When I was old enough, I was allowed to walk alone from our house to the library, market or the panaderia. Although the destination was limited my curiosity found adventure in each and every storefront window I passed along the way. Wondrous images of mountainous hairpieces at Tina’s beauty supply, fluorescent pink sweet breads at Saldañas, and soulful folksongs floating onto the street from the Italian bakery guided my route and were the only offerings of something magical.
This youthful adventurous habit has been reinvigorated. In my adult wanderings for a tall tale and dark coffee, I have stumbled upon a legion of art and cultural entrepreneurs working from inside these same neighborhood storefronts. Set amongst our daily needs of hardware stores, shoe repairs, 99cent shops, or a laundromat rests these inspired spaces for cultural gatherings.
Tia Chucha’s is not only a bookstore, but also a place for Mayan calendar workshops, student films and guitar lessons. The Daily Brew is not only a café, but also a gallery for local youth artists, with free film nights. And Ave 50 Studio is not only a gallery, but also an open space for play readings, community meetings and a poets reading series.
In these spaces families come together for a drink and a free movie around the corner from their home, elders and youth share the same interest in an art making workshop or undiscovered poets take the stage for the first time. It is in these moments that many of us first realize our creative potential and our desire to share it with others.
As the founder of Common Ground City and the StoreFront Cultural Centers Project it is my intent to research, survey, collect and share the findings of how these centers operate and serve their communities. Their work is engaging, transformational and protects one of our most cherished necessities of life – our creativity.
I look forward to sharing their profiles and updates with this community of art makers and supporters.
Congratulations Dolores! I am so excited to rediscover my city thru your unearthing of these glorious cultural centers.
Dolores, you are doing what government and private funders should do–check out the state of our cultural life by investigating the kind of cultural spaces in the community. They are rare, but wherever these storefront cultural entities exist they become viable connection points and education centers. More young people would be in trouble if not for the mentoring, skills, and developmental resources the arts provides. As cofounder of Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural, I know firsthand what such a place can be in the lives of our kids, our seniors, our youth, our families. Thank you for including us in your survey. We not only serve the Northeast San Fernando Valley, in particular Sylmar, San Fernando and Pacoima, but we want to be a model for others throughout the great Los Angeles area. I encourage everyone else to trek with you as you discover these gems of community empowerment.