Brockman as CommUnity

In partnership with Dale Brockman Davis, Digging Bridge, Lore Leimert Park, the Los Angeles Public Library, and the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, Brockman as CommUnity explores the relationship between placemaking and placekeeping in the historical Black neighborhood of Leimert Park Village. This exploration is activated at Lore Bookstore, the former site of the Brockman Gallery, featuring curated archival materials from LAPL's Special Collections and the Brockman Gallery Archive. On view through August 15, during open business hours at Lore Leimert Park from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The Leimert Park Village has served as a cultural cornerstone, witnessing significant historical shifts from the mid-century white flight and the 1965 Watts Rebellion to the West Coast Black Arts Movement and, more recently, ever-present gentrification across the city of Los Angeles. Throughout these transformations, the neighborhood continues to embody the essence of placekeeping.

Central to this cultural landscape was the Brockman Gallery, which operated in Leimert Park Village from the 1960s through the 1990s. Through its community-focused programming and dynamic exhibitions, the gallery was instrumental in placemaking, deeply influencing the neighborhood's identity and cultural preservation.

This exhibition is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through a Public Knowledge grant to the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Public Library.

Image: Brockman Gallery sign, 1976, Brockman Gallery Archive. Los Angeles Public Library Special Collections.