Self Help Graphics & Art

Self Help Graphics & Art
Name	Self Help Graphics & Art
Formation	1973
Type	Community arts center
Headquarters	East Los Angeles, California
Leader title	Executive Director
Region served	Los Angeles County

Self Help Graphics & Art Self Help Graphics & Art is a community-based arts organization founded in East Los Angeles in 1973 that has served as a hub for Chicano, Latino, and Indigenous visual arts, printmaking, and cultural events. The organization is notable for producing large-scale public art, print editions, workshops, and the annual Día de los Muertos celebrations that intersect with broader movements and institutions across Los Angeles and the United States. Its programs have connected artists, activists, scholars, and cultural institutions in networks spanning grassroots collectives to major museums.

History

Founded in 1973 during the Chicano Movement, the organization emerged amid activity involving the United Farm Workers, the Brown Berets, and neighborhood-based groups in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles. Early participants and allies included community organizers, artists associated with the Raza movement, and activists influenced by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and the work of the United Mexican American Students. In the 1970s and 1980s the center developed ties to print workshops and artist collectives linked to the Taller de Gráfica Popular tradition, as well as to institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Getty Center through exhibitions and collaborative projects. During the 1990s and 2000s regional policy debates involving the City of Los Angeles, the California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts shaped funding, while partnerships with universities like UCLA, California State University, and Otis College of Art and Design influenced programming. Recent decades saw interactions with local government offices, historic preservation efforts, and arts advocacy groups including the LA County Arts Commission and the California Arts Advocates.

Programs and Workshops

The center's studio programming has offered printmaking workshops in serigraphy, lithography, and intaglio taught by artists and master printers who have collaborated with galleries, museums, and universities such as the Hammer Museum, the Getty Research Institute, and the Smithsonian Latino Center. Community art programs have involved public mural projects linked to neighborhood revitalization initiatives and collaborations with organizations like the East LA Classic Theatre, Self Help alumni groups, and cultural festivals connected to El Teatro Campesino and Teatro de la Esperanza. Youth arts education initiatives have partnered with local schools, afterschool programs, and community colleges, while apprenticeships and residency schemes have attracted artists associated with print collectives, artist-run spaces, and museum outreach programs.

Community Impact and Cultural Significance

As a site for annual Día de los Muertos observances, community altars, and procesiones, the organization shaped popular celebrations that resonate with cultural institutions such as the Autry Museum, the Mexican Museum, and the National Museum of Mexican Art. Its role in documenting Chicano aesthetic practices placed it in dialogues with scholars and curators from institutions including the Getty Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, and university presses. The center has been a locus for political cultural production intersecting with movements and events such as the Chicano Moratorium, Zapatista solidarity activities, and contemporary immigration rights campaigns, and has influenced civic arts policy debates involving the Los Angeles Philharmonic's community initiatives and municipal cultural plans.

Notable Artists and Collaborations

Over decades the studio has hosted, trained, or collaborated with numerous artists and collectives associated with Chicano, Latino, and Indigenous visual cultures. Notable figures and collaborators include artists and cultural workers who have exhibited or worked with major venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Walker Art Center, and the Centre Pompidou. Collaborations have connected to artists whose practices intersect with printmaking centers and artist residencies at the Printmaking Workshop, Atelier 17, and the Tamarind Institute, and who have exhibited alongside peers in Biennials, the Venice Biennale, and regional art fairs. Partnerships extended to performance ensembles, literary presses, and community media organizations that have links to the Los Angeles Times cultural desk, KCET, KCRW, and public radio forums.

Facilities and Collections

The organization's facilities historically included print studios, exhibition space, community rooms, and archives documenting posters, screenprints, and ephemera related to Chicano cultural history. Collections and archives have been consulted by curators and researchers affiliated with the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, USC Libraries Special Collections, the Smithsonian Folklife Archive, and regional historical societies. Public programs often took place in venues across East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, Highland Park, and collaborations with neighborhood arts districts, artist-run spaces, and municipal cultural centers.

Funding and Organizational Structure

Funding sources over time have included civic arts agencies, private foundations, philanthropic donors, and earned income from print sales, workshops, and event programming; grantmakers and partners have included the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the Getty Foundation, and local community foundations. Governance has involved a board of directors, artistic directors, and administrative staff, and organizational challenges mirror those faced by nonprofit cultural institutions and community arts centers in Los Angeles, with stakeholder engagement involving neighborhood councils, labor unions, and educational institutions.

Controversies and Challenges

The organization has confronted controversies and operational challenges including debates over gentrification, property and zoning disputes, internal governance conflicts, and tensions arising from shifting public funding priorities. These issues connected to broader urban development debates in Los Angeles neighborhoods and intersected with campaigns by tenant associations, historic preservationists, and arts advocacy coalitions. Legal, financial, and community-relations matters prompted scrutiny from local political figures, cultural commentators, and community organizers active in regional planning and arts policy arenas.

Category:Arts organizations in California