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CommunityImpactNews

June 18th Becomes Official “OTL Day”

June 18, 2025

It's official – Outside the Lens Day is June 18th! ✨ Our Executive Director Sarah Beckman was honored to receive the proclamation from Janet Barragan of the San Diego County Supervisors right here at the Wonder Lab. This recognition celebrates our role in the Live Well San Diego movement, where we join 500+ organizations building healthier, safer communities by empowering youth voices through media arts education.

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ClassroomCommunityFilmNewsYouth Voice

OTL Partners with SD City College for Puente Program Film Project

May 22, 2025

In a celebration of creativity, cultural identity, and emerging talent, 25 Puente Project students from San Diego City College will showcase their original short films at Digital Gym Cinema—transforming personal poetry into powerful visual narratives through a groundbreaking collaboration with Outside The Lens (OTL).

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CommunityNewsPhotographyYouth Voice

Youth-Led Environmental Storytelling Takes Center Stage in South Bay

May 22, 2025

This May, The Front Arte y Cultura comes alive with stories of environmental justice, healing, and belonging as Outside The Lens (OTL) presents the culminating exhibition of "Land + Lenses" – a groundbreaking community arts initiative that has bridged generations and ecosystems across San Diego's border neighborhoods.

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CommunityNewsYouth Voice

Amplifying Youth Vision: Voice Out Exhibition Celebrates Creativity and Change

May 22, 2025

The Wonder Lab in San Diego's vibrant East Village transformed into a dynamic gallery space on May 3, 2025, as Outside The Lens (OTL) hosted its second annual Voice Out exhibition. Drawing 203 attendees, including 150 young artists, the event created a powerful platform for youth creative expression centered on the theme of "change."

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ClassroomCommunityImpactNewsYouth Voice

From Cameras to Conservation: OTL Engages City Heights Youth

April 2, 2025

Environmental education and creative expression are powerful tools for shaping the next generation of advocates for our planet. Outside The Lens (OTL), through the support of the California Coastal Commission’s Whale Tail® grant, successfully integrated these two elements, providing students with hands-on experiences that inspire environmental stewardship and media arts skills.

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Community

OTL Heads to D.C. to Explore Healing Through Art

March 12, 2025

Outside The Lens Visits Washington, D.C. for the 2025 Creative Forces Conference In early 2025, two Media Arts Educators from Outside the Lens (OTL), Eiram Torres and Natalie Devitt, embarked on an inspiring journey to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Creative Forces Conferences. Creative Forces is an initiative of the National Endowment for the […]

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Community

Cameras Across Cultures with Lucy Eagleson

December 3, 2019

For the past 7 years, Outside The Lens has partnered with the U.S. State Department and the Mediterranean Film Festival to present MFF School, a 10-day narrative and documentary filmmaking workshop held in Široki Brijeg, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where students pitch, write, produce, and edit films that are screened on opening night of the festival. “My favorite […]

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