CSRC Latino Art Survey Organizations

ADOBE L.A.

Mission
ADOBE (Architects and Designers Expanding the Border Edge of Los Angeles) is a collective of architects, artists and designers who theorize the Latino cultural landscape. The mission of ADOBE LA is to create and produce public art and architecture, and create a discourse that responds to the social and cultural needs of the Latino communities in Los Angeles. Its goal is “to affirm the presence and representation of Latino/a culture(s) in LA, expand the notion of art and architecture as a cultural practice and to increase the participation of community members of LA in the art creation process.
History
The collective, which was started in 1992, has been involved in a number of exhibitions, most notably Urban Revisions at MOCA Los Angeles and House Rules at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, OH, and has edited the critical anthology Ciudad Hibrida/Hybrid City: The Production of Art in Alien Territory” (Sage Press, 1998). They are currently designing a light rail station in East Los Angeles.
Founders
  • Laura Alvarez
  • Ulises Diaz
  • Barbara Jones
  • Gustavo LeClerc
  • Elpidio Rocha
Publications
  • Organizational brochure
  • Saber es Poder
  • Hybrid City
  • Mixed Feelings
Associated Artists
  • Julie Easton (photographer)
  • Raymond Gutierrez (architect)
  • Tania Martinez-Lemkie
  • Rosa Velasco
  • Amalia Mesa-Bains
  • Alessandra Moctezuma
  • Leda Ramos
  • Raul Villa
Associated Organizations
  • Latino Urban Forum
  • Self Help Graphics
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
Extent: approximately 15 linear feet of material; 300 digital images
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Photographs, digital images, & slides
  • Visual Works
  • Realia
Secondary Sources
Exhibition Catalogs
Restrictions
Copyright
Location
  • Onsite
  • Cooper-Hewitt Museum

AVENUE 50 STUDIO

Mission
Avenue 50 Studio is a multicultural art space with an emphasis on Chicano/a and Latino/a art. Because they believe Chicano/a and Latino/a art is under-represented in the Los Angeles art scene, Avenue 50 Studio’s goal is to exhibit mid-career and upcoming artists who display high quality work.  According to them, “Avenue 50 Studio strives to show the wide range of Latino/a art production and to gather together an eclectic mixture of techniques and ideas that will constantly surprise its audiences.”
History
The Avenue 50 Studio originated in November 1999 as a photography workshop in one small room.  Realizing the need for a cultural space in the Highland Park area, it inaugurated its first show in February of 2000 with a group exhibit of 15 local Chicano/Latino artists. "Making the Invisible Visible," a multimedia experimental silkscreen exhibit in tribute to Cesar Chavez followed this exhibit. A year after opening, the studio expanded into the building’s adjoining space. 
Founder
  • Kathy Gallegos
Board of Directors
  • Kathy Gallegos
  • David Diaz (environmental planner and educator)
  • Ulises Diaz (ADOBE LA)
  • Tina Gulotta (artist)
  • Ricardo Muñoz (Retired Judge)
  • J. Michael Walker (artist)
Programs
  • Exhibitions
  • Artist Shows
  • Artists in Discussion series
  • Workshops
Publications
  • Organizational brochure
Associated Organizations
  • Galeria Mundo
  • Aztlan.net
  • Tropico de Nopal
  • Cine Sin Fin Film Festival
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
Extent: approximately 15 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Photographs, digital images, & slides
  • Interviews
  • Audio and Visual Media       
Secondary Sources
  • Exhibition Catalogs
  • Subject Files including ephemera, clippings, and papers related to artists
Restrictions
Access to records limited to Kathy Gallegos.
Location
  • Onsite

AZTLÁN CULTURAL ARTS FOUNDATION, INC.

