The definitive history of a cherished East Los Angeles institution over five decades of art making and community building.
Self Help Graphics at Fifty celebrates the ongoing legacy of an institution that has had profound aesthetic, economic, and political impact on the formation of Chicanx and Latinx art in the United States.
Officially launched in 1973 during the Chicano Movement, Self Help Graphics & Art continues to serve on the cultural front. The institution’s commitment to art, dignity for all, and empowerment of Chicanx and Latinx artists appears in every aspect of programming, including the Día de los Muertos festival; the Barrio Mobile Art Studio, which brings art education to underserved schools; and the printmaking program, which offers an accessible medium infused with activist aims. Looking at the multiple genealogies of art that intersect in East Los Angeles, Self Help Graphics at Fifty bears witness to the organization’s influential role in US and global art histories.
"It is a pleasure to see a scholarly anthology dedicated to the legendary Self Help Graphics & Art printmaking workshop. Highlighting the individuals, neighborhoods, and institutions who kept it thriving for decades, this thoroughly researched social history of art offers readers a refreshing view of art-centered community making, emphasizing cross-cultural, feminist, and queer perspectives."—Jennifer A. Gonzalez, coeditor of Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology
"An amazing collection of insightful essays on the critical role played by Self Help Graphics & Art over its fifty-year history in creating and nurturing an artistic community in East Los Angeles. By explaining the origins; networks of support; reach of art education; feminist, queer, and Central American collaborations; and reach of its art around the world, the editors have established the centrality of this institution of creativity and experimentation."—George J. Sánchez, author of Boyle Heights: How a Los Angeles Neighborhood Became the Future of American Democracy
