Public art in Little Tokyo By: Lucia Romero

                                                                  PHASE 1 THE SITE:

The site I decided to write about in my civic engagement project is public art in Little Tokyo . More specifically the public art piece called “Home is Little Tokyo”. This piece is located in Little Tokyo Los Angeles near the Japanese village plaza. I chose this site because most free time I had with friends or family we would always go to Little Tokyo and visit the village plaza. We would go to walk around, explore new areas within little Tokyo that we haven’t seen before, grab food, purchase items and more. So overall little Tokyo holds a really important Place in my heart because of all the memories I have created here. This art piece is really important not only to me but those around me because it brings out a lot of culture and it’s like a piece of  someone’s home being shown to the world. My history with the site is it brings lots of joy to me and it allows me to learn more about others culture. The more time I spent here and creating memories It really opened my mind to all the creativity and love people have for this location and this piece of art. So from all that, I chose this specific site because of everything I was able to learn and just the overall joy it brings to me and those around me. 

                                                              PHASE 2 FIELD WORK: 

The location of this art work is located at 364 E 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012. The person who created this art was Tony Osumi. Not only was he the one who designed it and also contributed to his work but as well as fellow artist Sergio and Jorge Diaz contributed to the painting. The shocking part of this was at the end of the day It wasn’t only them three working but as well as 500 volunteers who came to provide extra help and support. After everything we have discussed art can really be anything you put your mind to. In this case Tony Osumi saw the Japanese community and took ideas from them to create his mural. So he put his mind into creating an art piece that stands out in little Tokyo to show this communities and others background and overall culture. So the theme of this artwork is communities and a showing this is their home, culture, life and more. What is represented in this mural is the community the mural is built in and more. Not only were ideas taken in from Japanese communities to show representations , but as well as the community within the area in general. It’s representing one’s life. The materials being used in this art piece was wooden panels, paints, brushes etc. Many people made this mural possible, and it was all by the help of volunteers, the community, community organizers and more. Although I didn’t get the chance to interview any residence or ask questions just by the communities reactions, I can see they have so much love for this mural. Some of the reactions that people have gave to this mural we’re happy, the feeling of importance and just really good reactions. Overall, we see that this art piece is really loved by the community and all the time and effort put into it was worth everything.

                                                          PHASE 3 CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

In this community, I see lots of patterns with bringing out one’s culture. I feel every step you take deeper into this community you get a glimpse of their life and you get to learn a lot. With other art work, the patterns of the work we see culture and symbolization. The people being represented in the public realm would be Japanese communities. Since Japanese communities gave ideas into this mural, a lot of their personal community culture is being put into it. The histories that are being centered are Japanese encounters, achievements, past and future and more. When it came to who funds and decides the art, it was a little hard to find, but with the little information that I was able to get, I got the people who fund this art is Community organizers within the little Tokyo community. When talking about this mural art, community organizers helped them out. Lastly, the people who decide the art is people in the overall little Tokyo community.

                                                                   PHASE 4 PROPOSAL: 

So what I have seen in this community that I like is the way people come together and support one another. Not only this, but the love they have for their community. Now what I have seen in this community that I dislike is the way some art is being painted over by spray paints. For example, this art piece that I wrote about was sprayed over and the community was heartbroken about it because of the love they have for it. So that’s something I don’t like because people put their time and effort into putting something this beautiful out for others to see. So when it’s being spray-painted over, it’s sad because all the time and dedication they put in has been messed up. Some other art placement I recommend would be outside of store locations where they have blank walls I recommend more art being put out there. I feel with putting more art outside of these locations one it would grab people’s attention and two they will be really intrigued with what the art contains. Now themes that I would like to see is of course more of the Japanese community and the overall little Tokyo community. As well as more traditions being shown in the art so when people come visit again, they can get more glimpses of the culture. For example, let’s say there’s mural art being put outside a restaurant. I feel with the restaurant approval and their own thoughts they can show their story of the restaurant and the culture behind the food. So I would really like to see some of these things happen in the future and I hope for this community to keep growing with all the love and care they have.