Partners

Los de Abajo Printmaking Collective

Los de Abajo Printmaking Collective was founded in the spring of 2004, by a group of artists that met at the renowned Chicano/Latino Arts Center, Self-Help Graphics & Art in East LA. Their initial goal was to experiment with printmaking techniques and exchange ideas. Two of the artists, Agustín Barón and Poli Marichal, who were at the time printmaking instructors at SHG, organized the first meeting of the group and organized its first portfolio titled, Basic Needs.

The group was named after the famous novel, Los de Abajo (Those from Below) by Mariano Azuela that chronicled the Mexican Revolution. The group’s name also referred to the physical location where the collective used to work, directly below Self-Help Graphics’ administrative office. The group’s current members are: Kay Brown, Nguyen Li, Poli Marichal. Don Newton, Victor Rosas and Marianne Sadowski.

Although mostly conformed of Latinos, Los de Abajo Printmaking Collective is an ethnically diverse group. Its current members come from Mexico, Puerto Rico, USA and Vietnam. To date the group has been involved in 12 collective projects, which include portfolios as well as large format collaborative works.

Ofelia Esparza

Ofelia Esparza is an artist and an educator, who was born and still resides in East LA. A graduate of East Los Angeles College and California State University Los Angeles, she is a retired teacher from the Los Angeles School District. She recounts that honoring her cultural heritage and family traditions have long been a driving force in her lifestyle, in her teaching, and in all her creative endeavors.  Although Ofelia is widely known for the more than 29 years of Day of the Dead Altar installations at Self Help Graphics & Art, she has also created a large body of work in printmaking there.  Ofelia’s work reflects her spirituality and the honor she holds for her Mexican indigena heritage, especially rooted in the Mayan culture. She credits her mother as the greatest influence in Ofelia’s appreciation for the spiritual beauty of the natural world, and in the dignity of the people around her. This is what inspires not only her ofrendas, but all of her artwork, in all its diversity. Her prints and paintings are in several private and institutional collections. Ofelia’s work has been exhibited throughout Southern California and has been shown at several national and international museums and galleries including Self Help Graphics and the Oakland Museum of California.

William Acedo

William Acedo is an artist/sculptor who has lived in downtown Los Angeles since 1988. Acedo first joined Self Help Graphics & Art's “Los de Abajo” Print Collective, and has continued to in the woodblock tradition as well as lead on the ever-popular calavera paper-mache workshops. Acedo's work focuses on celebrating the flora fauna and architecture of Downtown L.A.

The East LA Stitchers

TELAS is an online quilt guild promoting quilting in the Latina Community. TELAS is an acronym for The East Los Angeles Stitchers, while most of us are from Los Angeles we hope this online guild will give all Latinas(o) (as well as non Latinas) a place to dialog about making quilts and creating a Latino flair to quiltmaking. We hope to include as many quilters who want to share in these goals and also participate in sharing patterns, quilting advice, tips, block exchanges, encourage small friendship groups, charity quilts and interface with other Latinas interested in promoting quilting in the Latina community.

The East Los Angeles Society of Film and Arts

TELA SOFA is a collaboration of professional directors, editors, cinematographers, writers, photographers, actors, fashion designers, muralists, painters, makeup artists, graphic designers, and musicians. Together, these talented professionals provide opportunities to at-risk youth in the areas of theater and film making (including: editing, poster design, script writing, pre-productions, production and post-production. as viable and positive alternatives to drug abuse, gang violence, and domestic violence. The prevention of teen pregnancy, STDs and AIDS/HIV is also a focus. Although our principal target population is youth, we will teach our curriculum to anyone interested in film production and the arts. Please visit www.telasofa.org for more info