Churches abound, sidewalk vendors sell churros and corn on the cob to eager children, and there's music everywhere. Its programs are heard within a radius of 10 miles. Within that area lives a potential audience of 147,000 people. WRTE is a program of the nearby Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, a long-time Joyce grantee. From the sidewalk passersby can see into the main studio.
Next door are the production studios.
One has a CD burner, mini-disc recorders, digital editor, and other digital equipment for assembling public service announcements and other short segments. Before they get their hands on that impressive array of equipment, students must start in the upstairs classroom that houses Brenda Cardenas' creative writing class. After the introductory courses students shadow an older student who explains the equipment and works with them to produce a program from a script, and they get some time on air. By the second year, they're expected to come up with a proposal for their own show. Student-created programs include a children's show and a cultural arts show featuring Latino poets and musicians visiting the community.