Love for Literacy started off as a small creative initiative held within the Emergency Arts building in ever-growing downtown Las Vegas. That was 2013. Coming up on its third year, Love for Literacy (aka L4L) has since grown in scope and turned into an annual event. It was created by Las Vegas-based author Dana Satterwhite and illustrator Joseph Watson as a way to mainly do three things—1) showcase local author and illustrator talent, 2) honor Black History Month by taking place in February, and 3) line up closely with Nevada Reading Week. With participants from many fields related to reading, writing, journalism, illustration, teaching, and far beyond, Love for Literacy 2014 raised the bar and demonstrated that there is huge potential to inspire, educate, and promote literacy of all kinds through a wide range of media and experiences.

Satterwhite and Watson are the creators of the Go Go Greta™ books, currently with two books available and a third on the way. With the collaboration of Metro Arts Council of Southern Nevada, a non-profit organization, in 2014, we were able to take the seed of an idea to feature local creative talent and expand the festival to reach a larger, more diverse audience in the community. Love for Literacy focuses on the value of literacy (all types) for children starting with preschool to elementary school and beyond, by encouraging reading, learning, games, creativity, workshops, and community involvement. 2015 Love for Literacy will be held on Saturday, February 21st at the West Las Vegas Arts Center and Library, and will again feature a wide variety of community partners in the arts, and lots of surprises for children, parents, and others attending.

Metro Arts has been organized to encourage and strengthen the cultural life of Southern Nevada, and to further the development and appreciation of the arts. It is a  non-profit, coordinating body representing the arts and culture. This organization shall serve as an information outlet for local nonprofit and public arts and cultural activities; an advocacy voice representing the arts and culture community re-garding state and community actions and planning involving the arts and culture; a regranting agency to support local arts and cultural organizations’ initiatives; and a research agency to identify needs and follow trends in the arts and culture.