Mission
To establish a community center in a neglected part of Northeast area for the arts and to offer a multidisciplinary arts program in the visual arts, dance, teatro and music, at either a small fee or free of charge.
History
The center was started in 1993 by Leo Limón, Armando Martinez, and Donna Ramirez with building space donated through a City Council member’s office. Limón initiated the arts programs with drawing and Chicano/a Studies classes. He was assisted by Martinez, who wrote proposals and provided administrative support. Ramirez was a volunteer at the Center.
Later, Limón secured a $60,000 grant for the “LA Rivers Catz Project,” a two-week restoration program that hired 100 youth and trained them in mural painting, graffiti abatement, ecology, and cultural appreciation. They also worked one day at the LA River to restore images painted along the river and paint new images of “catz” on pylons.
In 1999/2000, the center was broken into and robbed. Thereafter, the Board decided to close the center.
Founders
  • Leo Limón
  • Armando Martinez
  • Donna Ramirez
Board of Directors
  • Philip Castruita
  • Leo Limón
  • Armando Martinez
  • Rita Martinez
  • Ada Polini-Brown
  • Alberto Ybarra
Programs
  • Cine Sin Fin Film Festival
  • Filme Awards
  • Conferences
  • Rock en Español concerts
Publications
  • Organizational brochure
  • Newsletter
Associated Artists
  • Alberto Ybarra (teatro)
Associated Organizations
  • Self Help Graphics
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
Extent: approximately 15 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Artists’ Personal Papers
  • Visual Works 
Location
  • Leo Limón’s home

CAJA NEGRA

Mission
Caja Negra is an artists' collective founded by photographers from ELA and surrounding communities. Caja Negra (Black Box) describes the photographer's main creative tool, the camera, in the simplest of terms: but more importantly, it refers to the photographer's search for and quest to bring to light that which was once hidden. The capturing of light. The photograph.
Our mission is threefold:
A. Teach and promote the photographic arts in under-served communities.
B. Use photography as a vehicle for understanding/communication among and between diverse cultural groups.
C. Assist aspiring photographers in developing their artistic skills and showcasing their talents.

CHICANO ART COLLECTORS ANONYMOUS (CACA)

Mission
To provide a forum for the viewing and discussing of collecting Chicano art, primarily from the Los Angeles area, and to promote the collecting of Chicano art so that the art would be preserved within the Los Angeles community where it originated. According to Armando, “In my dreams what I would like to see is a time when these works, as well as the works of other artists and other collectors, are going to be recognized and are going to be valued by the community at large.”
History
CACA began informally as collectors would see each other at various exhibitions consistently over time. In 1990, a more formal “support group” was formed, holding meetings at different collector’s homes. The group quickly grew, attracting artists and collectors alike and reaching over 100 members at one point. The group lasted about two years. 
Founders
  • Armando Duron
  • Mary Salinas
  • Espie Valverde
  • Richard Valverde   
About
Though no longer in existence, while active the group held regular meetings. Since few collectors had a formal art background, the group drew upon the professional skills of its membership (in education, law and business) as well as those of art experts in order to educate itself about collecting, issues, including insurance, framing and documentation. The group also provided a forum for establishing a broader network with Los Angeles artists, gallery owners and other arts professionals.
Publications
  • East of the River: Chicano Art Collectors Anonymous
Associated Artists
  • Adam Avila
  • Luisa Cohrs
  • Victor Durazo
  • Robert Gil de Montes
  • Joseph Maruska
  • David Serrano
  • Richard Valverde
ARCHIVE
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Photographs, digital images, & slides
  • Interviews
  • Audio and Visual Media       
Secondary Sources
  • Exhibition Catalogs
  • Subject Files including ephemera, clippings, and papers related to artists
Location
  • Dispersed Locations

EAST LOS STREETSCAPERS

Mission
ELS was established with the intent of producing public art collaboratively and as a workshop where young artists experienced the discipline required to produce public art.
History
East Los Streetscapers was formed in 1975 when childhood friends Wayne Alaniz Healy and David Botello were reunited at an art exhibition. At the time, Healy had completed a mural at Ramona Gardens and Botello at Estrada Courts. They decided that they would paint murals together and formed ELS. Initially formed as a “partnership,” in 1985 ELS became a sole proprietor under Healy’s management.
Their first mural was “Chicano Time Trip,” completed in 1977 on the wall of a bank located in Lincoln Heights. They moved to a downtown site in 1988, where they operated a studio and a gallery—Palmetto Gallery—until 1994 when they moved their operations to their current site in Rosemead. During the last ten years, ELS has expanded into large digital murals and sculpture projects that include glass, light, cast concrete relief, and porcelain tiles.
About
Besides creating public art works, East Los Streetscapers participates in educational activities with other organizations. They have also worked with inmates at the Central Juvenile Hall on an on-site mural. 
Founders
  • Wayne Alaniz Healy
  • David Botello
Programs
  • Workshops
  • Public art works
  • Youth programs
Associated Artists
  • Rudy Calderon
  • Tito Delgado
  • Alejandro de la Loza
  • Ernesto de la Loza
  • Patricio Villagomez
Associated Organizations
  • El Proyecto del Barrio
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
Extent: approximately 60 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Artists’ Personal Papers
  • Photographs, digital images, & slides
  • Audio and Visual Media
Location
  • Onsite

