A vibrant art scene in South Gate

Jennifer Mejia’s bright blue cat-eye glasses match her bright blue shirt, and they all contrast beautifully with her fired up red hair. Mejia’s vibrant fashion sense reflects the spirit of South Gate’s museum and gallery where she and her team have fostered a space for the community. 

Mejia and her staff of two, Elizabeth Uribe and Blanca Arriaga, have been working to create exhibits that shine a light to the communities of South East L.A. or SELA.  

The museum opened in 1980. “The city asked the residents and community what they would like to do with this space and they asked for the museum,” said Mejia who is the city’s cultural arts coordinator and has been in charge of the museum and the gallery for two years, first as acting coordinator, then taking the title officially.  

The building where the South Gate Museum & Gallery is located used to be the city library. It was built in 1938 and according to the City of South Gate website, when the new library on Tweedy Blvd. was built in 1973, a portion of the old building was given to the South Gate Art Association for a gallery. 

The building has faced many challenges, the Los Angeles Times reported in December of 1993 that fixing it would require so much money that the museum faced an uncertain future. But the building’s demise was fortunately prevented as it still stands today, and people can visit the Museum on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Mejia started working for the city in 2014 as a cashier, then graphic designer. She studied fashion design at the Savannah College of Art and Design but decided not to pursue a career in fashion and instead focus on community organizing and involvement in the arts. She was born in Westwood but grew up in South Gate.   

Some of the past exhibitions include “Cuidate/Take Care of yourself” and “My neighborhood/Mi Barrio” which featured artworks from South East L.A. cities, South L.A. and other areas of L.A. County. “We just wanted to see the beauty of our cities and join that common duality of where we all come from and [make] sure we can all see that even though we rep different cities,” Mejia said. 

Many of the exhibition titles are in Spanish and English, reflecting the two languages prevalent in the SELA community. 

“Flores para ti/Flowers for you,” was an exhibition to explore the idea of giving people their flowers before they’re dead. “Proceso/Process” was about the process of art making. “Sometimes we see that artists are timid to show their process. Or it's like something secretive because one, they don't want to share, but two it's a vulnerability thing, right? You don't want to  show everything. But at the same time, how do you inspire others to tell their story and it's kind of a good thing, in a sense, because there's like the youth coming in and seeing the art works too, because we have classes in the space.”

Mejia said people have been responding positively to the exhibits. “They're excited to have a space that they could call their own. And see themselves reflected in the artwork.” 

The “Hometown Hero” will be the next exhibit and it will open April 6. It will feature artwork from South Gate and surrounding cities and it will explore the idea of what people identify their hometown to be. To Mejia’s mom, for example, her hometown is Mazatenango, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala. 

“It's fun to see how the artists take the call and make it their own,” Mejia said she and her staff have noticed part of the artworks feature nature as a hometown hero, so there will be a section devoted to that. 

Mejia said the selection process includes making sure “artists of all ages are shown, artists from different levels are shown to different backgrounds, different neighborhoods.” From there, they create subdivisions like the nature wall, then a fantasy section and others. 

The South Gate Museum shares the space with the city’s human resources department so they are only open Tuesdays 10am-1pm and Thursdays 3:30pm-5:30pm. The address is 8680 California Ave. 

They will have a Family Art Night featuring different art stations and a performance by Ballet Folclorico do Brasil on March 8 from 5pm to 8pm at the Henry C. Gonzalez Auditorium, 4900 Southern Ave., South Gate. For more information call (323) 357-5838 or email jmejia@sogate.org