in." One of her fondest memories was "that glimmer in a student's eye when they are inspired, when they’ve absorbed what you’re teaching them and are motivated to begin to create."
Today, Wyldeflower continues to inspire thousands of listeners across Southern California with her weekly shows on KCRW, which the station frames as a "soulful rhythmic journey through time and space... sonic love notes from cities to mountain tops, to the heart of the tropics and into the cosmos."
Wyldflower's sets at the Armory made possible by a minigrant from the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division. Photo of Wyldeflower by Ani Yapundzhyan. Courtesy of KCRW.com.