By Jay Jackson for The LA Sentinel
Originally published Sept. 16, 2026
Poets, painters, writers and residents gathered in Leimert Park Village over the weekend to make it known who they are:
“We are Destination Crenshaw!”
That was the closing clarion call of a three-hour confab marking the inaugural Crenshaw Artist Town Hall held at Ora Cafe on Saturday, Sept. 12. It drew roughly 50 creatives and locals who came to swap ideas about the future of arts and culture in the historic district and how they could contribute to the massive Destination Crenshaw project still under construction.
“We’ve been hearing a lot of conversation about folks feeling like investing so much into the arts is a waste,” said Monique Mitchell, a world-traveling poet and co-organizer of the town hall. “We wanted to share our experience, our perspective as artists of what art has meant to us, how many pathways it’s created, how many doors it’s opened, and really how it can contribute to the social, emotional health of a community.”
It’s the Black community in particular that the meeting focused on. Mitchell said Destination Crenshaw and the contributing artists, several of whom attended the meeting, are critical to giving the Black community a sense of permanence in the area.
World-renowned artist and sculptor Charles Dickson will have a permanent work at Destination Crenshaw. He came to the town hall mainly to encourage other artists to support the effort.
“We shared our love for community,” Dickson said after the event. “What they’re trying to achieve is unprecedented. They’re trying to do something that people said is undoable. It’s important we get over those kinds of limitations that people put in front of us.”
Destination Crenshaw is the partially built, 1.3-mile open-air museum and park along Crenshaw Boulevard and the Metro K Line, stretching from Leimert Park to Slauson Avenue. When complete, it will feature mini-parks, monuments, artwork and community walking spaces along the way.
After its 2020 groundbreaking, the $100 million project was supposed to open in 2024, but delays have sparked anger from frustrated residents and business owners, who blame the undertaking for increased traffic problems and lost business.
LA City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson is the brainchild behind Destination Crenshaw. He came to the town hall with a message of reassurance.
“If everything goes according to plan, we’ll finish next year, 2027,” Harris-Dawson said. “I can’t ease the frustrations of people who say this is taking too long. But anything worth doing is difficult and anything worth doing involves overcoming challenges and that’s what we’re absolutely committed to doing.”
Longtime Leimert Park icon and artist Mohammed Mubarak made it a point to attend the town hall. He said he wants to make sure everyone feels welcome.
“It’s important because we have a lot of artists and creative people that got their start right here in Leimert,” Mubarak said. “I just hope to encourage folks who are lost and confused to get the point of owning something and let everyone come over here. Stop talking stuff and start building something.”