Watts Happening Cultural Center | Los Angeles Conservancy
Exterior of Watts Happening Cultural Center. Photo by Rita Cofield.

Watts Happening Cultural Center

Located at 1827 East 103rd Street, the Watts Happening Cultural Center also known as the Mafundi Building and the Robert Pitts Westminster Neighborhood Center was established in Watts in 1969.

Designed by Kennard and Silvers, this Late-Modern, two-story T-shaped building has cultivated Black art, culture, and local activism in the Watts community. The center has been a prominent hub for Black artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and poets. Many important community-serving organizations have been associated with this building, including the Mafundi Institute, the Watts Writers Workshop, and the Watts Prophets. The Watts Coffee House, a longtime small Black-owned business, is located on the ground floor of the Watts Happening Cultural Center.

 

Thank you to CalState students in Maya Santos' Community Impact Media course for their work to produce this video about the Watts Happening Cultural Center in partnership with Hauser and Wirth, Friends at Mafundi, and the L.A. Conservancy. 

 

Provided by owners
Hogan Residence and post-and-beam construction

Hogan Residence

This 1964 post-and-beam Modernist house was designed by architect Douglas Rucker
Haugh Performing Arts Center
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Haugh Performing Arts Center

A sprawling building in Late Modern style with some hints of Brutalism, the Center hosts up to 200 performances each year and was a major achievement for the first junior college in L.A. County.