La Plaza De Cultura Y Artes

La Plaza is the only museum in southern California dedicated to presenting an on-going schedule of exhibitions focusing on u.s. latino history, art and culture. The museum's permanent exhibits include: La starts here!, an exploration of l.a.'s multicultural history, and calle principal, a re-creation of l.a.'s main street in the 1920s. Temporary exhibits developed by the museum's curatorial staff cover topics such as the los angeles history of baseball, murals and mariachi music; the 50th anniversary of the east los angeles walkouts; the founding of boyle heights as a multicultural community; and latino art shows by artists such as gilbert "magu" lujan, ernesto yerena, rafael cardenas, linda vallejo, latinx lgbtq artists, and the mujeres del maiz collective.

La Plaza's educational initiatives are directed at underserved title 1 schools in the local community. Students participate in culturally-rooted and immersive, hands-on learning and artmaking experiences. The museum also provides free tours for students of all ages.

La Plaza presents a robust, year-round schedule of more than 100 events that include talks, concerts, feature and documentary film screenings, cooking classes, food festivals, and more that explore contemporary and historical latino interest and issues. Panel discussions have explored gentrification, the displacement of chavez ravine families; afro latino issues; local and national elections; the state of latino arts; and more. La Plaza also hosts four family days that celebrate latino holidays. Most activities are offered free of charge.