Destination Crenshaw, a $100 million initiative that will transform a 1.3-mile stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles into a business, art, and cultural corridor in celebration of Black LA, has announced the artists commissioned to create permanent outdoor artworks. The initiative is featuring artists at every career stage who are closely connected to the Black community of South LA.

The cohort includes Charles Dickson, Melvin Edwards, Maren Hassinger, Artis Lane, Alison Saar, Kehinde Wiley, and Brenna Youngblood. This is the inaugural group out of the 100 artists who will create works for the public-private initiative—the largest commissioned project ever undertaken for Black artists. This initial group will create sculptures, including a monument by Wiley, for Sankofa Park, a public gathering space being created for the project, and for other sites within the Destination Crenshaw route. 

Destination Crenshaw expects to submit designs by the artists in October 2021 for review and approval by the City of Los Angeles’ Cultural Affairs Commission. In addition, the corridor will feature architectural and streetscape designs by Perkins&Will, landscape design by Studio-MLA, and augmented reality storytelling by Gallagher & Associates. 

“Destination Crenshaw is a community-led project, initiated in the conviction that residents of one of the world’s largest and most creative Black neighborhoods deserve to live in a beautiful, green, artistically impressive and economically strong environment,” said Jason W. Foster, president and chief operating officer of Destination Crenshaw in a statement. “As we move toward submitting the first designs to the City, we are committed to creating a permanent place for Black people in Los Angeles. We look forward to strengthening the connection between the community and these exceptional artists, all of whom have been, in some way, nurtured and inspired by the Crenshaw neighborhood.”