Rewriting history through art in Los Angeles
Cities are living organisms that morph, change, and adapt to the new world around them. Unfortunately this can also come at a cost to the people who built their homes, families, and lives around a neighborhood only to not recognize it any more, or worse, be pushed out. Angelenos have been some of the first to also fight back the gentrification happening in their cities, most famously in Boyle Heights were there was a clash between art galleries moving in and local residents. They say “history is written by the victors”1, and these creators use their art to rewrite history and secure the future of LA’s streets.
Clockshop LA
Clockshop LA is an arts organization focused on transforming public space for cultural arts programming. For the past eight years, Clockshop has been holding community events, art installations, and raising money to rejuvenate the land and residents’ connection to the Bowtie Park, an unused portion of the LA River. This past May, the Bowtie Park project was awarded a $5M grant from the Department of the Interior to be invested in building out the new State Park.
LA is known to have a lack of public parks and green space for its residents. In Trust for Public Land’s 2022 report on urban public spaces for the top 100 US cities, LA ranks 78. Overall, 68% of residents live a 10 minute walk to a park. When looking at this data by income, lower income neighborhoods have 70% less park space per person than higher income neighborhoods. Especially during the pandemic, access to outdoor space to gather safely or just take a break from the walls of your home have been essential. For many Angelenos, access to a public space is just not an option.
The success of the Bowtie project is a direct result of Clockshop’s events, fundraising, and advocacy. The park is set to open in 2023.
Patrick Martinez
Patrick Martinez is a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist whose work spans mixed media landscapes, neon signs, and cake paintings. Martinez takes everyday materials and turns them into the stories of people, cultures, and spaces that would be otherwise forgotten, or worse, erased. His work is now in the permanent collection at the Whitney, MOCA, and Smithsonian.
I first came across Martinez during his first solo show at the Charles James Gallery in 2017 when looking for inspiration as we designed the first stores for Everytable2 in South LA . Martinez’s storefront neon signs remix bright, glowing words into strong political statements to be reckoned with. His newer landscape pieces are also instantly recognizable, evoking the streets of Los Angeles. They are a mix of stucco, vinyl signs, ceramic tiles, and security bars with a peek into what has been and what is to come.
Martinez’s work tells the story of life and layers within a city and is a reminder of how connected our lives are in places and spaces that are often overlooked. It is impossible to look at a strip mall the same way again after seeing it through his eyes.
Las Fotos Project
Las Fotos Project is a nonprofit that seeks to elevate and empower the voices of girls and gender expansive teens from communities of color in Los Angeles through photography, mentorship, and self discovery. It was founded in 2011 with the core idea that teens need a way to build confidence and be heard - especially those that are otherwise left out of the system and for whom creative aspirations seem out of reach. Las Fotos programs are focused on honing their creative voices and providing platforms for them to shine. Their programs include, “Esta Soy Yo” that encourages personal storytelling, Digital Promotoras to share stories of their often changing neighborhoods, and Creative Entrepreneurship Opportunities giving teens the opportunity to work with brands and local organizations.
Having someone take your passion and voice seriously is deeply meaningful for confidence and building your voice. As executive director of Las Fotos, Lucia Torres, shared in a recent interview with Aperture, “Photography offers you the opportunity to be able to do that—to be very loud and vocal with your story while at the same time being quiet.”
The stories that Las Fotos shares, and more importantly the photographers they invest in, help us recognize the past and build a stronger, more inclusive future.
Quote is wrongly attributed to Winston Churchill and is likely an adage. A rabbit hole on this topic here.
Writer was on the founding team at Everytable.