Self Help Graphics & Art

Community Meeting

June 28, 2005

7 p.m.

Moderator: Chon A. Noriega, Ph.D.

Ave 50 Studio

Director: Kathy Gallegos

131 N. Avenue 50

Highland Park

323.258-1435



The text contained in the two documents that were

distributed to members of the community by Self Help

Graphics and by Coalition of Concerned Citizens for

SHG during the meeting are presented here:



DOCUMENT #1 - SHG - Flyer

Self Help Graphics & Art Update

June 28, 2005

Commitment to the Community

Thank you to everyone for the calls of support and the

positive reinforcement for Self-Help Graphics & Art

(SHG) during this transition period and restructuring.

The Board wants to emphasize that we share the same

goal - the reopening of Self Help Graphics.

These are challenging times as arts funding continues

to decrease from most traditional sources. In order

to turn this crisis around we will need solid and

steadfast support from funders, the artist community

and community at large. We will need everyone's best

thinking and good will to re-open and strengthen Self

Help. We acknowledge fully that in great part the

current situation is due to our failure to act sooner.

However, we fully belief [sp.] that if there is a

will there is a way.

As we prepare for the future, we want to emphasize

that SHG continues to be committed to its mission:

To preserve and continue the exploration of the

"Chicano experience" through fostering development and

empowerment of youth and artists and their art.

Why the Temporary Closing?

Facing very difficult financial challenges, the SHG

Board of Directors made the tough decision to

temporarily close the art center's building on June

7th. At the same time the Board accepted the

resignation of its longtime Executive Director Tomas

Benitez who submitted his resignation in December

2004.

Both decisions were made for financial reasons. The

organization had been incurring debt for at least 6

months. Funds were insufficient for payroll and other

basic operating necessities. The action was also

taken to curtail incurring additional debt.

As funds failed to be realized, a serious funding

shortfall occurred. The heavy damage caused by the

rains earlier this year, caused the Board to make the

extremely difficult decision to take a temporary

hiatus. In addition, SHG's primary funding had

primarily come from generous foundation, government

and corporate sources. Over the past couple of years

funds from these sources have been hard to find and

arts funding in general has taken a hard hit.

The situation offered a timely opportunity to make

this a time for transition - critical time to reshape

Self Help. The volunteer board members had been

actively planning new growth strategies for Self Help

Graphics since last July. Key Board initiatives

include:

. Restructuring staff to match core programs

. Reprioritizing [sp] funding efforts to balance

private and public sources

. Developing new model for leadership and artistic

direction

. Securing capital to fund extensive building repairs

. Expanding board membership to match development

needs of Self Help

. Developing ideas for forming an artist group to

advise on artistic direction

What is Being Done to Reopen?

Since June 7th the basic operation of Self Help

Graphics has been ongoing on a volunteer basis by a

transition team of board members, key staff and

volunteers. The working committees are:

Financial assessment - records are being updated and

organized to get a complete picture of SHG debt. A

current audit will be initiated.

Building - Working to negotiate a favorable lease for

the organization to remain at its landmark location as

Sister Karen always intended.

Executive Director Search - The Board is accepting

applications for the Executive Director's position.

Development/Fundraising - Board members are meeting

with funders and elected officials to raise emergency

funds to reopen and secure operating funds for the

future. A plan is also being development [sp] in

concert with public and private funders who have

generously supported Self-Help since its founding in

1973 by Sister Karen Boccalero.

Our community leaders, neighborhood supporters,

artists, and long-time supporters and funders, as well

as the board of directors, are all interested in a

prosperous future for Self-Help. In order to move

forward we are working to put in place funding and a

management team that will take Self-Help Graphics to

the next level ensuring that a severe financial crisis

like the one we are currently facing is prevented in

the future.

We look forward to continuing SHG programs and

services to youth and the community and to promoting

Chicano and Latino artists, just as soon as we can

ensure a solid financial footing.

selfhelpboard@earthlink.net

####

DOCUMENT #2 - Coalition of Concerned Citizens for SHG

- Letter

Dear Board Members,

On behalf of our coalition of concerned

artists/citizens of the Los Angeles County, we hereby

request an immediate response to our concerns/issues

as to the status of Self Help Graphics.

Within 48 hours, please send us the answers and/or

information we are requesting to the address listed

below in this letter. We are a pro-active group of

concern citizens and our only motivation to requesting

your cooperation is to help you succeed in

coordinating a smooth transition and to present an

open forum for transparency:

1) Please forward a copy of the Board of Directors

agendas and minutes of meetings for the last 12

months.

2) Please forward the 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004

financial reports/statements.

3) Please forward a copy to us of your 2001-2005

fundraising plans.

4) Please forward a copy of your current by-laws.

5) Please forward a copy of your listing of your

contributions (i.e., government grants, or from

private sources and/or co-sponsorships) for your

current or past 3 years of projects/programs.

