The East Los Angeles building that houses Self Help Graphics and Art has been secretly on the list of properties the Catholic Archdiocese planned to sell off to pay off the $660 million dollar settlement. Self Help was founded by Catholic nun Sister Karen Boccalero over 35 years ago, and the non-profit organization was notified that the Catholic Archdiocese sold the building to an undisclosed private real estate and investment company, according to the press release.
A 10am press conference and community meeting is set for Friday, July 11 at Self Help Graphics & Art (3802 Cesar Chavez Avenue). More from the release after the jump.
As long as the organization continued to fulfill the mission of advancing Chicano and Latino art and developing local and emerging artists, the Sisters of St. Francis, Mount Alverno agreed to allow Self Help Graphics & Art to use the building.
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Earlier this year Self Help board members were told that the building was not on the list of sites to be sold as part of the Archdiocese's attempt to raise funds to pay the settlement to individuals who successfully sued the church for sexual abuse.
The Archdiocese did not notify Self Help that the building was for sale or pending sale. "Given our organization's close history with the Catholic Church, we are shocked and dismayed that not only were we not afforded the opportunity to purchase the building, this deal was conceived in secrecy," said Armando Durón, Self Help Graphics & Arts board of directors president.
In other words, because Cardinal McIntyre covered up years of sexual abuse by priests, the whole city gets to lose Self-Help Graphics. Great! It's like disemboweling the Times in order to cover Zell's debts. Ain't American capitalism grand?
Posted by: John Shannon | July 11, 2008 at 05:17 PM