EL NOPAL PRESS

Mission
El Nopal Press publishes fine arts prints and lithographs addressing social issues relevant to the cross-border dialogue between Los Angeles and Mexico City artists.
History
El Nopal Press was founded in 1990 by Mexican artist and master printer, Francesco Siqueiros who moved to Los Angeles from Mexico City.
Founder
  • Francesco X. Siqueiros
Publications
  • Organizational brochure
Associated Artists
  • Judy Baca
  • John Baldessari
  • Mariana Botey
  • Yreina Cervantez
  • Victor Estrada
  • Salomon Huerta
  • Rocio Maldonado
  • Daniel Martinez
  • Mario Rangel Faz
  • Linda Stark
  • Eloy Tarcisio
  • Ruben Ortiz-Torres
  • John Valadez
  • German Venegas
Associated Organizations
  • Avenue 50 Studio
  • Museo del Estampa
  • Self Help Graphics
  • SPARC
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
Extent: approximately 8 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Artists’ Personal Papers
  • Photographs, digital images, & slides
  • Interviews
  • Audio and Visual Media       
Secondary Sources
  • Exhibition Catalogs
  • Subject Files including ephemera, clippings, and papers related to artists
Location
  • Onsite

GRONK

Biographical Note
Born in Los Angeles in 1954, Gronk began his artistic career at a young age by organizing performance pieces with a group of collaborators that included Robert Legorreta "Cyclona" and Mundo Meza. In the early 1970s, he co-founded the art collective Asco, along with Harry Gamboa Jr., Willie Herrón and Patssi Valdez. Through their public, guerilla art interventions and conceptual practices like "No Movies," the group constituted a unique tendency within the Chicano art movement, while it also actively engaged prevalent avant-garde movements. During his tenure with Asco, Gronk also developed his career as an individual artist working in a diverse range of media: murals, canvas painting, drawing, live performance, mail art, printmaking and photography. By 1985, Gronk had secured representation with the Daniel Saxon Gallery and embarked upon a successful career as an exhibiting artist. He quickly became one of the most prominent Chicano painters in the United States, and was featured in many of the major exhibitions featuring Latino and/or Hispanic art over the course of the next two decades. Throughout his career, however, Gronk has remained a uniquely multi-faceted artist, and has recently completed large-scale installation paintings, critically acclaimed set designs for theater and opera productions, and a digital animation short.
Associated Organizations
  • ASCO
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
The Gronk Papers include a diverse range of materials that span the entirety of Gronk's career, from approximately 1969 to 2007. These include materials related to his work with ASCO, his collaborative works and correspondence with artist Jerry Dreva, documentation of the artist's exhibitions, photographic materials (slides, transparencies and prints), thousands of original drawings and watercolors (both loose and in sketchbooks), materials related to his production designs for theater, correspondence and mail art, press clippings and realia and artwork collected by the artist.
Extent: approximately 10 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Personal Papers
  • Visual Works
  • Photographs
  • Ephemera
  • Realia
  • Correspondence
  • Radio Interviews       
Restrictions
Publication Rights Copyright has not been assigned to the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to the Chicano Studies Research Center Library. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Location
  • UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library & Archive

