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<\/p>\nDays before the opening of his latest exhibition, \u201cThe City of Compton: Then & Now,\u201d painter Fulton Leroy Washington \u2014 known as Mr. Wash \u2014 walked through the 14,000-square-foot property that houses his studio, an informal gallery, and event space. A courtyard ringed by a brick wall anchors the buildings, and neighbors are invited to paint on it. The space has the feeling of a community in motion.<\/p>\n
Mr. Wash, 72, has lived in and around Compton for decades, his time interrupted by serving 21 years in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction he maintains was unjust. In 2016, President Obama commuted his sentence. When he was leaving prison, Mr. Wash told fellow inmates: \u201cI\u2019m going to go prepare a place for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The artist is intent on fulfilling that promise. The Art by Wash Studio & Community Center, the site of a proposed $15-million facility on the artist\u2019s property, is being designed to provide housing, studio space and support for formerly incarcerated artists with artistic talent. Its targeted opening date has not yet been set, but the exhibition, which opened March 29 at Mr. Wash\u2019s studio, serves as a fundraiser for the construction.<\/p>\n
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An architectural model of artist Mr. Wash\u2019s future plans for a community arts hub in Compton that would provide studio space, arts education and support for formerly incarcerated individuals. <\/p>\n
(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The goal is to expand the property into a hybrid complex \u2014 designed by Morphosis Architects \u2014 featuring three artist studios where artists in residence will stay for six months, an art supply store, and a small-business incubator.<\/p>\n
The vision is not simply creative. Mr. Wash sees the center as a replicable model for rehabilitation through the arts \u2014 one that begins with creative expression inside prison walls and extends, through structured support, into stable reentry. The self-taught Mr. Wash ran workshops while incarcerated, helping develop artists who might one day be among the center\u2019s first residents.<\/p>\n
Architect E. Sung Yi, partner-in-charge at Morphosis, described the project as still in its conceptual phase, with a timeline dependent entirely on fundraising. But he was unambiguous about what the building is meant to represent.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the program and components of the building,\u201d Yi said, \u201care simply external versions of Mr. Wash.\u201d<\/p>\n
Compton Mayor Emma Sharif \u2014 herself the subject of one of Mr. Wash\u2019s portraits, depicted alongside the city\u2019s first Black mayor, Douglas Dollarhide \u2014 said the proposal aligns with the city\u2019s priorities around public safety and economic opportunity.<\/p>\n
She described the project as a \u201cpositive pathway forward\u201d for former inmates rebuilding their lives and said efforts like this help \u201cshift the narrative\u201d of Compton by highlighting its \u201ccreativity, resilience and talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the city has not yet been approached about funding, Sharif left open the possibility of future collaboration.<\/p>\n
A city in two time frames<\/p>\n
The center is a fitting next chapter to a career that has accelerated over the last decade. In 2021, Mr. Wash won the audience award at the Hammer Museum\u2019s \u201cMade in L.A.\u201d biennial and attracted the attention of gallerist Jeffrey Deitch.<\/p>\n
The artist is known primarily for his work on portraits, with carefully chosen subjects: he painted Obama granting him clemency, which turned out to be prophetic. Other subjects include Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Mr. Wash\u2019s mother. Many are rendered in his signature teardrop style, where droplets hold fragments of memory and history.<\/p>\n
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The artist Fulton Leroy Washington, known as Mr. Wash, stands with some of his art at his studio in Compton. His most recent exhibition serves as a fundraiser for his plan to build a $15 million community arts hub in the city.<\/p>\n
(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
With \u201cThe City of Compton: Then & Now,\u201d he is turning that same attention from people to places. The exhibition features 16 paintings tracing the city\u2019s past and present that capture a city in transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cSplit-screen\u201d canvases depict civic landmarks \u2014 City Hall, the courthouse, a high school and the local library \u2014 in two temporal states. One side reflects the past, the other captures the present.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just started looking at the environment I\u2019m in right now \u2014 how much it had changed from the time that I remember as a child coming up,\u201d he said, noting the importance of documenting history for a younger generation, including his 27 grandchildren.<\/p>\n
In one painting, Compton City Hall appears in its earlier utilitarian form alongside its redesigned facade: an impressive modern building with white, fin-like columns arranged to resemble a mountain, an ode to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s famous speech. Another depicts Compton High School as it once stood, contrasted with its newly rebuilt 31-acre campus, including a football field and a performing arts center funded in part by Compton native Dr. Dre.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Mr. Wash stands with two paintings from his latest exhibition, \u201cThe City of Compton: Then & Now,\u201d which opened at his studio in late March.<\/p>\n
(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The exhibition also serves a practical purpose: bringing art collectors into a city Mr. Wash says many have never visited \u2014 and encouraging them to invest in what comes next.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to create excitement,\u201d Deitch said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very unique situation where people can go and see the neighborhood, understand it better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deitch, who said he is a fan of both Mr. Wash\u2019s art and his dynamic personality, has helped the artist secure the Compton property by facilitating painting sales \u2014 which range from about $25,000 to $100,000 \u2014 while taking no commission.<\/p>\n
So far, the project has been largely self-funded through art sales and Mr. Wash\u2019s book, \u201cArtists in Space,\u201d a series of interviews with artists. But the gap between grassroots fundraising and a $15-million build remains formidable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we really need to do is inspire individuals [and] foundations to make a very substantial contribution,\u201d Deitch said.<\/p>\n
A civic vision<\/p>\n
Mr. Wash is not alone in reimagining how art can anchor civic infrastructure in Los Angeles County. Artist Lauren Halsey recently opened a large-scale sculpture park in South Los Angeles that similarly weaves together art, public space and community programming. In Compton, the approach is taking a different shape, one formed by Mr. Wash\u2019s own experience of incarceration and reentry.<\/p>\n
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A community arts wall at artist Fulton Leroy Washington\u2019s studio in Compton. The formerly incarcerated artist, known as Mr. Wash, invites members of the community to add their own art to the wall.<\/p>\n
(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Upcoming programming includes a spoken-word event on Saturday, a concert on April 18 and a closing-night party April 25 with a film screening and DJ set by the artist\u2019s son, Lil Wash. The goal, Mr. Wash said, is to create a place where people don\u2019t just view art, but participate in it.<\/p>\n
For now, he continues to build \u2014 piece by piece, event by event, painting by painting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis place should feel like kids playing under a water sprinkler on a hot summer day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the courtyard, that vision is already beginning to take shape.<\/p>\n
‘The City of Compton: Then & Now’<\/p>\n