LIBRARY FOUNDATION OF LOS ANGELES AND LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY ANNOUNCE NEW EXHIBITION ON HUMAN CONNECTION TITLED SOMETHING IN COMMON

(Los Angeles, CA – April 11, 2022) — The Library Foundation of Los Angeles (LFLA) and the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) today announce a new major exhibition and program series called Something in Common, highlighting the ways we form community. The exhibition will run from May 7 through November 6, 2022.

Exploring unique connections, Something in Common is an examination and celebration of the ideas, interests, and beliefs that bring us together and what we can create or accomplish collectively. Through the stories of fascinating and sometimes surprising social clubs and unique organizations, this exhibition will highlight the importance of finding common ground and points of connection. It will recognize the role of the public library as a critical gathering place, not only serving communities, but also creating community.

The major exhibition will be presented at Central Library in downtown Los Angeles along with a citywide program series at various LAPL branches and a highlight of the Wellcome Trust’s major international cultural program about mental health, called Mindscapes. Combining diverse perspectives and expertise, the Mindscapes program brings together culture, communities, policy, and research to reflect on how we understand, address, and talk about mental health.

“Over the past two years, we have been forced to reconsider our relationship to public space, compelled to physically isolate ourselves, and left wondering how and when we can come back together,” said Todd Lerew, the Library Foundation’s Director of Special Projects. “The library has always served as a place of belonging and the sharing of ideas, and we hope the stories of the groups featured in this exhibition will inspire visitors to consider their own affiliations, where they find a sense of community, and the ways we can connect with others in a city as vast as Los Angeles.”

Highlights of this wide-ranging exhibition will include:

• Christine Wong Yap and Mindscapes: new work commissioned from visual artist Christine Wong Yap that will celebrate the Los Angeles Public Library as a place of belonging by highlighting library-based clubs and groups such as the Persian Poetry Forum, Teen Councils, and Health Matters Book Club. Yap is a social practitioner whose work often explores psychological wellbeing such as belonging, resilience, interdependence, and collaboration. This commission is organized in collaboration with Wellcome Trust and Yap as Artist-in-Residence At Large. It is part of Mindscapes, Wellcome’s international cultural program about mental health.

• The Los Angeles Black Underwater Explorers: a SCUBA diving club dedicated to expanding access, knowledge, and enjoyment among African Americans in a sport where some had previously been made to feel they didn’t belong.

• The Feminist Center for Creative Work: a membership-based organization supporting and promoting intersectional feminist artists and creatives, building community and a network of engagement and opportunity to share work and ideas.

• The Baseball Reliquary: a non-profit “dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime’s unparalleled creative possibilities.”

• The Cloud Appreciation Society: a group that brings together people who love the sky, with members in 120 countries around the world, united in the belief that clouds are the most dynamic, evocative, and poetic aspect of nature.

• The Los Angeles Breakfast Club: a storied club that has met on the edge of Griffith Park every Wednesday morning for nearly a century, devoted to friendship and hospitality, and featuring rituals, lectures, performances, and sing-alongs with breakfast.

• South El Monte Arts Posse: a collective of artists, writers, urban planners, educators, scholars, ecologists, swap meet vendors, and youth engaging with the El Monte and South El Monte community through public history and arts-based projects.

• LA Community Cookbook Archive: a project by artist Suzanne Joskow, inviting interaction with a collection of hundreds of community cookbooks representing social organizations across Los Angeles County over the last 100 years.

• Roller Pigeon Clubs: organized groups—mostly men of color—dedicated to the acrobatic Birmingham Roller Pigeon, known for doing backflips mid-flight. Members raise these birds for competition, often crediting the hobby for keeping them off the streets.

• 29 Palms Historical Society’s Annual Weed Show: in an area often seen as barren, this community event brings together diverse groups for a friendly competition using displays of the local high desert flora—“weeds.”

• Microscopical Society of Southern California: dedicated to the science, art, and history of microscopy, MSSC offers both professionals and amateurs a space to share their passion for the microscope and its discoveries.

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ Special Projects play a unique role in advancing the mission of attracting support for and excitement about the Los Angeles Public Library. Past projects have explored topics ranging from LA restaurant history and food insecurity to how people leave their mark on the city. In 2018–19, the Library Foundation produced 21 Collections at Central Library’s Getty Gallery, visited by more than 44,000 people. Exhibition Curator and Director of Special Projects Todd Lerew visited over 600 museums, libraries, and private collections for that exhibition, and has taken a similarly expansive approach for Something in Common, joining or visiting more than 100 unique clubs and organizations across Los Angeles.

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About the Library Foundation of Los Angeles
The Library Foundation of Los Angeles supports the Los Angeles Public Library in its effort to provide all 3.8 million Angelenos with equitable access to thousands of free programs, resources, and services. Through fundraising, advocacy, and innovative programs, the Library Foundation strengthens the library’s commitment to educate and empower every individual in our city’s diverse communities. At the Foundation, we are committed to keeping the library thriving for generations to come and to providing all Angelenos with the tools to enrich and improve their lives. For more information, please visit lfla.org.

About the Los Angeles Public Library
A recipient of the nation’s highest honor for library service—the National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services—the Los Angeles Public Library serves the largest and most diverse urban population of any library in the nation. Its Central Library, 72 branch libraries, a collection of more than 6 million books, state-of-the-art technology accessible at lapl.org, and more than 18,000 public programs a year provide everyone with free and easy access to information and the opportunity for lifelong learning.