Where toxins still linger in LA’s soil, artists seek to strengthen residents’ relationship with the land

Exide — a now-closed battery recycling plant in the city of Vernon — dumped lead into thousands of homes in southeast Los Angeles County for decades. Despite growing up in the area, Marvella Muro didn’t learn about the plant until she became an adult.

She recalled an environmental justice symposium at East LA College where a group of students said they had high blood lead levels. Muro said she is worried about her health, her loved ones and the potential for lead-laden soil around her home.

The session stayed with her. Years later, Muro became curator at Self Help Graphics & Art, a community art center in Boyle Heights. When the Getty announced that the next theme of its huge, cross-site art event – ​​PST ART – would be “Art and science collide”, Muro knew exactly what he wanted to do.

She and her team reached out to local artists. With the help of community members, they created “Sinks: Places We Call Home.” The exhibit opens Saturday at Cal State LA and shows how toxic pollutants have affected the health and quality of life of local residents.

“This exhibit is very LA-focused,” Muro said, “but (the issue is) something that really impacts communities across the country.”

Art rooted in history

The exhibition takes its name from “Geographies of Race and Ethnicity II”, an essay by social scientist Laura Pulido. In the essay, Pulido says:

Muro said he thought this was appropriate because polluters often treat low-income communities of color like trash.

The exhibit opens with a collection of pieces that highlight the natural beauty and potential damage of life in LA County—everywhere from Frogtown to Signal Hill.

Marvella Muro, the exhibit’s curator, contributed a letter she received from the Department of Toxic Substances Control regarding the contaminated soil in her home.

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Eric Jaipal

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Self-help graphics and art

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In one section of the exhibit, a giant timeline of Willowbrook, an unincorporated community in South LA, traces the history of contamination in what is now Magic Johnson Park. Visitors learn about the construction of a 120-acre “tank farm” where companies such as ExxonMobil stored petroleum products.

The company later sold the land to a developer. And on it, the developer built a housing complex that was “touted as an oasis for working black families,” Muro told LAist. These families were later displaced after suffering from cancer, leukemia, miscarriages and other health problems.

Beatriz Jaramillo, an artist who earned her MFA at Cal State LA, captured this history on nine translucent white curtains that hang from the ceiling of the exhibition hall.

Before the exhibit, Jaramillo spent years researching the Willowbrook neighborhood. She also spoke to local residents, including members of her own community garden. With their help, Jaramillo created another piece of art: a large mirror surrounded by dozens of small planters. Jaramillo made each planter by hand, and community members selected the plants that were placed inside them.

Jaramillo’s “In-Nature” includes 36 handmade terracotta planters.

This part of the exhibit, Jaramillo said, “invites people to reflect on our own contribution to the environment, on how we can work together to improve our community.”

When the exhibit closes, she added, members of the Willowbrook community will take the planters home.

Art related to action

Maru Garcia had done artwork about Exide’s impact on Southeast LA, but the work left her feeling frustrated. “It’s very important, of course, to draw attention to an issue,” she told LAist, “but I thought it wasn’t enough. . . I was just describing something, but I couldn’t help in any way.”

Garcia, who has degrees in chemistry and biotechnology, saw “Sinks” as an “opportunity to finally be out in the community and do something more hands-on.”

He also participated, together with Muro, in Prosperous yardsa group of scientists, artists, activists and community members developing an alternative method for reducing lead in contaminated soil. (The California Department of Toxic Substances Control is currently remediating the soil in Southeast LA by removing it and replacing it with new soil. Contaminated soil is transported elsewhere.)

Through Prospering Backyards, Garcia learned about the potential benefits of lead-absorbing minerals known as zeolites. Garcia also learned about the ways in which soil contamination affected the daily lives of Southeast LA residents.

“A lot of people stopped gardening,” she said. “They also felt really bad about letting their kids play in their yards.”

The sculptures in Maru Garcia’s “Boiling Rock 3” are supported by steel pillars that will slowly reveal the words “Madre” (Mother), “Alive” and “Home” as they dissolve.

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Eric Jaipal

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Self-help graphics and art

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For the exhibit, Garcia made several pieces inspired by her work with the community, including three 6-foot-tall poles composed of earth, zeolites, mulch and clay. These represent the palm-sized columns of earth that they excavated from the homes of community members during their research.

“With this project, we’re really trying to heal this relationship that we have with our soil,” Garcia said. “Instead of seeing it as a source of contaminants, as something that attacks us or affects us, I want us to remember that the soil is like a mother, it is a source of life.”