What is WE THE PEOPLE?
WE THE PEOPLE is more than an art exhibit—it’s a cultural intervention. Created by Community Coalition in partnership with Sankofa.org, the exhibit brings together 35 artists who challenge the traditional story America tells about itself and instead centers the voices, histories, and futures of Black, Indigenous, immigrant, LGBTQ+ and , AAPI communities whose stories have too often been excluded—despite being architects of the infrastructure of other this country. As our nation marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we’re asking one simple but profound question: Who are the people in “We the People”—and who has been left out?
Why is Community Coalition doing an art exhibit?
At Community Coalition, organizing has always been about changing systems—but it’s also about changing narratives. Policy alone doesn’t transform communities. For more than 35 years, CoCo has organized around public health, foster care, housing, education, healthcare, public safety, immigration, and economic justice. But lasting change also requires people to imagine something different. Art has always been a way to do just that, part of movements for justice. Art allows us to process trauma, preserve memory, tell the truth, and imagine futures beyond narratives of struggle and survival. WE THE PEOPLE is another way we organize—not through legislation, but through culture that WE are THE PEOPLE.
Why now?
The exhibit comes at a pivotal moment. Across the country we’re witnessing attempts to erase Black history, ban books, censor classrooms, attack immigrant communities, gut voting rights policy and roll back civil rights. As America celebrates 250 years, many official commemorations tell a story of freedom and democracy without acknowledging slavery, Indigenous displacement, segregation, racist and cruel immigration policies, or the countless communities who have literally held America’s feet to the fire regarding the promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. WE THE PEOPLE does not reject America. It simply asks America to tell the whole truth. Because democracy becomes stronger—not weaker—when every story is included. The exhibit features 35 artists representing multiple generations, cultures, and artistic disciplines. Visitors will experience paintings, photography, sculpture, installation, multimedia, and interactive works. Each artist contributes a unique perspective, but together they create a conversation about belonging, identity, resistance, migration, joy, healing, and collective liberation. Rather than offering one answer, the exhibit invites every visitor into the conversation.
What role does futurism play in organizing?
Futurism is one of the most powerful organizing tools we have.
Every major movement began because someone imagined a future that didn’t yet exist.
People imagined the end of slavery.
People imagined women voting.
People imagined integrated schools.
People imagined marriage equality.
People imagined communities free from violence and injustice.
Organizing is the work of turning imagination into reality.
This exhibit asks visitors to imagine the America we’re still building together.
We hope people leave feeling three things:
First, seen.
Second, challenged.
Third, inspired.
We want people to recognize themselves in the story of America—not as an afterthought, but as authors of it. We also hope people leave asking themselves: “What kind of country are we creating for the next generation?”
What makes this exhibit different?
It is centered in and celebrates South LA. Too often, artists from our communities have to traverse the gauntlet of spaces outside the places they grew up in and were nurtured— only to have to justify themselves and their art. Too often, our kids get on buses and go to museums outside their neighborhoods in order to have artistic experiences that don’t celebrate them. Too often, our art is defined and contexualized by others. WE THE PEOPLE IS FOR US, BELONGS TO US, and is IS ABOUT US—right here on Western Avenue at LADC Studios. It demands visitors to imagine an America rooted in belonging, justice, healing, and shared humanity.
At the end of the day, WE THE PEOPLE reminds us that this country was born out of grievances and that the promises of America have never been fulfilled by documents alone. The hope of America has been expanded by ordinary, every day people who showed up, organized, resisted, created, imagined, and refused to accept exclusion as the final word. This exhibition celebrates those continuing stories while inviting each and every one of us to help write the next chapter. The future isn’t something we inherit—it’s something we build together.