LA MANO PRESS

Mission
La Mano Press (LMP) is a center for contemporary printmaking dedicated to promoting fine art and limited edition prints by local established and emerging artists. Their mission is 1) to educate the public about the graphic arts through workshops, art events, and publications, 2) offer fine art at affordable prices, and 3) assist artists in the development of their artistic careers through the exhibition and sale of their work. Through exhibits, on-site workshops and publications, LMP aims to enhance the public's knowledge about the graphic arts and the enduring quality of hand printed work.
History
La Mano Press was started in February, 2004 by a small group of dedicated artists in a time when access to printmaking facilities, exhibiting and publishing had become difficult for new artists and even more difficult for Latino artists. LMP therefore, offers access for the creation and exhibition of high quality, limited edition prints and portfolios in a welcoming, creative environment.
Founders
  • Sylvia Capistran
  • Artemio Rodriguez
About
Gallery:  Representing a selection of new and exciting art on paper by local and international artists. LMP showcases group, individual, and juried exhibitions on a regular basis. All works are available for sale through their website, catalogue, or at their studio.
Studio facilities:  Housed in a 2,000 square-foot automotive shop that was converted into a functional printmaking studio, it offers on-going workshops for beginners and serious enthusiasts on printmaking techniques and book arts.
Studio rentals:  LMP offers serious artists, access to opportunities for the creation and exhibition of high quality, limited edition prints, portfolios, and fine art books.
Advisory Committee
  • Ixrael
  • Poli Marichal
Publications
  • Organizational brochure
  • La Mano Press catalogue (May, 2004)
  • José Guadalupe Posada: 150 Years
Associated Artists
  • Daniel Gonzalez
  • Ixrael
  • Poli Marichal
  • Joel Rendon
  • Unai San Martin
Associated Organizations
  • Tropico de Nopal
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
Extent: approximately 16 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Photographs, digital images, & slides
  • Audio and Visual Media       
Secondary Sources
  • Exhibition Catalogs
  • Subject Files including ephemera, clippings, and papers related to artists
Location
  • Onsite

LATINART.COM

Mission
To engage within an international dialogue with Latino and Latin American artists and where those conceptually and artistically intersect with that setting.
LatinArt.com was created to investigate the increasingly globalized proposals in art making, institutional practices and curatorial projects in the field of modern and contemporary art from the Americas. Based in Los Angeles, they include art produced in Latin America as well the regions, countries, and cities it dialogues with. “Thus, an emerging Mexican-American artist who works out of Los Angeles is as relevant to our discussions as an internationally renowned one working in Medellín.“
History
The organization began in 1999 as a web site project of two interested individuals. With some initial funding, they contracted Susana Bautista and Bill Kelley to conduct research on potential writers for this web site. Kelley became director in 2003 and he secured non-profit status and expanded the organizational dialogue to include Latino artists.
Founders
  • Cynthia McMillan
  • Hector Ziperovich
About
Web site:  on-line content, including international list of correspondents; essays on various topics; interviews with artists and art professionals. LatinArt.com strives to present a comprehensive and easily navigable website. The Artist section features biographies and interviews with established and emerging artists from around the world; Exhibition reviews cover major international exhibitions; a comprehensive Calendar listing of art fairs, auctions, museum openings and other international events; Art Issues articles are written by experts in the field addressing major themes in the study of art and culture internationally; a Resource directory of key institutions all over the world. Finally, the Art Partners section helps promote galleries and all interested parties with virtual gallery spaces that are dynamic and easy to manage. All information is bilingual in both Spanish and English and updated regularly.
Board of Directors
  • Paul Elwood
  • Joel Rothblatt
  • Hector Ziperovich
  • Marcelo Ziperovich,
Advisory Committee
  • Juan Devis
  • Tere Itturalde
  • Daniel Martinez
  • Francesco Siqueiros
  • Alex Slato
Programs
  • Lectures
Publications
  • Monthly Electronic Newsletter
Associated Organizations
  • Self Help Graphics
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
Extent: approximately 5 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Photographs, digital images, & slides
  • Audio and Visual Media       
Secondary Sources
  • Exhibition Catalogs
  • Subject Files including ephemera, clippings, and papers related to artists
Location
  • Onsite

LATINO MUSEUM OF HISTORY, ART, & CULTURE

Founders
  • Danny Benavides
  • Tom Calderón
  • Juan Gomez-Quiñones
  • Antonia Hernandez

MEXICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE

Mission
The Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles was established in 1990 with the primary goal of fostering and enhancing, through cultural exchange, the understanding and communication between the peoples of Mexican and the United States. Our focus is on Los Angeles, a city with more people of Mexican descent than any other in the world except Mexico City.
The Institute is truly a bi-national organization with distinguished individuals on its Board of Directors from both Mexico and the United States, from the private sector and from government. The Institute is a duly chartered California non-profit corporation with federal tax-exempt status. In addition to several prominent Mexican-Americans, the board includes the Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles, a representative from the Mexican Foreign Ministry and the Governors of several Mexican States which have large numbers of former residents now living in California.
The goals of our Mission are accomplished through ongoing social and cultural exchanges and through showcasing artists from Mexico and the United States whose work crosses the cultural divide between them or whose talents and achievements exemplify and honor Mexican or Mexican-American cultural traditions. Another principal path toward better North-South understanding is through programs of educational exchange, many of which have already been successfully implemented by the Institute. In addition, the Institute supports a program of sports and community activities in the Los Angeles area.
We wish to be a catalyst for building bridges between ethnic groups in our part of the country and those people from Mexico who have a direct and special interest in what is happening in Southern California. Finally, we are especially interested in strengthening the bonds between U.S. born Mexican-Americans and immigrants from Mexico, and beyond that, promoting greater understanding and communication between them and the rest of the population of Southern California
Board of Directors
Yes
Programs
  • Exhibitions
  • Conferences
  • Lectures
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
This collection from the the Mexican Cultural Institute consists of the administrative papers, internal executive papers, exhibit and program information, materials related to cross cultural programs and events and materials related to educational programs.
Extent: approximately 100 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Ephemera
Restrictions
Publication Rights Copyright has not been assigned to the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to the Chicano Studies Research Center Library. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Location
  • UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library

PLAZA DE LA RAZA

Mission
Plaza de la Raza is private non-profit organization that provides year round programs in arts education and serves as an arts center and school of performing and visual arts. Plaza’s artistic programming fosters the enrichment of all cultures. Through the arts, Plaza provides a vital human resource service bridging the geographic, social, artistic and cultural boundaries of Los Angeles and beyond.
History
Plaza de la Raza is a complex of one-story stucco buildings organized around an open patio, adjoining the old Lincoln Park Boathouse. In 1970 when it was incorporated, officials secured a lease from the City of Los Angeles to operate Plaza in Lincoln Park for 25 years.
Plaza was conceived as a cultural-educational center, to serve the Chicano/Latino community in Los Angeles by promoting Mexican artistic and cultural expressions. Aside from its founder, Margo Albert (wife of actor, Eddie Albert) many Latino actors and actresses, business people, and others associated with film and communications in Southern California assisted in its early development, including members of NOSOTROS, the Chicano/Latino film actors organization.
Immediately after the first stages of remodeling and new construction were completed in 1973, Plaza began classes in art, music, dance, creative writing, and drama for all ages. That same year, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Unified School District, they devised a cultural enrichment program to explore, examine, and teach Chicano/Latino history and culture through art forms. Drama, music, dance, art, and other forms of creative expression are also vital to the Head Start Program administered by Plaza staff; the program has involved 21 classes in 10 different sites.
In 1990, Plaza was one of the first arts organizations to join California Institute of the Arts in the Community Arts Partnership. The collaboration began with a year-long youth theatre program, which is in its 14th year, producing some of the finest original theatre productions in collaboration with youth, community artists, playwrights, musicians, dancers, set and costume designers, and CalArts School of theatre faculty and students.
Plaza has received official endorsement from the City of Los Angeles as a Bicentennial Project and more recently, the facility received Prop K funds to renovate the dance and music buildings. It also received Prop A funds to develop a 10-car parking lot, which is stalled due to environmental impact studies.
Founder
  • Margo Albert
About
Plaza is a multidisciplinary arts education center that serves the Chicano / Latino community of Los Angeles by offering classes in art, music, dance, creative writing, and theatre for youth through its School of Performing and Visual Arts (SPVA). Since its inception in 1975, the SPVA has grown to provide 500-600 students each week with a full curriculum in theatre, dance, music and visual arts. Classes serve 600 students per 10 week semester sessions.
Plaza also presents performances on the Willie Velasquez outdoor stage and the Margo Albert Theatre. In the Boathouse Gallery, the School has exhibitions of work produced by its students ages five to adult, along with four exhibitions per year of local and national artist’s work.
Board of Directors
Yes
Programs
  • Workshops
  • Performances
  • Exhibitions
Publications
  • Workshop brochures
  • Exhibition Catalogs
Associated Artists
  • Margaret Garcia
  • Yolanda Gonzalez
  • Roberto Gutierrez
  • Frank Romero
Associated Organizations
  • Artes Americas in Fresno
  • Centro Cultural de la Raza in San Diego
  • Galeria de la Raza in San Francisco
  • La Raza Galeria Posada in Sacramento
  • Self Help Graphics
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
This collection consists of organizational papers related to both its artistic output as well as its admintrative history.
Extent: approximately 300 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Photographs, slides
  • Ephemera
  • Interviews
  • Audio Visual Materials
Secondary Sources
  • Exhibition Catalogs
Restrictions
Publication Rights Copyright has not been assigned to the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to the Chicano Studies Research Center Library. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Location
  • UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library