6) Please forward a copy of Tomas Benitez's'

resignation letter.

7) Please forward any letters of intent from Gloria

Molina's office indicating financial support in the

amount of $100,000, plus of what ever amount was

committed to your agency if approved or in study.

8) Please clarify to as what were the SPECIFIC reasons

for closing the doors of Self-Help Graphics.

9) Please forward the Executive Director's monthly

status reports to the Board on the status of Self-Help

Graphics for the past four years.

10.) Has there been any recent audits of Self-Help

Graphics? If so, please forward a copy of this audited

report to us.

11) Has the Board participated in any strategic

planning sessions in the past years? If so, can we

have a copy of these business plans.

12) Do you have any donations/funding coming from any

other sources committed to Self-Help Graphics? If so,

from whom, and in what amounts, and for what

projects/programs?

13) What is your transition plan for the next six

months, your budgeted operational cost, fundraising

and operating plans to help improve Self-Help

Graphics?

14) Do you have plans to hire or contract a management

consultant to review and strengthen the Board decision

making processes and internal management processes?

15) What is the status as to the hiring of a new

Executive Director? How many people have applied for

the position? Have you begun the interview process?

To help improve your communications with the general

public as a California Non-profit Public Benefit

Corporation, we hereby request that the Board - post

on the Self-Help Graphics web site within 48 hours -

as to the status of Self-Help Graphics in order to

properly inform the general public. A simple

statement of what happen and what steps are you taking

to correct this situation will be appreciated. Again,

we are a pro-active group and our only motivation for

requesting this information is to assist you in having

a transparent change with citizenship involvement as a

California Non profit Public Benefit Corporation.

Thank you for your sincere cooperation to our request.

Respectfully submitted,

___________________________________

Linda Gamboa/Co-chair Ricardo Duffy/Co-chair

June 28, 2005

cc: Self-Help Graphics Board of Directors

Please send the above requested materials to the

following address:

Coalition of Concerned Citizens for SHG

P.O. Box 861868

Los Angeles, CA 90086

####

Some of the 250+ who's who in attendance at Ave 50

Studio on 6/28/05:

Roberto Delgado, Ofelia Esparza, Barbara Carrasco, Leo

Limón, Wayne Healy, Diane Gamboa, Ruben Guevara,

Gustavo Leclerc, Jose Antonio Aguirre, Sybil Venegas,

Richard T. Rodriguez, Ph.D., Ginger Holguin, Ernesto

de La Loza, Anita Miranda, Rudy Calderon, Vibiana

Aparicio-Chamberlain, Pat Gomez, Maria de la Luz

Blaire, Arturo Romo, Patricia Parra, Adrian Arancibia,

Mark A. Martínez, Jose Luis Sedano, María Elena

Gaitán, Chon A. Noriega, Ph.D., Carlo Haro, Ph.D.,

Ricardo Duffy, Sepideh Riahi, Linda Gamboa, Sandra

Pocha Peña, Victoria Delgadillo, Becky Cortez, Yreina

Cervantez, Cheryl Mendoza, Ph.D., Armando Durón, Mary

Durón, Guillermo Bejarano, Raquel Salinas, Alma Lopez,

Paula Crisostomo, Victor Payan, Jesús "Chuy" Torres,

Ruben Mendoza, Christina Ochoa, Joe Apuche, Jennifer

Flores Sternad, Mark Vallen, Shervin Shahbazi, Daniel

Hernandez, J. Michael Walker, Raoul de la Sota, Ginger

Varney, Michael Amescua, Stephanie De La Torre,

Margaret Garcia, Kathy Gallegos, Margaret Sosa, Judy

Martinez, Reyes Rodriguez, Isabel Rodriguez, Susana

Bautista, Debra Padilla, Victor Payan, Denise Carlos,

Nick Pacheco, Adrian Rivas, James Rojas, Patricia

Alizalde, Rosa Maria Marquez, Felicia Montes, Jay

Belloli, Val Echavarria



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The Morning Review with Gabriel Gutierrez

KPFK 90.7

Wednesdays

7 a.m.

The radio broadcast of June 29, 2005:

Gabriel Gutierrez interviewed Mark Vallen and Harry

Gamboa Jr. regarding the SHG community meeting and

their observations regarding the current situation.

As stated by Dr. Gutierrez, the SHG board was invited

to participate but did not respond.



http://www.art-for-a-change.com/blog/2005/06/update-on-self-help-graphics-crisis.html

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Personal suggestions:

a.

The process of passing a hat during SHG community

meetings to collect cash donations from the community

and artists should be halted until financial

credibility of the organization is verified by an

independent auditor.

b.

Non-SHG organizations should avoid utilizing SHG

meetings as a platform to further their own agendas.

-HG

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