The Plaza de la Raza (Place of the People) is a multidisciplinary cultural arts and educational center located in

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010 United States Cen ...

. It was founded in 1970 by actress Margo Albert and trade union activist Frank S. López. The center was originally divided into two arms, one providing educational classes for children and adults and the other a professional theater training group. By the twenty-first century a full curriculum in theater, dance, music and arts was provided to hundreds of students yearly. Foundation of the center prompted enthusiasm from both sides of the border. Mexican masons from

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

constructed and donated a children's

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

motifs. Speaking before a joint hearing of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

concerning a possible White House Conference on the Arts, Margo Albert testified that the Plaza de la Raza had thoroughly revitalized the Lincoln Park area and stated that it had served 36,000 community members in 1977 alone.U.S. Congress, Subcommittee of Select Education of the House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and Humanities of the Senate Committee on Human Resources,
White House Conference on the Arts: Joint Hearings Before the Subcommittee of Select Education of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, and the Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and Humanities of the Committee on Human Resources, United States Senate, to Authorize the President to Call a White House Conference on the Arts (to accompany H.J. Res. 600)
', Hearings held in Dallas, Tex., November 15; New York, N.Y., December 17, 1977; Los Angeles, Calif., January 3; Berkeley, Calif., January 4; Miami, Fla., January 9; Chicago, Ill., January 13; South Bend, Ind., January 14; Washington, D.C., January 23; Boston, Mass., January 30, 1978 ,

95th Congress The 95th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977, ...

, 1st and 2nd sessions, 417-419. In addressing an appropriations subcommittee of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in the days after the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in S ...

, A. B. Spellman representing the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

asserted that the unrest was less severe on the east side of the city because Plaza de la Raza and similar institutions held the community together.U.S. House, Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies,
Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1993
', Hearing, 102nd Congress, 2nd session, 668. In 2019 ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' called Plaza de la Raza "an Eastside Cultural Capitol."

References

External links

*
Photograph of a playground slide
at the Aztec-themed playground described above with Plaza de la Raza founder Frank S. López standing nearby, in the ''

Los Angeles Herald Examiner The ''Los Angeles Herald Examiner'' was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published in the afternoon from Monday to Friday and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst syndicate. It was formed when the afternoon ' ...

'' collection at the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...

1970 establishments in California Hispanic and Latino American culture in Los Angeles Organizations established in 1970 Latino theatre {{US-arts-org-stub