Closed dairy mart gets new life as an art gallery

LOS ANGELES -- An art gallery promoting social justice has opened in a unique space - a closed down dairy mart.

Three graduates of USC's Roski MFA program, Patrisse Cullors, Noé Olivas, and Alexandre Dorriz have repurposed the Crenshaw Dairy Mart into an art gallery and studio.

However, the three co-founders said they want the space to be more than just an art gallery.

"The dairy mart is not just an art space, it's an activist space," said Cullors. "It's a space where we see the role of Inglewood and South Central as a critical part of the landscape of Los Angeles and, I would argue, the country."

Cullors, Olivas, and Dorriz took over the property in 2018 but didn't open up until February of 2020. They said they used the time to hold conversations and meetings with the people of the community.

"We didn't grow up in Inglewood," Cullors said. "So, we wanted to be really respectful about how we show up inside of Inglewood and on the Crenshaw Dairy Mart property in particular."

When the owners came into the property at the Crenshaw Dairy Mart they said they wanted to keep the name, the sign, essentially the essence of the space the same. They said they wanted to become a part of the community.

Visit www.crenshawdairymart.com for more.