SELF HELP GRAPHICS

Mission
Self Help Graphic’s mission is to: (1) Foster and encourage the empowerment of local Latino/Chicano artists; (2) Present Latino/Chicano art to all audiences through its programs; and (3) Promote the rich cultural heritage and contribution of Latino/ Chicano art and artists to the contemporary American experience.
History
Self-Help Graphics was co-founded in 1971 by Sister Karen Boccalero, a Franciscan nun who studied art under Sister Corita Kent, and two Mexican artists, Carlos Bueno and Antonio Ibañez. Located in a garage, the center initially only offered silkscreen workshops. As their Director, subsequent activities would blend Sister Karen’s knowledge of art history, commitment to political radicalism, appreciation of Mexican culture, and Catholic spirituality. When Sister Karen died of a heart attack in June 1997, Tomás Benitez, a longtime administrator at SHG became the new director.
Throughout the 1970s, SHG initiated several important community-based programs designed to make art and art making accessible: the Photography Workshop, the Barrio Art Mobile, and the nonprofit Galeria Otra Vez. Beginning in 1982, SHG started a master printer program, inviting Gronk to work with Stephen Grace to pull ten prints. The next year the program evolved into its present-day form. Since 1983, The Printmaking Atelier has enabled more than 200 artists to create and produce over 300 editions of quality silkscreen prints.  
Through the Exhibition Print Program, SHG has shown the work of local artists in key regional exhibits such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1989) and the Armand Hammer Museum (1995). SHG has also reached a national audience through major endeavors such as Across the Street: Self-Help Graphics & Art and Chicano Art in Los Angeles (1995-97).  SHG has a loyal international following, and has expanded its audience to Africa (nine nations), Germany, France and Spain through its “Arts America” touring show Chicano Expressions. The success of the USA tour resulted in an extension of the traveling exhibition into Mexico. SHG has also presented the first Day of the Dead at the Glasgow Print Studio in Scotland in November 1996.
Founders
  • Sister Karen Boccalero
  • Carlos Bueno
  • Antonio Ibañez
About
Self-Help Graphics consists of an atelier open to Chicano and non-Chicano artists and funded through the government and philanthropic sector. The prints are sold to the community in order to generate income for the center, as well as to provide affordable art for the home; the artists retain a portion of the print run for their own purposes.
The on-site Galeria Otra Vez, serves as SHG’s main exhibition site. It presents a cadre of artists including local talent as well as artists from throughout the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.  The exhibitions are curated by SHG’s Gallery Director and generally last one month each.
Artist Programs: The Atelier Program has provided artists with the opportunity to develop their skills and experience, build a body of work, and foster their creative development. The Exhibition Print Program is the avenue by which framed prints created through the Atelier program and other special workshops are presented in local, national and international exhibitions. The focus of the local exhibit programs has been to travel the art to non-traditional sites and underserved segments of the community, which would otherwise not have the opportunity to enjoy the art and culture represented in the images of the prints.
The Professional Artists Workshop Program provides professional opportunities to hundreds of local and Southern California area artists through a series of workshops in a variety of techniques, as well as a number of Special Project Talleres (workshops), which lead directly to exhibitions, collaborations and other artist opportunities.  SHG is a founding member and participant of the Festival Internacional de la Raza for the past ten years, and is also frequently hosts Visiting Artists-in-Residence, including national and international artists.
Community Art Workshops: SHG hosts a series of art workshops that are led by professional artists, as well as community members. The workshops are aimed at local underserved K-12 children and families and aim to engage local youth in creative and cultural endeavors that foster civic participation and positive identity. 
S.O.Y. (Summer of Youth) Artista Project: S.O.Y. Artista (Summer of Youth) art program is a six-week program that gives students (ages 14 – 18) the opportunity to work with professional master printmakers in the Los Angeles area. The S.O.Y. Artista program offers workshops on the various techniques and process of printmaking, including Digital Arts and Etching.
Board of Directors
  • Michael Amescua
  • Dr. Gilberto Cárdenas
  • Sister Maria Elena
  • Dennis Martinez
  • Julio Martinez
  • Charles Miller
  • Oralia Michel
  • Olivia Montes
  • Marisol Lydia Torres
  • Ginger Varney
Advisory Committee
  • Lalo Alcaraz
  • Yreina Cervantes
  • Bud Cort
  • Armando Durón
  • Ofelia Esparza
  • Teresa Sanchez Gordon
  • Nia Long
  • Cheech Marin
  • Chon Noriega
  • Tony Plana
  • Ricardo Romo
  • Nancy de los Santos
  • Bea Olivera Stotzer
  • Jesus Treviño
  • Sybil Venegas
Programs
  • Atelier Program
  • Artist Programs
  • Community Art Workshops
  • Summer Youth Art Programs
Publications
  • Organizational brochure
ARCHIVE
Scope & Content
Extensive collection of silk screen prints and slides, as well as organizational records, photographs, and ephemera of the Los Angeles cultural arts center and studio. Founded in the early 1970s, during the height of the Chicano Civil Rights movement, by Mexican artists, Carlos Bueno and Antonio Ibañez, and several Chicano artists, including Frank Hernandez and Sister Karen Boccalero.
Extent: approximately 27 linear feet of material
Primary Sources
  • Organizational Papers
  • Photographs, negatives, & slides
  • Visual Works
  • Correspondence
  • Educational Programs
  • Exhibition materials
  • Newspapers, Magazines
  • Ephemera       
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to UCSB Department of Special Collections. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Location
  • California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives (CEMA), Department of Special Collections, Donald C. Davidson Library, University of California Santa Barbara
Publication Note
Guzmán, Kristen, and Colin Gunckel. Self Help Graphics & Art: Art in the Heart of East Los Angeles. Chicano archives. Los Angeles: UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, 2005.

