The Boyle Heights community is undergoing an exciting resurgence. Revitalization of the area has accelerated with the Metro Rail Gold Line, the new LAPD Hollenbeck Station, the new Pueblo del Sol Community Center and the Boyle Heights Constituent Service Area to name a few major developments. A long-term city vision for the Boyle Heights community, a new arts district will run along a 1.5 mile stretch of 1st Street between Mission Road and Soto Street. As one of the longest running Latino art centers in Los Angeles, it is fitting that Self Help is one of the first stops over the First Street Bridge connecting the vibrant downtown art scene with the historic cultural art community in Boyle Heights.

Boyle Heights serves as on of the few major art centers in East Los Angeles. External data shows that the area has the largest concentration of Latinos in the U.S. Unfortunately, the local poverty level is 25% higher than the nation’s. At the same time, it is a young community, with 50% of the population under the age of 18. SHG's informal audience assessments in the past have shown that ethnically, its artists and audiences are 80% Latino; 15% Caucasian and 5% Asian and African American. SHG represents a critical part of Los Angeles's Latino art history and culture, where artists and the general public from Los Angeles County, Southern California and California, visit and enjoy our cultural events and programming. Cultural events, such as SHG's ever-popular Day of the Dead, draw 5,000-8,000 people every year, and our youth and community art workshops serve over 1,000 participants each year.

Self Help Graphics & Art believes in the power of partnerships and collaborations and works from the philosophy of "confianza", based on the Latin American cultural principle that "everything gets done based on the trust and good relationships one has with others." Self Help Graphics & Art "gets things done" through the following partnerships and collaborations (just to name a few):

AltaMed Health Services

Arts for LA

Bienestar

Bienvenidos Family Services

Big Brothers of Los Angeles

California Institute for the Arts (Cal Arts)

Casa 0101

California Ethnic and Multicultural Archive (Formal Archive Partner)

Centro de Comunicación Comunitaria

City of Los Angeles, 14th Council District, Councilman Jose Huizar

Community Youth Gang Services

Consejo Grafico

Corazon del Pueblo

Community Redevelopment Agency, City of Los Angeles

Department of Youth Authority, East Los Angeles Mental Health Services

East Los Angeles Community College, Chicano Studies Department

East Los Angeles Community Corporation

El Rescate

Evokore

Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Center

Galeria de la Raza

Hollenbeck Youth Center

Homeboy-Industries

Jovenes Inc.

InnerCity Struggle

Latino Museum

Legacy L.A.

Levitt Pavillions, MacArthur Park

Los Angeles Conservancy

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Lincoln High School

Mercado La Paloma

Mexican American Legal Defense Fund

Modern Multiples

National Association of Latino Arts and Culture

National Day Laborers Organizing Network

National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago IL

Plaza De La Raza

Proyecto Pastoral/Dolores Mission

Ramona Gardens Public Housing Community Center

Roosevelt High School

Slanguage

Soledad Enrichment Center

South Central Farmers

Sticky Rick's

The East Los Angeles Society of Film and Arts

Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore

Tropico de Nopal

University of California, Los Angeles Chicano Studies Department

University of California, Santa Barbara

University of Notre Dame, Institute for Latino Studies

Vincent Price Art Museum

Vyal One

SELF HELP GRAPHICS & ART'S 
TRENZA DE ARTE

In the Spring of 2012, Self Help Graphics & Art invited 15 artists to offer their skills and love for our new location in Boyle Heights by taking part in painting sections of one large mural (una trenza) on 1st Street between Anderson Street and Utah Avenue. Artists were invited to create pieces representing their experiences at Self Help Graphics and imagine the future of artists, our communidad, and Boyle Heights. This mural is a temporary work, as SHG will be embarking on a new design for the building, including a new facade that will incorporate elements of this mural and much more. Phase II of this project which will extend down Anderson Street and will commence in the Summer of 2012.

Artists include from Left to Right;