Picturing Latinx Los Angeles

Access to tech and creative industry employment

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

SHG addresses the need for a welcoming environment for creative expression and growth amongst multigenerational communities of color in LA. By participating in Creative Labs, S.O.Y. Artista, Print Summit, Print Fairs and workshops, creative makers come together to learn from each other and build community (strengthening social support networks and addressing loneliness). Our work also addresses pressing issues affecting communities of color, such as mental health, immigration, gender identity, mass incarceration, and more. We believe that building the cultural skill sets of local Latinx and BIPOC artists through culturally relevant mentorship programs (where they can meet artists and individuals working in various creative fields) advances equity and builds power amongst traditionally underrepresented communities.

SHG will continue to address the lack of Latinx voices in defining what the creative and economic future of the city looks like through its six artist development programs: our Professional Printmaking Program (PPP), Beyond the Press, and our youth arts education programs: S.O.Y. Artista, Creative Lab, Youth Artivism Internship, and The Youth Committee. PPP offers artists the opportunity to create fine art limited edition prints and monoprints through a peer-led approach. SHG conducts one to two atelier projects yearly, led by a guest artist/curator, who then selects 5-7 participating artists. And Beyond The Press is an artist in residence program that invites one emerging or underrepresented interdisciplinary artist to create a new body of work over the course of a year, culminating in an exhibition and accompanying catalog. Our youth arts education programs teach 230 primarily Latinx and BIPOC youth (ages 12-24) how to use art to drive social action and shift culture. In these programs, students develop artmaking skills, curatorial and leadership skills, advocacy skills, meet mentors, and learn the role the arts play in storytelling, advocacy, and civic engagement. Support from LA 2050 would help us increase our outreach efforts and enroll an increased number of youth. And it would also help further the professional development of our teaching artists and assistants, who further their instructional and communications skills in administering these unique programs.

If our work is successful, we will have uplifted BIPOC artists’ roles in animating histories, documenting realities, and imagining a more just future. We will have also enhanced the professional training of our teaching artists, and enriched their creative practice. We will have also generated many powerful artists that will help the city at large not just see but understand both Latinx and communities of color’s realities, concerns, philosophies, and approaches to civic life. And LA County’s majority population - Latinx individuals - will be more prominently featured in its cultural landscape, especially as the city prepares for upcoming tentpole moments such as FIFA and the Olympics.

In terms of impact, we witness our program participants having increased skills with which to thrive in the creative economy, the social sector, or other fields. In terms of specifics, in our Beyond the Press (BTP) program, artists build confidence in speaking and presenting their work, strengthen their communication skills, build their peer network, and push and experiment in their artistic practice. We also see an increased exposure to the artist's work. And in both the Professional Printmaking Program and BTP, artists experience skill building through mentorship processes. As per our youth programs, we witness participants experiencing the following outcomes: Outcome 1 – Over 85% of participants learn new skills for artistic self-expression and new perspectives about socially engaged creative practices Outcome 2 – Over 90% of participants learn new leadership and coalition building skills Outcome 3 – Over 90% of participants learn new advocacy and cultural organizing skills