LOS ANGELES (August 15, 2024)—LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes is one of three PST ART Community Hubs participating in The Getty's PST Art: Arts & Science Collide, Southern California's landmark arts event. Starting in September 2024 and continuing through early 2025, LA Plaza will present public programs and a two-gallery exhibition at the downtown Los Angeles museum and Cultural Center in collaboration with nine community partners working at the intersection of art and science.

The public programs, co-developed and co-designed with the organizations, highlight food sovereignty, Indigenous sciences, sustainable gardening, science exploration, and self-expression through photography. They also feature artmaking techniques, including screen printing, stamp making, and zine making. In addition, LA Plaza is mounting a two-part interactive exhibition centered on the Art & Science Collide theme. All activities are free to the public.

Educational programs include an open house for K-12 educators focusing on exploring the STEAM curriculum. Select neighborhood schools near community partners will receive a bus grant for K -12 classrooms to participate in Guided School Tours and STEAM Workshops hosted at LA Plaza.

"I am pleased that LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes is partnering with organizations that have such a meaningful connection to the diverse communities in our region," says Leticia Rhi Buckley, CEO of LA Plaza. "By reinvesting The Getty's support, we can reach neighborhoods and ensure their participation in important regionwide initiatives like PST ART. I am grateful for the opportunity and look forward to welcoming everyone to LA Plaza."

LA Plaza community partners are Art Space Huntington Park, an art gallery that uses culture, visual and performing arts, and arts education to inspire creativity in its community; Columbia Memorial Space Center, a science museum that strives to ignite a community of critical and creative thinkers through world-class programs and engaging exhibits; Garden School Foundation, a non-profit that provides garden-based education to children at ten Title I elementary schools across Los Angeles; Las Fotos Project, a community–based arts and literacy program that elevate the voices of teenage girls & gender-expansive youth from communities of color through photography and mentoring; Meztli Projects, an indigenous based arts & culture group that addresses the severe lack of artistic opportunities for Native and Indigenous artists as well as systems impacted youth living and creating in Los Angeles County (Tovaangar); Mujeres de Maíz, a women of color spiritual artivist organization promoting holistic wellness through education, programming, exhibition and publishing; Pacoima Beautiful, an environmental justice organization that provides education, impacts local policy, and supports local arts and culture in order to promote a healthy and sustainable San Fernando Valley; Stay Arts Gallery, a community-led art gallery and creative space located in the heart of Downtown Downey that serves as a central gathering place for local artists, youth and families; and Tía Chucha Centro Cultural, a space for wellness and empowerment to address the blatant neglect of a historically marginalized community.

To kick off PST ART Community Hub activities at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the weekend of September 14 and 15, community partners will come together to participate in a dozen of workshops and artmaking experiences that bring to life the Art and Science Collide theme. 

Attendees to Camera Workshop with Las Photos Project: PinHole Camera Workshop on Saturday 14, and to Fiestas Patrias Family Day on Saturday 15 will be the first to experience two exhibitions on LA Plaza's second-floor gallery: CONEXIONES: Cultivating Community Action, a collaborative and informational meeting space for the community partners, and Louis Verdad: TONÁNTZIN featuring Mexican-American fashion designer Louis Verdad's 9-foot visage of the Mesoamerican goddess Tonántzín.  

CONEXIONES: Cultivating Community Action provides a space for community partners, members of the public, artists, and activists to intersect, create dialogue, exchange ideas, and build solutions for the future. Art, film, photography, creative writing, and oral histories will guide the storytelling, inviting community members to share their creative expressions through interactive stations.  

Louis Verdad: TONÁNTZIN, located in the second gallery, will feature a commissioned artwork by Mexican-American fashion designer Louis Verdad, whose 9-foot visage of the Mesoamerican goddess Tonántzín, a multimedia presentation of Mama Tierra, will greet the public with tales of duality, creation and destruction, shifting identity, and a call-to-action for environmental justice. This installation will offer a powerful and contemplative space that invites the public to gather around the goddess-mother and consider our communities' meaningful and reciprocal role as protectors and stewards of the Earth. The exhibitions run through April, 27, 2025.  

Along with LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Lancaster Museum of Art + History and LA Commons are the three PST ART Community Hubs participating in Getty's initiative, which occurs every five years in Southern California. 

PROGRAMMING 

• Camera Workshop with Las Fotos project: PinHole Camera Workshop   

Saturday, September 14 | 12pm to 4pm | Free | Accessible to ages 12+ | Second floor gallery and Garden   

• Fiestas Patrias Family Day 

Sunday, September 15 | 12pm to 4pm | Free | All ages | LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes 

• Art Space: Makers Market, Open Air Market, & Artist Activations 

Sunday, September 29 | 12pm to 5pm | Free | Patio, Courtyard   

• STEAM Educator Open House   

Saturday, October 5 | 9am to 1pm | Free | LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes 

•  Culinary Workshop for Families and Young Chefs with The Garden School Foundation: Cauliflower Ceviche

Saturday, October 12 | 12pm to 3pm | Free | All Ages | Garden   

• Metzli Projects Garden Class: The Land Sustains Us (Food)   

Sunday, October 13 | 11am to 4pm | 7pm to 9pm | Garden | Free 

• Tejedores del Inframundo: Community Art Market / Tejedores del Inframundo: Mercado de Arte Comunitario  

Sunday, October 20 | 2pm to 7pm | Free | All ages | Patio

• Plática y Prueba: Food Foraging - Practicing Food Sovereignty in SoCal Urban Landscapes   

Saturday, October 26 | 12pm to 2pm | Free | AGES 18+ | LA Cocina de Gloria Molina| 

• Garden Class: Sustainable Gardening with Pacoima Beautiful  

Sunday, December 1 | 12pm to 4pm | Free | Garden 

• Workshop: Girls In STEM 

Saturday, December 7 | 12pm to 4pm | Free | Patio and Garden 

• Festival: Mujeres de Maíz en Movimiento Xingonx Fest Book Celebration   

Saturday, March 8 | 5pm to 8pm | Free | Patio and Courtyard 

What is PST ART

PST ART is a groundbreaking cultural collaboration. Every five years, PST ART unites hundreds of artists around a single, electrifying theme at more than 60 exhibition spaces. While the theme is different each time, the heart of PST ART is always the distinctive cultural identity of Southern California, and the universal hunger for artistic and intellectual discovery. In a region famed for its films and theme parks, PST ART provides a different kind of gripping experience— and the most distinctively Southern Californian of all. 

 About LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes 

LA Plaza is a community hub where people gather to celebrate Latinx culture through transformative exhibitions, music, dance, culinary arts, and multigenerational artmaking and storytelling experiences. Housed in two historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles, LA Plaza is adjacent to Olvera Street at El Pueblo de Los Angeles. Established in 2011, LA Plaza is a Los Angeles County cultural institution and a Smithsonian affiliate museum. 

Community Partners