Self-Help Graphics and Art, Inc.

Self-Help Graphics and Art, Inc., is a non-profit organization founded in 1972. It encourages and promotes Chicano art in the Los Angeles community and beyond by sponsoring workshops and art exhibitions. It has developed a national reputation for the exceptional quality of the screenprints produced by artists at the facility.

"Incorporated in 1973, Self Help Graphics & Art has been the leading visual arts center serving the Los Angeles community for the past thirty years. [Its] mission is to: foster and encourage the empowerment of local Latino/Chicano artists; present Latino/Chicano art to all audiences through its programs and services; and promote the rich cultural heritage and contribution of Latino/Chicano art and artists to the contemporary American experience"--(from the SHGA Website's mission statement [viewed on 10/12/05]).

Organisational History

Self-Help Graphics and Art, Inc. is a non-profit organization and serves as an important cultural arts center that has encouraged and promoted Chicano art in the Los Angeles community and beyond.

The seeds of what would become Self-Help Graphics and Art, Inc. were planted in 1970 during the height of the Chicano Civil Rights movement when two young Mexican artists, Carlos Bueno and Antonio Ibaez and several Chicano artists, including Frank Hernandez, met Franciscan nun and Temple University-trained Master Artist, Sister Karen Boccalero. Reflective of the contemporary social and political climate, Bueno and Ibaez were frustrated by the inaccessibility and lack of facilities available to young Chicanos wishing to develop their talents as artists. The cost of private art schools was prohibitive to most Chicanos. While it is generally conceded that art is an intensely personal expression that holds no creative boundaries, some in the art world did not yet accept the concept of a unique Chicano art that would serve as an expression of cultural values. In this context, they set out to develop a plan that would remedy this situation; a plan that would not only serve the needs of aspiring Chicano artists, but that would also serve the greater East Los Angeles community.

Long hours of careful planning and canvassing the community for support ultimately paid off. With a grant from the Order of the Sisters of St. Francis, the trio (who by this time were joined by others interested in serving their cause) were able to acquire 2,000 square feet of space that had once served as a gymnasium in the heart of East Los Angeles. Its subsequent conversion into an art studio and gallery enabled the group to open the doors of Self-Help Graphics in 1972. The organization was so well-received by the surrounding community and by aspiring artists that operations soon outgrew the 2,000 square foot facility. Continuing the search for funding through public as well as private resources, a grant from the Campaign for Human Development in 1973 enabled SHGA to acquire an additional 7,000 square feet adjacent to the existing studio and gallery space.

Once Self-Help Graphics and Art was firmly established as an art center, the core members of the group began to think beyond the walls of the studio and imagine how in addition to developing their own talents and furthering Chicano art, they could reach out in a way that would benefit the greater East Los Angeles community. Placed in its larger historical context, Self-Help Graphics and Art's efforts may be seen as a microcosm of the macrocosmic Chicano Power movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. One of the goals of this movement was to foster an appreciation for Chicano roots. Chicano activists placed an emphasis on their mesoamerican past rather than on their European Spanish heritage. Many contemporary activists argued that rather than honoring and preserving this heritage, the dominant Anglo socio-cultural norms were eroding the indigenous culture. Like these activists, Self-Help Graphics and Art feared that within such an atmosphere, young Chicanos would not only soon forget their cultural values, but would also develop a negative sense of their heritage and of themselves in light of the Anglo socio-cultural practices and values being taught in the public school system and disseminated by the popular media.

Self-Help Graphics and Art spent long hours developing and planning ways through which in addition to exposing barrio children to a variety of artistic media, they could utilize art forms to instill within these children a positive sense of self, community, and culture. Many of the children that Self-Help Graphics and Art wished to help were either immigrants themselves, or the sons and daughters of immigrants not far removed from their Mexican past. Since participation in art does not require a sophisticated command of spoken or written language, art was perceived as an excellent vehicle by which to achieve this end.

While Self-Help Graphics and Art held workshops on its premises to educate neighborhood children (as well as adults) about art and culture, the sheer physical geography of East Los Angeles isolated much of the target group from their services. In an effort to remedy this shortcoming, they set out to devise a plan that would bring the art studio to the surrounding community.

In August 1975, following an exhaustive fund raising campaign, Self-Help Graphics and Art instituted the Barrio Mobile Art Studio. The organization acquired and customized a van for this purpose. This specially equipped van introduced children to filmmaking, silkscreen, photography, sculpture, batik, painting, and puppetry. Through contract with the Los Angeles Unified School District, Self-Help Graphics and Art was able to bring its program to various East Los Angeles elementary schools and thus provide a level of multicultural education in the arts to children who currently had none in their curriculum. The Barrio Mobile Art Studio program was enormously successful and well-received by students, teachers, school administrators, and civic leaders. It remained in operation until Self-Help Graphics and Art phased out the program in 1985. Arguably, the Barrio Mobile Art Studio served as a prototype for the types of multicultural curriculum programs that the Los Angeles Unified School District would later adopt.

Self-Help Graphics and Art has played an active role in community affairs. Included among these activities are the sponsoring of numerous workshops and art exhibitions. Ever since 1974 the organization staged the now nationally recognized East Los Angeles Da de los Muertos Celebration. This holiday, which is traditionally celebrated on November 1 and has its origins in Mexico, was originally conceived of as a one-time celebration to be staged by Self-Help Graphics and Art. The following year the community demand for this event was so great that the organization decided to continue sponsoring the annual event. With support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the East Los Angeles Da de los Muertos celebration grew into an event that attracted national attention. The elaborate celebration continued to survive and thrive not only because of grant money received from numerous public agencies and private foundations, but through the widespread community support that served as the backbone for producing the celebration. This three day celebration accomplished some of Self-Help Graphics and Art's goals by educating East Los Angeles residents of their heritage, introducing them to the creative processes involved in art, and ultimately, helping to build a stronger community. By 1985, the Da de los Muertos celebration had become so popular among the residents of East Los Angeles that the program could be sustained without the primary support of Self-Help Graphics and Art. With assurance that others would take up the responsibility for planning and organizing the event, the organization decided to take a secondary role in staging the celebration. Such a role allowed SHGA to devote more time and energy to the primary reason behind its founding: furthering Chicano Art and providing a training ground for aspiring Chicano artists.

Self-Help Graphics and Art has developed a national reputation for the exceptional quality of the screenprints produced by artists at the facility, while its private gallery, the Galera Otra Vez, also receives much praise and is well-recognized as an important arena for exhibiting artists' works. With its continued emphasis on advancing Chicano art, Self-Help Graphics and Art remains one of the most important centers in the country for training Chicano artists.