Inner-City Arts President and CEO Bob Smiland was recently interviewed by The Pasadena Outlook about his professional journey from successful corporate executive to passionate nonprofit arts leader:

“I’ve learned how devastating life is for so many people in our inner city. Students come here from very tough situations, violence and hunger and poverty,” Smiland said. “Our students come hungry, and we feed them. We see a great deal of trauma from all types of violence, and we comfort them — so our work here is very different than what happens anywhere else in the country. But the arts make our students very, very happy. It changes their lives.”

For more insight into Bob’s work before and at Inner-City Arts, read the full story by The Pasadena Outlook.