Self Help Graphics
Fund: $28,000
Self-Help Graphics & Art (SHG) is dedicated to producing, interpreting, and distributing prints and other art media by Chicana/o, Latinx, and artists of color. Its multidisciplinary intergenerational programs promote artistic excellence and empower the community by providing access to working space, tools, training, and beyond.
The Organizational Support Grant will support SHG’s Beyond the Press artist-in-residence Roshanda Bartney, who goes by the artist name Zoe Blaq. Zoe is an interdisciplinary artist, mental health advocate, published poet, and urban gardener from Los Angeles. She uses mixed media, installations, eco-art, storytelling, performance, video, photography, and zines for art activism and to empower marginalized communities. As the founder of Urban Soul Farmer, she engages and educates the broader community on topics of food justice, indigenous agriculture, and healing arts. She develops urban garden and art programs for ex-offenders, disabled adults, and L.A. County schools. She holds an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles and a B.A. in Cinema and Television Arts from Cal State University Northridge.
Beyond the Press invites artists to push and evolve their art practice while engaging with th internal and external communities of Self-Help Graphics & Art. The residency culminates in an exhibition with an accompanying catalog.