HISTORY
LA Artcore evolved out of students' social and artistic interactions at Cal State LA’s fine arts department under the tutelage of Founding Director Lydia Takeshita during the 1960s and 1970s. Regular gatherings were held at Central Park in Pasadena to further engage in critiques and discussion outside of class. This became the "core" of LA Artcore and manifested into a student-run space at Cal State University. This activity coincided with Downtown L.A.’s fine arts renaissance of the late 80s and early 90s in what is now the Arts District, where LA Artcore relocated to San Mateo Street and was incorporated as a 501-c 3 nonprofit corporation in 1981. LA Artcore produced numerous exhibits along with its in-house publication, Visions Art Quarterly, which covered local and regional artists and exhibits until 1991.
At the same time, LA Artcore established its International Exchange Program and enjoyed partnerships with artists, Kamol Tassananchalee, Yoshio Ikezaki, and Nobu Kano. This collaborative exchange that has been on covid-related pause, allows artists to travel and exhibit in a foreign hosting country. LA Artcore has conducted exchange programs with Thailand, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Italy, San Luis Obispo, and Albuquerque.
In addition to its Downtown space, LA Artcore opened its second space in 1998 at the Brewery Arts Colony, the country’s largest artist's live-work complex.
In 1993, with help from the City of L.A., the Little Tokyo Service Center administered the redevelopment of a church building at 120 Judge John Aiso St. into a multi-use arts complex where LA Artcore, East West Players, and Visual Communications currently reside.
With over 1600 exhibits in its exhibition history, LA Artcore maintains a schedule of at least twelve exhibits per year across its two spaces and conducts related artist receptions, group tours, and workshops.
With the passing of its Founder and Director, Lydia Takeshita, at 92 in 2019, Artcore's board of directors reconstituted the organization. It tasked its leadership to the current Executive Director, Pranay Reddy, who had grown within the organization since 2006. Reddy has since recalibrated the organization with a progressive arts vision that combines boundary-breaking artistic expression with community arts, youth arts programming, and adult arts education.
