Two buildings associated with the Chicano Arts Collectives in Highland Park have officially been recognized as historic-cultural monuments in Los Angeles.
In a unanimous 14-0 vote, the L.A. City Council recognized the buildings that once housed the Mechicano Art Center and the Centro de Arte Publico as monuments important to the city’s history. Both were nominated by the Highland Park Heritage Trust.
“Nationally less than 10 percent of historic landmarks are associated with communities of color,” Trust President Jamie Tijerina said.
“Specifically places that are historically connected with the struggle for latino civil rights, the Chicano movement, have been at risk of being lost.”
The trust wrote in a release celebrating the accomplishment that the council’s decision was a step toward achieving equity in the historical space, “ensuring that these important places will be there for our community and for many years to come.”
For L.A. City Councilman Gil Cedillo, the decision hits close to home.
“It’s poetic for me that the place where so many friends of mine worked and developed their skill and their art is now being preserved for history,” Cedillo said.
In the nomination for the two buildings, the trust said the Centro de Arte Público "was a politically informed arts group situated on the second floor of a commercial building in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles."
"Members established the group with an intent to usher a social, cultural, and political revolution. Members of the Centro de Arte Público were also formative for the rise of Chicana rhetoric and art," the trust said in the nomnination documents.
"Notable Latina artists started their careers at the Centro de Arte Público, and found a platform for their work in ChismeArte."
The Mechicano Art Center moved to the intersection of Avenue 54 and Figueroa from East L.A. in 1975, according to KCET. During it's two years there the center's exhibitions featured the work of numerous artists including Judithe Hernandez and Lucila Grijalva.
Tijerina said plans are in the works to submit a third nomination associated with the Chicano Arts Collectives of Highland Park.