Angels Gate Cultural Center

Angels Gate Cultural Center (AGCC) is a nonprofit organization that elevates artists as integral and essential to a healthy and vibrant community; we support contemporary artists and their work through gallery exhibitions, studio artist residencies, in- and out-of-school arts education programming, and a year-round calendar of artist-focused public programs.

AGCC unites art, community, and culture through creative discovery, exploration, and enlightenment. The Center emerged from a group of San Pedro artists in the 1970s, who created artist studios and exhibition space within the 1940s-era Army barracks of Angels Gate Park. In addition to our Studio Artist program, which provides professional work-studio space for 52 artists of various mediums, AGCC provides the Southern California community with a year-round schedule of gallery exhibitions, arts & cultural events, and community classes.

The core of the Center's education programming is our Artists-in-Classroom residency program, which places professional artists into schools for 12-weeks to provide enriched, skill-based arts education. In 2023, AGCC served a total of 162 classrooms in Los Angeles County, serving over 4,500 students. We also offer Arts + Exploration Field trips for 3rd graders, during which students are taken on a guided tour through our gallery followed by an art making workshop. For many of these students, this is their first contemporary art/gallery experience.

In 2023, we expanded our arts and arts education programming and served over 11,000 on-campus visitors and 9,000+ virtually. AGCC hosted 50 events and were thrilled for the return of our three largest annual events: Spring and Fall Open Studios Days, Soundpedro, an annual ear-oriented multi-sensory sound art event, and the Many Winters Gathering of Elders (MWGOE), a four-day event, that brings together Indigenous community leaders and elders from across the country with the goal of fostering a greater understanding of traditional Indigenous knowledge, cultural beliefs, contemporary struggles and to provide culturally educational experiences.

The Center presented 8 exhibitions which reflected diverse themes and provided paid exhibition opportunities for 12 curators and 56 artists. Each of the exhibitions included a self-guided virtual gallery available to the public on our website and at least one piece of auxiliary programming such as an artist talk, or workshop. All AGCC programming is presented free or low-cost to the public.

Angels Gate Cultural Center is thrilled to continue serving our community with innovative arts and arts education programming.

Testimonials

What do local elementary school teachers think about AGCC's Artists-in-Classrooms (AIC) program?

“My students showed high engagement and a great sense of accomplishment,” shared Ms. Carvajal. “The arts can change lives. The program changed my students' attitudes about coming to school, built relationships, confidence and trust!”

Ms. Van Sant says, “The [art] classes really helped the students learn how to work together, have fun, and create something bigger than their individual work.”

“Projects are designed to allow for many different modes of creativity that fit with all kinds of learners. Some days we were even joined by a student in Special Education who is nonverbal, and he loved being with us during art every week,” shared another 3rd Grade teacher.

“The [AIC] program is wonderful. The art lessons were creative and new concepts for my kids. They were also encouraged to be themselves. The opportunity is invaluable. This area is low social-economic and these students would never have that opportunity without this [program],” another teacher shared.