Text SHG2021 to 41444 to Support SHG's Cultural Legacy #LaCulturaCura
Dear Self Help Graphics Comunidad,
We’ve been reflecting on a letter written by a community member who is coming to know their cultural heritage as an adult. They shared words of deep gratitude for the space Self Help Graphics & Art creates and the pride they felt attending our Día de los Muertos celebration for the first time this year. It is a powerful reminder of the many reasons our staff and board of directors have committed ourselves to working through the arts to affirm cultural identity and values, our many visual languages, and to affect change by making space for artists, youth and community members.
We thank you on this Giving Tuesday as we launch our year end campaign, and appreciate your support today and any time before the end of year. Self Help Graphics & Art has been fortunate to weather the storm of the past two years and return to onsite programs because of our steadfast donors.
On behalf of the staff and board of directors, thank you for championing community-based Chicana/o/x and BIPOC artists.
With gratitude and in solidarity,
Endy Bernal, Board Chair
Betty Avila, Executive Director
Our Barrio Mobile Art Studio team takes art and arts education to public spaces.
A Legacy of Cultura
As cultural bearers, our artists are the second responders to collective healing. For nearly 50 years, including operating through a global pandemic and witnessing the massive losses due to COVID-19 in our communities that we serve, Self Help Graphics & Art has continued to be a haven and lifeline for artists, individuals, youth and families with free access to the arts and printmaking, wellness programs and cultural experiences.
Bringing Art to the People
Part of the legacy of SHG, includes taking our art workshops, primarily printmaking, directly to the people in public spaces. We began the Barrio Mobile Art Studio (BMAS) in the 1970s, a program that revolutionized what we know today as public arts practice. Whether it’s in parks, your neighborhood library, schools or museums, our local teaching artists take their technical artistic and cultural knowledge to the streets, reflecting the diversity and richness of our communities.
Our Youth Artivism Interns take a pause to capture a joyful moment.
Investing in Our Future
Initiated in 2019, our Youth Committee is now beginning its third cohort with local youth in this annual nine-month program; and our Youth Artivism Internship program recently launched its second cohort. Participants receive monthly training on civic engagement, how to lead programming, artivism, and issues of interest to their communities, such as community health, youth incarceration, restorative justice in education, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and more. Youth are trained and mentored by artists, civic leaders, and community-based organizations in this opportunity that bridges social justice and art.
Exhibiting the Work of our Time
Our gallery space has been a place to show the work of emerging and seasoned artists, and this year we were able to invite the public both online and in-person to experience the creativity of our community, such as: Everything Connected: Land, Body, Cosmos (Día de los Muertos Season), Our Future, Our Voice, Our Way (youth exhibition), Perro Mundo (Biennial Printmaking Summit) and Intersections. This fall, we also launched a partnership with Google Arts & Culture, expanding our reach and accessibility to the masses in a new online home for future exhibitions.
Beyond the Press Artist in Residence, Pavel Acevedo, prepares for his culminating solo show.
From Ink and Paper, to Art Magic
Our printmaking studios are a hub for experimentation, practice and co-learning between an artist’s vision and our Master Printer. It’s a place of vibrant creativity, where the process is valued and layers of ink bring life to an idea. At SHG, we offer our Open Printmaking Studio for the public to rent by day to work, or our Professional Printmaking Studio by invitation.
In 2021 we welcomed numerous artists and ateliers, and successfully hosted our first Beyond the Press artist in residence, Pavel Acevedo whose culminating exhibition, The Shell in the Clouds (El caparazón en las nubes) will open on Friday, December 10 in our gallery.
Thank you for your support!
Please help us spread the word as we begin our year-end campaign now through December 31. Forward our newsletter to a friend or use the donate button in your social media posts on Facebook or Instagram to help raise money for Self Help Graphics, without any cost to you! Your donations are tax-deductible and no amount is too small. Thank you!
Donate anytime by texting SHG2021 to 41444 or visit our website at www.selfhelpgraphics.com/donate.