In 1970, a small group of artists began meeting and working in the East Los Angeles garage of a Catholic nun, Sister Karen Boccalero, herself an artist. She was also, in her own way, an activist and, along with artists Carlos Bueno, Antonio Ibáñez and Frank Hernández, she believed that everyone should have access to artistic creation in order to express who they were and their community. It was part of a deep political and cultural awakening fostered by the Chicano movement. The artists then found space in Boyle Heights and in 1973 established Self-help graphics and art (SHG), with an emphasis on engraving. To reach a wider population, they transformed an old truck into a Barrio mobile art studio and took art education on the road, teaching techniques such as screen printing, linocut, drypoint and monotype.
This year, SHG is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a $14.9 million fundraising campaign to renovate the building near the downtown arts district that the organization has called home since 2011 and whose mortgage it has paid off. Last year. “It was a truly game-changing moment for Self Help Graphics,” says Betty Avila, Executive Director of SHG, “which has been around for almost 50 years, to be able to say that the organization finally has a full agency on its home .”
A former seafood packing plant, the building wasn’t glamorous when SHG first moved in, but it offered 13,000 square feet of space and ample parking. The renovations will cost $10.1 million, with the remaining $4.8 million going towards property acquisition and reserves. Avila says SHG has already raised 85% of the total, including $4 million from the State of California and $1 million from MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist and novelist. Construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months. The renovation was designed by architectural firm NAC, based nearby in Chinatown, and the lead architect for the project is a Chicana, Leticia Ochoa.
Printmaking facilities at Self Help Graphics & Art in Los Angeles Courtesy self-help graphics and art
“We are in a building that has been converted into a refrigerator,” Avila says of the 110-year-old building. Upcoming upgrades include better air conditioning systems, updated studio and gallery spaces, storage for SHG’s collection, and an overhaul of outdoor spaces. “The concrete car park will be transformed to have more green spaces, shade and a garden.”
Avila will step down at the end of June, shortly after renovations begin and after eight years at the helm of SHG. “It’s a good time to pass it on,” she says. “Having done so much and having done it with ever limited resources.”
One artist whose education and career has been nurtured at SHG is Linda Vallejo. In 1976, while still a student, she started working part-time for the mobile studio. Later, she taught workshops and was an artist in residence. “In the late 1970s, it was really about a cultural awakening through the arts,” says Vallejo. She discovered her Mexican American heritage while working there, helping with research on the Day of the Day festival that led to its revival in Los Angeles. Today, the center has two months of programming leading up to the popular November celebration.
Vallejo thinks the art coming out of SHG is better than ever. “They really followed and set the trends,” she says, noting how much of the art is politically savvy – embracing not only Mexican American or Chicano identity, but also feminist, Indigenous and environmental concerns. .
