 |
|
SELF-HELP GRAPHICS & ART BUILDING OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
On May 19, 2011, the State Historical Resources Commission voted unanimously to determine the former Self Help Graphics and Art (SHG&A) building as eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources. Located at 3802 East Cesar Chavez Avenue, the building has a rich, layered history as both the longtime home of the renowned Chicana/o arts organization and the former home of the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). We commend the Commission for formally recognizing the building as a historic resource, an exciting and important step for several reasons. First, the determination offers preservation protection for the building by making certain changes to it subject to public review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Since the building is located in unincorporated East Los Angeles, which does not have a preservation ordinance, state-level designation currently offers the strongest protection. Second, the building was formally determined as a historic resource based on its cultural, not architectural, significance, setting an important precedent. At both the local and state level, very few landmarks are designated based on cultural significance alone, and even fewer recognize the great diversity of our cultural heritage. For instance, of nearly 1,000 Historic-Cultural Monuments designated by the City of Los Angeles since 1962, fewer than ten percent relate to people of color, women, or Native American tribes.
The listing of the SHG&A building as eligible for the California Register shows that the tide is changing. Its listing was based on important events that took place in the building that contributed to our local, regional, and state heritage, as well as its association with the late Sister Karen Boccalero, one of the founders of SHG&A. This type of official recognition paves the way for future sites that deserve to be valued and recognized for their cultural significance. Third, since much of the building's cultural significance stems from events that took place in the 1970s and '80s, its historic listing signals increasing recognition of resources from our recent past. The Conservancy has worked with SHG&A and other stakeholders for several years to protect the renowned Chicana/o arts organization’s former home, which it occupied from 1978 until March 2011. The dedicated members of the SHG&A family and former CYO attendees wanted to see the building recognized for its historic and cultural significance, as a place that has meant so much to generations of East Los Angeles residents. Thank you to everyone who wrote letters and/or attended hearings in favor of the nomination. We could have not achieved this level of success without your support.
The colorfully tiled two-story building located at 3800 East Cesar Chavez Avenue (formerly Brooklyn Avenue) in East Los Angeles was completed in 1927 to house the Brooklyn State Bank. Designed by local architectural firm Postle & Postle, the building was to have four stores, a market and banking rooms on the ground floor, and a banquet hall, lodge room, offices, and apartments on the second floor. It appears the Brooklyn State Bank never occupied the building, as there is no record of it ever doing business at this location. It’s possible that either the bank never received its charter or it failed. In 1944, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles purchased the building for use by the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). CYO opened in the building that same year, creating an important community venue to engage Mexican youth, curb violence, and counter systemic racism related to the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943.
CYO was also the incubator for the Chicano/East Los Angeles rock and roll sound developed during the 1950s and 1960s. It was the place to go hear local bands – including Thee Midniters, Cannibal and the Headhunters, the Premiers, and the Salas Brothers – who went on to national and international fame for introducing the then-burgeoning East L.A. sound into mainstream rock & roll music.
In 1979, it became the new home of SHG&A. Founded by local artists and community activist Sister Karen Boccalero, a Franciscan nun committed to social change, SHG&A has become the leading visual arts cultural center in East Los Angeles, garnering national and international recognition. Established during the cultural rebirth of the Chicana/o movement of the 1960s and '70s, SHG&A has nurtured the talents of emerging artists through training and has given exposure to young local artists, many of whom have gone on to global prominence such as Patssi Valdez, Willie Heron, Gronk, Frank Romero, and Diane Gamboa.
In the 1980s, the upstairs reception hall doubled as the Vex, providing a rare community venue for emerging East L.A. punk bands. In 1987, artist Eduardo Oropeza (1947-2003) began adorning the building with embedded ceramic pieces and mosaics. The three-year project resulted in his largest and most prominent artwork, and it transformed the building's relatively modest façade into a community icon. In 2008, the Los Angeles Archdiocese sold the building to Piedmont Investment Co. The property was placed back on the market in 2009. Despite its undeniable significance as both a cultural hub and a unique fusion of art and architecture, the building was not designated as a historic landmark. It was particularly vulnerable because unincorporated Los Angeles County has no local designation program or preservation protections in place.
In May 2010, the Conservancy submitted a letter to the property’s listing agent, detailing the history of the building and its potential eligibility as a historical resource. With a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Conservancy commissioned a nomination for the building for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources. Overall, the Conservancy’s efforts on behalf of the building aim to protect this unique architectural resource and recognize the rich social and cultural legacy of Self Help Graphics & Art, which has transformed the neighborhood and the lives of many.
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
