Charles White Elementary School in Los Angeles, in collaboration with LACMA, is presenting the exhibition "From MacArthur Park, with Love" opening May 21, 2025. The show features artworks by over 100 students from the school's Visual Arts Magnet program, celebrating the MacArthur Park neighborhood through diverse media including collaborative diptychs, observational drawings, and paintings of local landmarks and bird species. The exhibition runs Saturdays from May 23 to August 1, with free drop-in art workshops.
This exhibition matters because it exemplifies a unique, long-term partnership between a major museum (LACMA) and a public elementary school, integrating professional museum practices into arts education. The Charles White Elementary School Gallery is the only one of its kind in the United States, providing students with museum-quality exhibition experience and serving as a model for community-engaged arts programming. The show also highlights how art education can connect young people to their local history and environment.