Huntington displays artwork from East Los Angeles high school

The Huntington Library this week debuted an unusual collection: The work was created on the streets of East Los Angeles and the artists have yet to graduate from high school.

More than 100 photographic portraits of students from Esteban E. Torres High School will be featured on a 1,000-foot fence covering the construction of the Huntington Library’s Education and Visitor Center.

Three of the five academies on the Torres campus partnered with the Huntington as part of its “2nd Campus� program, which aims to use the institution’s collections as a way for schools to increase awareness of the range of career paths in the arts, humanities and botanical science.

The work will be on display through early 2015, when construction of the center is expected to be complete.

“That is the kind of work that inspires us to be what we hope is a model for other institutions,� said Catherine Allgor, director of the Huntington’s Education and Visitor Center.

The program proves “you can have a much greater impact on student’s lives than just having a school bus tour,� Allgor said.

The project made the students think about their community and see it through a different lens as they composed their images, said Joan Dooley media arts teacher at Humanitas Academy of Art and Technology, one of the participating academies.

SEE: The photographs on display at the Huntington in our Framework Gallery

“It’s rare … this confluence of cultures that hardly ever cross,� Dooley said. “Seeing how these kids connected with members of their community [and others at the Huntington], it’s great to see those lines disappearing between places and people.�

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