SOCIAL AND PUBLIC RESOURCE CENTER (SPARC)

Mission
SPARC is an arts organization that produces, preserves, and conducts educational programs about community based public art works. SPARC espouses public art as an organizing tool for addressing contemporary issues, fostering cross-cultural understanding and promoting civic dialogue.
History
SPARC was founded in 1976 by muralist Judith F. Baca, painter Christina Schlesinger, and filmmaker Donna Deitch. Over the last 28 years, they have created murals and other forms of public art in communities throughout Los Angeles and increasingly in national and international venues.
Founders
  • Judith F. Baca
  • Donna Deitch
  • Christina Schlesinger
About
SPARC produces and promotes work that reflects the lives and concerns of America’s ethnically and economically diverse populations including: women, the working poor, youth, elderly and newly arrived immigrant communities. Their ultimate purpose is to examine what is memorialize through public art, and to innovate techniques which not only produce excellent art works but also provide a vehicle for the betterment of community through a citizens participatory process.
SPARC has three main areas of activity: production, education and preservation. Within these categories, each program, project and service reflects the organization’s role as a resource for public and community-based art. SPARC has concentrated on using the creative process associated with the production of works of monumental proportions to develop models for the transformation of both physical environments and social environments in public spaces.
SPARC’s Mural Resource and Education Center (MREC) is the country’s largest repository of information about murals and other forms of public art. Since 1976, SPARC’s MREC has amassed an impressive amount of written and visual documentation focusing on public art, including Chicano and ethnic public art, mural making techniques, and the role of muralism within the historical civil rights struggles of the African American, Chicano, Asian, Women, and Native American movements. The MREC resources include: hundreds of journals, magazines and newspaper articles; over 60,000 slides of rare historic and contemporary murals and public art projects; audio and video tapes; and an artists’ registry database. SPARC’s MREC also monitors artist copyrights and collects and distributes user fees from publishers, film companies, and other entities desiring to reproduce mural images for commercial use.
Board of Directors
Yes
Programs
  • Mural Projects
  • Educational Programs
  • Save Los Angeles Murals Program

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