Grantee Database
The Compton Arts Project
Grant Year
2025-26
Grant Program
Impact Projects
Award Amount
$21,000.00
Project Description
With support from the California Arts Council, CAKECUTTER INSTITUTE (The Compton Arts Project DBA) will expand its Cultural Preservation Project through a six-part community engagement series. Artists from Compton Cipher and Reading the City will collaborate with residents to inspire five new public art sites, 7–10 traffic light box installations designed by lead partner Sēpia Artist Collective. Each piece will include augmented reality (AR) elements linked to the Compton Memory Map, a growing digital archive of neighborhood memory and civic identity. Centering Black, Latinx, and differently abled communities, the project offers paid creative roles, accessible cultural programming, and inclusive workshops. It also includes media documentation, public reflection events, and a forthcoming publication. Through art, storytelling, and technology, this initiative aims to foster community wellbeing, honor personal histories, and build lasting pride in Compton’s cultural legacy.
Organization Summary
Cakecutter Institute DBA The Compton Arts Project activates creative placemaking, public art, storytelling, and community cultural engagement projects across Compton and surrounding communities. Powered by Sēpia Artist Collective (Sēpia LLC), our work is organized through four core program areas:
Arts Advocacy & Policy Development
We provide pro bono consulting support to the City of Compton to help advance civic arts initiatives, strengthen long-term cultural planning efforts, and support implementation of the City’s first Arts Commission. We also coordinate development of a Public Art Registry and long-range Creative Placemaking Plan connected to the proposed Compton Cultural Arts District.
Creative Placemaking & Public Art
We lead artist-led and community-centered initiatives such as the Traffic Lightbox Project, Elliott Pinkney mural restoration, and The Compton Memory Map. These efforts combine public art, storytelling, digital engagement, and sustainable design strategies to reflect Compton’s cultural identity, activate public space, strengthen neighborhood pride, and support community visibility and healing.
Cultural Programs & Storytelling
Signature programs include Reading the City, Compton Cipher, and the Bi-Annual Community Arts & Culture Summit hosted at Compton College. These initiatives convene artists, residents, educators, youth, and civic stakeholders through artist talks, storytelling workshops, cultural gatherings, creative labs, and digital storytelling activities that support cultural preservation, intergenerational dialogue, and community engagement.
Healing Arts & Environmental Justice
We integrate wellness, environmental awareness, and collective care into our programming through artist-led initiatives and partnerships connecting arts and culture with climate justice, healing-centered engagement, public safety, and neighborhood wellness.
Our programs are supported through a collaborative network of artists, curators, educators, youth leaders, community partners, and advisory board members. Through Sēpia Artist Collective, participating artists and curators are contracted to support project-based public art, exhibitions, storytelling initiatives, workshops, and cultural programming activities. We prioritize fair artist compensation, accessibility, equitable participation, and long-term community-rooted cultural development.
Organization
The Compton Arts Project
Address
4252 Crenshaw Blvd., Unit 115
Los Angeles
90008
County
Los Angeles
Region
South – Los Angeles & Orange
Website
Congressional District
43
State Assembly District
64
State Senate District
35
