CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE SELLS SELF HELP GRAPHICS & ARTS LANDMARK BUILDING ( Call to Action)

Contact: Valarie De La Garza, 310/435-8578

CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE SELLS SELF HELP GRAPHICS & ARTS LANDMARK BUILDING

Knowledge of Secret Sale Kept from Nationally Recognized Chicano Arts
Center in East Los Angeles


WHAT: After its humble founding by Catholic nun Sister Karen
Boccalero more than 35 years ago, non-profit organization Self Help
Graphics & Arts was notified that the Catholic Archdiocese sold the
building to a private real estate and investment company. As long as
the organization continued to fulfill the mission of advancing Chicano
and Latino art and developing local and emerging artists, the NAME OF
SISTERS agreed to allow Self Help Graphics & Art to use the building.
With record-breaking print fairs, community festivals such as its iconic
Día de los Muertos celebration which draws thousands of attendees and
artists – both emerging and veteran – flocking to the organization as a
place to cultivate their art, Self Help has been undergoing a
renaissance. Earlier this year Self Help board members were told that
the building was not on the list of sites to be sold as part of the
Archdiocese's attempt to raise funds to pay the settlement to
individuals who successfully sued the church for sexual abuse.


The Archdiocese did not notify Self Help that the building was for sale
or pending sale. "Given our organization's close history with the
Catholic Church, we are shocked and dismayed that not only were we not
afforded the opportunity to purchase the building, this deal was
conceived in secrecy," said Armando Durón, Self Help Graphics & Arts
board of directors president.

At the press conference, board members, artists and concerned community
leaders will discuss next steps on determining the organization's
future.

"No matter what happens, we intend to continue to serve the community
with our full array of services and programming, maintaining the highest
artistic integrity," said Stephen Saiz, vice president of the Self Help
board of directors.



WHERE: Self Help Graphics & Art

3802 Cesar Chavez Avenue

East Los Angeles, CA 90063

323/881-6444; www.selfhelpgraphics.com



WHEN: Thursday, July 10, 2008

10 a.m.



WHO: Self Help Graphics & Art is a nationally recognized
center for Chicano and Latino arts that develops and nurtures artists
and printmaking. Self Help Graphics & Art seeks to advance Chicano and
Latino art broadly through programming, exhibitions and outreach to
diverse audiences in East Los Angeles and beyond. Self Help Graphics &
Art seeks to identify young and emerging artists from the community in
all aspects of its activities.