by Abel M. Salas Art is excitement, which if we can’t create ourselves, we can at least, through love of it, make it available to others. – Vincent Price When the late Vincent Price and his wife Mary Grant Price donated 90 pieces of art to East LA College in 1957, they probably did not imagine that the gift would someday become the cornerstone of a world-class museum collection and a vital institution. Price, the legendary actor best known for an affinity toward horror, thrillers and the macabre during a long and illustrious career as a Hollywood actor, was also a respected art collector who earned his art history degree at Yale University. The modest collection of Mesoamerican, African, Native American, and European artworks was provided to establish a teaching resource for the ethnically diverse and largely working-class students at ELAC who won the renowned patrons over with their genuine love for art and their enthusiastic commitment to its study. Over the next 40 years, ...

by Abel M. Salas  On November 10, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support increased diversity in both programming and management level staffing at LA County arts institutions. A motion by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, will require the County Arts Commission to establish an advisory group of diverse arts leaders who will work with arts institutions to develop recommendations for ways to enhance the participation and leadership of individuals from underrepresented communities in the arts. A recent national study of diversity in American Art Museums released by the Mellon Foundation found that minorities are significantly underrepresented in top positions among museum leaders, only four percent are African American and just three percent are Hispanic. Further, the study found that minorities have no significant pipeline for leadership positions. “As a global leader in the arts and perhaps the most diverse County in the nation, Los Angeles should be ...

by Aleja María Sierra “The idea for the benefit art and music show came from Margaret García,” says Nataasja, Saint-Satyr, a Lincoln Heights-reared artist, curator and vocal performer. Saint-Sinclair met the internationally recognized Chicana artist over a decade ago while still an art student. Understandably, Saint-Satyr counts García among her mentors and feels grateful that the well-known painter has tapped her to run with an idea for a benefit art exhibition and concert that has origins in García’s 2010 “Stamp Project.” “Prayers from Los Angeles Art & Music Benefit Fest,” the widely anticipated inter-disciplinary event Saint-Satyr refers to, will take place on December 5th at Casa 0101 in Boyle Heights. Its predecessor, the “Stamp Project: Creating Cultural Currency,” was a traveling exhibition and cultural event which evolved organically from a concept that arose from within an informal art collective known simply as a “Circle of Women” and organized by García. The c...

por William Alexander Yankes Desde el 15 al 17 del abril pasado hace unos cuantos meses, más de noventa personas, de trece países, se dieron cita en California State University Dominguez Hills para rendirle homenaje a Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra y evaluar la influencia en las humanidades de su obra maestra, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. Este simposio celebró los cuatro siglos de existencia de esta obra inmortal, cuya Segunda Parte se publicara en 1615. Entre las más de sesenta ponencias hubo tensión intelectual, coincidencias y divergencias de enfoque. En un castellano marcado por acentos políglotas, se habló del impacto del Quijote en distintas regiones del mundo: el lejano Oriente, el norte de Africa, el Medio Este, y por supuesto, Sud América… “Hubo intercambios de desayunos, tragos nocturnos en bar, charlas y más charlas en un español adquirido y un peninsular aggiornado; hispanoamericanos extrapolados, estadounidenses nuevamente conquistados por Ca...

by Richard Vásquez Change is a very difficult thing. Even if you want it and are ready for it, you may not fully embrace it when it finally arrives. That’s what we are experiencing right now as the Obama administration begins to wind down and the forces that have resisted his initiatives begin gearing up their campaigns in an effort to turn back the clock and undo what cannot be undone. I usually don’t write about partisan things. Because when it comes to community building, political parties don’t really have much to add to compelling conversations emerging from the front lines of change. Change comes from a community’s ability to look at its reflection from the streets and places they are creating throughout the US.  Places where they have raised families, where they themselves were raised.  Where they studied and played and where they learned about building a culture of prevention around health and global climate change.  These are the things that come together t...