“Regimes of racial segregation were not disestablished because of the work of leaders and presidents and legislators, but rather because of the fact that ordinary people adopted a critical stance in the way in which they perceived their relationship to reality. Social realities that may have appeared inalterable, impenetrable, came to be viewed as malleable and transformable.” Angela Davis, Freedom is a Constant Struggle

Featuring Crenshaw Dairy Mart, QUA – LGBTQ Ukrainians in America, Tlaloc Studios, AMBOS Project, People’s Pottery Project, and Slanguage Studio, this expansive exhibition is guided by Angela Davis’ Freedom is a Constant Struggle – a text which stresses the importance of recognizing the communities which power and sustain impactful social movements. Each of these organizations were founded and are maintained by small groups of artists, educators, and critical thinkers- thus embodying the positive change and progress which occurs through the power of community activation.

Artists are often the first to see the creative potential of the new technologies that fill our lives. In the mid-20th century, cameras and video cameras became increasingly portable and accessible, resulting in the democratization of artmaking. Technology enables us to create, edit, and manipulate photographs and videos with immediacy and flexibility, expanding our realms of expression.

We invited LBUSD middle school students to turn their lens on their realities: inward to examine ideas of self and identity, and outward to investigate their surroundings and relationship with them. We asked them to explore and experiment with the tools at their fingertips to reflect, reveal, and reframe their reality.