LA Commons

🎭 So hype to begin our Ancestor Highlights for Festival of Masks!

Between now and the big day on Sunday, June 28th, we will introduce you one by one to the 2026 Day of the Ancestors: Festival of Masks honorees that we’ll be celebrating ♥️

✨ Today, we are uplifting Ancestor Kimberly Bolanile Paggett.

Professor Kimberly Bolanile Paggett was a force of nature. She was an influencer, activist, writer, dancer, educator and minister, and gave everything she had to her community. She led cultural plays, writing workshops, drumming and dancing with SHINE Muwasi and journaling sessions in the park.

She built tutoring programs and launched the Write On Arts Scholarship, because she believed deeply that every child deserved to be met where they are and brought forward. She blessed thousands of youth and families across Los Angeles. Her legacy lives on in every student she lifted and every door she opened.

🩰👯 In honor of Kimberly, the incredible Le Ballet Dembaya () will be performing at Festival of Masks! Join us in honoring Kimberly’s legacy!

📆 June 28th at 12 - 5:30PM
📍 Leimert Park Village
🔗 RSVP in bio!

🎵 MAC LA (formerly known as Levitt LA) is hosting their annual Summer Concert Series and it kicks off this Saturday! 🎉

Be part of the vibrant celebration that brings the MacArthur Park community together! Dance to the live music, create art and have fun with your family in a neighborhood that is so meaningful to many of us! ✨💃

🎨 Enjoy free music and stop by LA Commons’ table to create your own stickers!

You’ll also be able to receive a free bandana (designed by Alfonso Aceves ) and beautiful posters! ♥️

📅 Saturday, June 20th
🕕 Art activity is 6PM - 8PM
📍 Levitt Pavilion | 2330 W 6th St.

🖼️ Stop the Hate poster artwork by Kaya Arnoux

JUNETEENTH❣️❤️ Join us for ancestral mask-making and bring the kids for a Nea Onnim craft.

📅 Fri. June 19
🕚 Starting a lil' early 10AM, wrap-up 4PM
📍 Leimert Park Village

🎉 You are invited to celebrate our MacArthur Park Youth Artists and their “Roots of Our Labor” mural!

🎨 The 2025-2026 MacArthur Park youth arts team brought this mural to life, from the very beginning through collecting stories from residents, to painting the design that encapsulated all those stories. 🥑🌴 And thank you to co-lead artists Luis Mateo () and Shakir Manners () for leading this beautiful project!

Attendees will also receive free breakfast, can participate in an art supplies giveaway and receive free Stop the Hate merch! ♥️

📅 Sat. June 13th at 10AM to 11:30AM
📍 In front of the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center | 675 S Park View St.

📣 We’re hiring! LA Commons is in search of a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to be part of our research project, Keeping Place For Culture (KP4C).

KP4C is a research project funded by the that investigates how artists and culture bearers in Los Angeles’ communities of color can “keep place” in the face of gentrification and real estate market pressures. The project extends a decade-long partnership between LA Commons and

🧠 The Postdoctoral Research Fellow, a scholar with a PhD in hand by the start date in a relevant discipline, will make significant contributions to the KP4C project. We welcome their ideas and disciplinary perspectives, and look forward to having them meaningfully shape our research project!

✨ Send in your application today or tag a friend who’s ready to be our next research star! ✨

📝 Deadline to apply: July 1, 2026
🔗 Application link (with more info) in bio!

✨ For the past few months, Leimert Park community members have been honing their photography skills … And now, they’re ready to display their work! 📸🎉

In partnership with and inspired by their “Photography and the Black Arts Movement (1955-1985)” exhibition, our workshop series participants learned the fundamentals and techniques of photography, while also gaining a lot of hands-on experience 💫

🔥 Pull up to the opening reception of this special group exhibition to celebrate a selection of photography masterpieces, curated by workshop lead .low at , which will be open for business during the festivities. Immerse yourself in the culture and enjoy ORA’s signature drinks (the golden shake 😩😋) and bites!

