As some Eastsiders may know, Metro and the developer McCormick Baron Salazar are partnering on a new affordable housing project at 1st and Boyle in Boyle Heights across the street from the Gold Line’s Mariachi Plaza Station. The project — called Santa Cecilia Apartments — is on Metro-owned land and will provide 80 units of affordable housing and 4,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space when complete next summer.
Under a partnership between Metro, the developer and Self Help Graphics & Art, 15 large banners for the construction fencing around the project have been produced. The art in the “Mi Barrio” project is courtesy of the 2015 class of S.O.Y Artista (Summer of Youth), which is overseen by Self Help Graphics.
S.O.Y. Artista is a five-week summer art-training workshop series taught by a core team of art instructors from the Barrio Mobile Art Studio program. It consists of various workshops including photography, mobile phone/tablet art and printmaking. Classes are meant to inspire one-on-one instruction and provide in-depth art experiences that culturally connect youth to their community.
The artists come from the neighborhood or nearby communities such as Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, El Sereno and Pico-Union, among others. The work tackles a variety of topics, including public space, food equity, cultural preservation and, of course, transportation. Please click here to request more information about the program.
Here are some more views of the banners on the construction fencing:
Categories: Metro Art