Placekeeping

We work with communities to keep their place through partnerships that make important stories visible in the public spaces they call home.

Our most comprehensive “placekeeping” initiatives take place in South LA  which represents the 5th largest Black population in the nation and includes the largest concentration of Black cultural assets (museums, arts, entertainment, businesses etc.) in the state of California. 

We are partnering with government agencies, local leaders, cultural institutions and small businesses in several community-led placekeeping initiatives that will preserve and uplift South LA’s cultural, social and historical identity while improving the quality of life for residents.

Cultural Treasures of South LA is a community-based cultural asset-mapping project to honor the rich and diverse cultural heritage of South LA. A partnership between the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), LA Commons, the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z), Community Coalition (CoCo), USC Neighborhood Data for Social Change and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Utilizing surveys, focus groups, oral storytelling, and ethnography, we’ve identified over 200 Cultural Treasures within South LA. Cultural Treasures can be local artists, sites, organizations, cultural practices, events, tradition bearers, and so on. Our collective work continues to amplify South LA’s Cultural Treasures through publications, performance opportunities, vendor markets, speaking engagements, art exhibitions, interviews via social media and more.

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With Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas as initiator, the Historic South Los Angeles Black Cultural District project aims to be the first official California Cultural District honoring Black life and culture.

This project will amplify the extraordinary Black history of South LA, promote local assets and activate the South LA community at-large toward greater connectivity to ensure preparedness for the forthcoming international events being hosted in Los Angeles, and beyond. The Cultural District serves as a deliberate means of promoting local business interests as direct beneficiaries from coming regional economic advancement opportunities. 

In support of this effort, Senator Smallwood-Cuevas transferred $3 million in state funding to the City of LA for design and construction of physical boundary markers throughout the District.

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Keeping Place for Culture is a research project exploring the roles various forms of property ownership play in the arts and cultural practices of Los Angeles’ communities of color - and how these communities can deploy arts and property rights-informed strategies to hold onto their place in a changing city.

In partnership with USC’s Spatial Analysis LAB (USC SLAB) and funded by the Wallace Foundation, we want to discover and share insights on how we can safeguard the cultural places and spaces of our various communities. Our research seeks to provide evidence-based arguments for a new property paradigm that supports the arts, offers private property owners tools to support their community’s arts and culture, and opens dialogue surrounding the role government regulation and policy can play in synergizing community-based arts and culture.

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If you’d like to partner with us on your Placekeeping project, please email us here