📅 Opening reception, Thu. June 18th from 6-8PM
🖼️ Exhibition on view through July 12th 
📍 ORA Cafe | 4331 Degnan Blvd.
🔗 RSVP with the link in bio!

✨ For the past few months, Leimert Park community members have been honing their photography skills … And now, they’re ready to display their work! 📸🎉

In partnership with and inspired by their “Photography and the Black Arts Movement (1955-1985)” exhibition, our workshop series participants learned the fundamentals and techniques of photography, while also gaining a lot of hands-on experience 💫

🔥 Pull up to the opening reception of this special group exhibition to celebrate a selection of photography masterpieces, curated by workshop lead .low at , which will be open for business during the festivities. Immerse yourself in the culture and enjoy ORA's signature drinks (the golden shake 😩😋) and bites!

📅 Opening reception, Thu. June 18th from 6-8PM
🖼️ Exhibition on view through July 12th
📍 ORA Cafe | 4331 Degnan Blvd.

🥁 This week we are spotlighting our African Drumming Workshops! Led by the one and only, Rene Fisher-Mims, or as we know her: Mama Nene! ♥️✨

☀️ Mama Nene is an amazing leader and community pillar for the Leimert Park community. She founded and established SHINE Muwasi with an intent & purpose to spread the knowledge of West African Drum culture to women in the community. With a vision of healing, empowering, caring, and inspiring women to play the instruments of our African descent, SHINE wishes to pass on the wisdom to those who desire to gain awareness of this culture through teaching, and performing in different areas.

She shares, “Music and movement is medicine. When we are together we are stronger. Wisdom is Wealth.” 🎵📚💗

🎭 Festival of Masks workshops EVERY Saturday thru June with Mama Nene:
🕚 2PM to 3PM (right after the dance and mask-making workshops!)
📍 Leimert Park Village | 4343 Leimert Blvd.
🔗 RSVP today with the link in bio!

♥️🎨 LA Commons hosted our fourth annual Fremont Arts & Wellness Festival!

✨ Alongside and , LA Commons provided the community with fun and interactive activities including painting plant pots, free delicious food and a vast network of community health resources!

Festival attendees had a wonderful time! They received free screen-printed bags (designed and produced by the one and only, ), fresh grocery giveaways from UMMA Health and much more. 🍉💚

A huge shoutout to the Fremont Resident Advisors for making this event as successful as it was! 🎉 Our resident advisors, a committee made up of Fremont High School parents/family members and surrounding community members in the area, are key players in LA Commons’ Healthy Culture Hub model. Our model is built with community and centers our resident advisors as local leaders to help residents feel seen and preserve the culture & history of the neighborhood. When culture leads, health and resiliency follows. ♥️

⛰️ Happy AANHPI Month! We decided to celebrate by visiting the to see the amazing and beautiful exhibit, “Mountain Spirits: Rice and Indigeneity in the Northern Luzon Highlands, Philippines.”

✨ LA Commons staff members enjoyed immersing themselves in the rich history and culture of the Ifugao of northern Luzon. The exhibit explores the spirituality and environmental care of the region by showcasing the carved guardians, ritual bowls, woven blankets and more.

We connect deeply to the importance of uplifting and preserving culture and stories. Alex, Communications Coordinator at LA Commons, reflects, “It’s great to see my histories actually be in a museum. Sometimes, the Philippines, my culture and heritage can feel so far away and disconnected, but seeing it on display makes me feel empowered. It feels powerful to know your ancestry and I hope to continue building that feeling for everyone through work at LA Commons!” 🇵🇭♥️

And did you know? Our board member, Hannah Yoo, is the Curator of Public Programs at the Fowler! 🌟 We are so grateful to be deepening our partnership with Hannah and the Fowler.

📅 “Mountain Spirits” is on view from April 2026 to January 2027
📍 Fowler Museum at UCLA