Self Help Graphics & Art was established in the early 1970s in East Los Angeles by Sister Karen Boccalero, a Catholic nun and respected printmaker who worked with a group of local artists. Its mission was to create a central gathering place that would nurture and support the local Chicana/o and Latinx community of artists. The center provided access to experimental printmaking methods and educational programming for these artists and their audience. Since its inception, Self Help Graphics has published more than a thousand limited-edition fine-art prints with an emphasis on screenprints. Today, it continues to prosper in its role as an advocate for many artists working in Los Angeles and the greater Southern California region.  

This grouping also features the evocative City Bridge, which was made by Carlos Almaraz in collaboration with artist/printmaker Efram Wolff, that came to LACMA from the estate of the artist. City Bridge provides an important learning tool for this multistep printmaking process. The individual sheets in various ranges of the spectrum represent unique templates that, when combined, contribute to the realization of Almaraz’s vision for the final work. 

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