ESMoA believes that many people should contribute to the interpretation and creation of art in an atmosphere that is free – we do not charge fees for admissions or programs – and freeing to visitors and artists. Since 2023, we have been headquartered in Lawndale, where 40% percent of residents are immigrants and 63% identify as Latinx. We are its first-ever visual arts space, with a gallery and art workshop studio. At our weekly drop-in Art Maker Space, visitors create art – collages/lino prints/drawings/paintings – at long tables, family-style. A weekly session for young children (3+) combines storytelling and artmaking.

Experiences – our word for exhibitions – offer curated presentations of contemporary art. One recent show was XICANA!, a cross-generational look at the Chicana Arts Movement featuring 67 artists, which travels in June to Escondido with an expanded checklist of San Diego artists. In the upcoming Experience GRIEF, our guest curator will trace stages of grief. As with each Experience, ESMoA will commission new works of art.

ESMoA nurtures artists. Through the LAB Residency, local artists create new work to accompany Experiences and lead workshops. We have just initiated an international exchange program. For Experience 62: STATIONS (2025), undergraduates from El Camino College collaborated with visiting students from the University of Fine Arts Münster, Germany, on a mural.

Under an initiative called EXTENSION, ESMoA organizes Experiences beyond our four walls. Our first such venture was EDGE (2024), which brought together the work of L.A. graffiti writers/muralists. To commemorate Juneteenth, we partnered with the organization Black in Mayberry on the exhibition FREEDOM.

ESMoA is integrated into the community’s fabric. Our team leads a school library-based Story Artlab sessions as well as workshops at the City’s Youth Day Parade, Day of the Dead festivities, and “Chalk Away” muralmaking on City Hall Plaza.