{"id":448223,"date":"2026-08-30T18:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T18:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/448223\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T18:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T18:24:14","slug":"today-leimert-boulevard-and-43rd-pl-to-be-renamed-ben-caldwell-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/448223\/","title":{"rendered":"Today! Leimert Boulevard and 43rd Pl to be renamed “Ben Caldwell Square”"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Sunday, August 30, Leimert Park celebrates the 81st birthday of visionary filmmaker and member of the L.A. Rebellion<\/a>, multimedia artist, innovator, and educator extraodinaire Ben Caldwell with the official designation of \u201cBen Caldwell Square\u201d at the intersection of Leimert Boulevard and 43rd Place \u2013 home to the KAOS Network, Caldwell\u2019s community arts incubator.<\/p>\n

Tenth District Councilmember Heather Hutt proposed the dedication last August, just as Caldwell turned 80, to honor the man some have referred to as the Father of Leimert Park. Because the motion did not get approved by Council until last October, the ceremony was set for 9:30 a.m. on his birthday this year<\/a> (TODAY!).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In a recent conversation, Caldwell confessed he\u2019s still not sure how he feels about the all the attention \u2013 which now also includes an afternoon of performances and activities in honor of \u201cBen Caldwell Day\u201d (a separate celebration spearheaded by the No Name Society) \u2013 being so focused on himself. But he is pleased about what it all means for his family legacy. \u201cIt is something they will be proud of,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The modesty is genuine. Caldwell\u2019s preoccupation with how a spotlight can be leveraged to shine for and on others is a hallmark of who he is. It is also fundamental to the work that has made him so revered.<\/p>\n

His films, which his former student, filmmaker Arthur Jafa, has likened to cinematic jazz, endeavored to offer Black viewers, in particular, new ways of seeing themselves, new possibilities for connection, and new avenues for liberation.<\/p>\n

And even since its earliest days, back when it was known as Video 3333, Caldwell\u2019s KAOS Network has been about creating safe and nurturing spaces for others to connect, sharpen their pens, hone their talents, and imagine new ways of seeing the world. <\/p>\n

In the 1980s, his \u201cI-Fresh\u201d creative workshops<\/a>, where he trained South Central youth in film production and given them space to perform, helped establish KAOS as an incubator for hip hop and artistic experimentation. In doing so, Caldwell opened the doors for the Hollywatts Posse, a theatrical performing arts troupe described as \u201cradically Black and diasporic in tone and subject matter<\/a>,\u201d Project Blowed<\/a>, the world-renowned underground open mic workshop from which so many legendary hip hop talents emerged, Bananas<\/a>, the long-running eclectic musical showcase, and so many others to all find a home, collaborators, inspiration, and community.<\/p>\n

But he did not stop at transforming his corner. <\/p>\n

He co-founded the monthly and ever-evolving Leimert Park Artwalk<\/a> in 2010. That same year, with L.A. Commons and artist Najite Agindotan, he cofounded the<\/a> Festival of Masks<\/a> \u2014 a powerful annual celebration that reaches across the generations, continents, and spiritual realms to unite the vast identities of Africa and the African diaspora<\/a> (more on that event coming soon!).<\/p>\n

\"\"From the archives: SHINE Muwasi lead the way around Leimert Park Village in celebration of the ancestors in 2017. Sahra Sulaiman\/Streetsblog L.A.<\/p>\n

He was a leader in the transformation of 43rd Place into a performance<\/a>\/gathering space<\/a> and people\u2019s plaza. The project also served as an anchor for the larger \u201c20\/20 Vision\u201d<\/a> Caldwell and other stakeholders developed to make the Village a more supportive hub for Black creatives and diasporic connections while safeguarding it against cultural, demographic, and economic erasure.<\/p>\n

\"\"From the archives: In 2015, the newly completed People St Plaza, which Caldwell recruited local artists to help design, quickly became an essential space for community celebrations, music, dance, poetry, and performance. Sahra Sulaiman\/Streetsblog L.A.<\/p>\n

In 2013, he co-founded the Leimert Phone Company<\/a>. The unique collaboration between Caldwell, researchers from USC\u2019s Annenberg Innovation Lab, and artists from Leimert Park began as an effort to transform abandoned payphones into portals to the past, present, and future<\/a>. The project eventually took Caldwell and his collaborators around the globe to give talks on how to repurpose street furniture for a more interactive, culturally-relevant, and community-serving public space. And in 2017, they turned their attention to autonomous vehicles \u2013 envisioning an Afro-futurist-driven way to provide free transportation, wi-fi connections, and community lore<\/a> in and around Leimert Park \u2013 and to laying the virtual foundation for Sankofa City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Caldwell was also one of the thought leaders consulted for Destination Crenshaw \u2013 the 1.3-mile-long open-air museum using art and infrastructure<\/a> to tell the stories of the historically Black community and mark Crenshaw Boulevard as an unapologetically Black space.<\/p>\n

\"\"Early mock ups of the autonomous micro shuttle included interactive displays providing riders with information about historic figures and places in the community. Screenshot from the video produced by Karl Baumann and Ben Caldwell<\/a>. <\/p>\n

And these are just the things that I\u2019ve personally had the privilege of covering for Streetsblog over the last decade-plus. There\u2019s so, so much more \u2013 so many more artists he has mentored, so many more art forms he has influenced, so many more practices he has helped shape. <\/p>\n

But Ben shows no sign of slowing down. <\/p>\n

During our conversation on Friday, he was already looking ahead to 2028, and the special role Leimert Park will play in welcoming African nations and the larger diaspora during the L.A. Olympics. He\u2019d been part of the Electronic Cafe<\/a> during the 1984 Olympics, using then-new technology to connect people across the city via art. And he\u2019d traveled with other community leaders to Paris in 2024<\/a> to deepen diaspora connections, exchange strategies in creative placemaking, and cultivate global partnerships ahead of 2028. He was eager to see the communities come together in ways that showcased Leimert Park\u2019s cultural significance and uplifted the very people that had made it so special. <\/p>\n

\"\"Ben Caldwell envisioning the future at KAOS. Sahra Sulaiman\/Streetsbo<\/p>\n

He also had one or more book projects in mind. <\/p>\n

There is, of course, already a fantastic book about his life in art \u2013 the absolutely extraordinary KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Ark of Ben Caldwell <\/a>(2023) by Robeson Taj Frazier, USC Professor of Communication and director of IDEA<\/a> (the Institute for Difference and Empowerment in the Arts). But there were so many more stories, generational threads, musical threads, and connections between Indigenous, Black, and other communities to explore, Caldwell insisted.<\/p>\n

Besides, he said, the first book hadn\u2019t been so much about him as it was about laying out a roadmap for others to build their own arks<\/a> and carry each other forward. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve always tried to do,\u201d he said, both of the blueprints he had laid and the ones he was still drawing up. \u201cI\u2019ve always made it so other people could copy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Join in the dedication celebration today, at the corner of Leimert Blvd and 43rd Place, at 9:30 a.m. Stick around for a full day of performances and art honoring Caldwell, starting at noon. <\/p>\n