The 2023/2024 Institutional/Group Honoree is Self Help Graphics & Art (SHG). Some members may recall that the 2022 APHA conference (“Making Artistic Noise”) featured “Community Building Through Art and Activism: the Legacy of Self Help Graphics” with Dewey Tafoya and Marvella Muro from SHG. Not only is SHG impacting local creative life in greater Los Angeles, but they have also, through conference presentations and other programs, extended “community” to include Latine- and Chicano/a/x-identifying people throughout the Western hemisphere.

SHG embodies diversity, inclusion, and fostering belonging through print and creative expression. SHG has supported local artists; focused on art as a vehicle to advocate for social justice; and offers exhibitions, classes, a biennial printmaking fair, residencies, mobile art studios, and free workshops for teens in underserved Los Angeles communities. Through their outreach, SHG promotes community education to share printmaking techniques and history across diverse Los Angeles communities. It is our belief that work created at SHG—and the archival record of the organization itself—will impact special collections in the United States and this hemisphere in decades to come. Ultimately, SHG is a story of community fusion and the power of freedom of expression to build unity and influence. We believe this will mark the first time APHA has awarded an organization led by Hispanic, Latine, and Chicano/a/x individuals. The award also, coincidentally, comes as SHG celebrates its fiftieth year of operations.