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AltaMed Health Services has brought Chicano art into City Hall for Corazón de Los Ángeles: The Art of Chicano Politics & Community Healing. The free exhibition features 19 works from the AltaMed Art Collection and coincides with Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month and the city’s El Grito celebration. AltaMed is also involved in a separate project, El Corazón Art Park, a temporary two-acre community art park planned beside Gloria Molina Grand Park.
On view at the Henry P. Rio Bridge Gallery, the exhibition traces how Chicano and Chicana artists have portrayed Los Angeles, challenged injustice and made their communities visible. The works span more than four decades. Among them are Oscar R. Castillo’s photograph Brown Beret Women Protesting (1969), Ester Hernández’s La Virgen de Guadalupe Defendiendo Los Derechos de Los Xicanos (1975), Alfredo de Batuc’s Comet Over City Hall (1985) and José González’s Una Vida Mejor (2012).
Los Angeles City Councilmember Imelda Padilla who is serving as Madrina for this year’s Latino Heritage Month, said she wanted the celebration to recognize the people who make Los Angeles what it is, from workers and small-business owners to community leaders, families and artists.
“That vision is about placing our culture front and center, and this exhibition continues that work by bringing Chicano art into City Hall and celebrating the artists, stories and experiences that have helped shape Los Angeles,” Padilla said.
The setting is part of the exhibition’s message. Displaying these works inside City Hall places Chicano history and lived experience in the building where decisions about the city are made. For AltaMed, it also reflects an approach to care that includes art and cultural recognition.
“Art is an integral part of holistic care creating connection, strengthening a sense of belonging and helping communities see their experiences and histories reflected in the places around them,” said Susana Smith Bautista, PhD, AltaMed’s Chief Curator and Associate Vice President of Arts and Wellness.
That commitment is also behind El Corazón Art Park, which is being developed by the nonprofit AltaMed Museum of Chicano and Mexican Art. Expected to open later this year, the temporary park is planned as a place for free arts, recreation, wellness and cultural programming for families, artists, young people and community organizations. The City Hall exhibition is a separate project; AltaMed has not described it as a preview of the park.
Corazón de Los Ángeles: The Art of Chicano Politics & Community Healing is on view through September 30, 2026, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Henry P. Rio Bridge Gallery, Los Angeles City Hall, third floor, 200 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles.
