Collaboration between LA Commons and the USC Spatial Analysis Lab (USC SLAB) dates back to 2015, when both entities were tapped by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs to join the central Los Angeles asset-mapping initiative, Promise Zone Arts. From that first connection a decade ago, the relationship has only strengthened and grown between the two entities, producing transformative work for the Los Angeles community. 

Since 2015, we have worked annually with graduate students enrolled in USC SLAB’s fall coursework to produce unique and relevant projects to support the work and communities we are currently engaged with at that time. To date, we have worked with over 100 USC graduate students to produce projects that have been asked for directly by the community, and that have helped increase our organizational capacity. In 2022, as we lead the second iteration of the Promise Zone Arts Initiative focused this time in South LA, Cultural Treasures of South LA, we were able to hire our group of USC SLAB students to support our data collection process for over 200 community assets.

An exciting new venture in our relationship blossomed in 2024 when we submitted and were awarded a Research-Practice Partnerships Field Studies grant from the Wallace Foundation. The research study we proposed pulled together the collective information we have gradually been gathering over the past 10 years. Over this decade, our work connecting with culture-bearers and community groups throughout Los Angeles' most asset-rich, yet under-recognized communities have brought to light the overarching concern for how we can safeguard these communities’ cultural spaces. Because if our collaborative work over the years has shown us anything, it is that the spaces that allow for creation and connection to flourish are the hearts of cultural communities, and ensuring their permanence is essential in the stories of these communities. 

Check out the timeline below for highlights over the past 10 years!