SIPA Invites Community to Weigh in on New Mural Design in Historic Filipinotown
Fill out SIPA’s community input form by October 31
SIPA headquarters at HiFi Collective (photo courtesy of SIPA)
Los Angeles, CA - September 9, 2024 - The west-facing wall of HiFi Collective — Filipino American non profit organization Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) headquarters (3200 W. Temple Street, Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90026), a mixed use space with permanent supportive housing, and community center in Historic Filipinotown (HiFi) —will be the latest canvas for a new mural.
SIPA is calling on the HiFi community to voice their input on the design to ensure that the mural will embody the past, present, and future of the community and will represent all those that consider HiFi their home. Community members can submit their ideas and input through a form by October 31.
“Historic Filipinotown has been rich in culture not only historically but in the present day. Those of us who have lived here, work and create culture here know that it is an important and vibrant multiethnic community of Historic Filipinotown continues to be a place of meaning for Filipinos, immigrants and people of color. This project further engages the community in reflecting the vibrancy and diversity of our important neighborhood.” Alison De La Cruz, Executive & Artistic Director of Great Leap, Inc.
Murals and other cultural markers are more than just art; they are integral to the cultural and social fabric of neighborhoods. Cultural markers can affirm community identity and pride; provide a platform for cultural, social, and political thought; and cultivate community engagement and dialogue. The Historic Filipinotown Eastern Gateway, also known as “Talang Gabay” (“Our Guiding Star”), for example, is an important cultural landmark. This gateway is not only a physical marker of the neighborhood, but a cultural symbol that affirms the Filipino community’s identity and future.
The mural on HiFi Collective’s wall will be the third one in HiFi and is part of a larger effort to promote cultural placekeeping in the neighborhood.
Other exciting public arts in the neighborhood include a FilAm Arts mural proposed at Sisig Restaurant. The title ‘Mga Magiting na Babae, Valiant Women’ celebrates the legacies of noteworthy Filipina and Filipina-American heroines, designed by Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza and Christine Morla. Another mosaic mural is proposed at the Belle on Bev apartment building, details to be announced.
Important cultural markers and murals already in the neighborhood include:
Unidad Park and Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana Mural
Location: 1644 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026Rideback Ranch “Welcome to HiFi” Mural and Larry Itliong Utility Box
Location: 1660 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026
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About Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA): SIPA enriches and empowers generations of Pilipino Americans and others by providing health and human services, community economic development, arts and culture, and a place where people of all backgrounds come together to strengthen the community.