





Project Description
An interconnected landscape of community members past, present and future come together to form linkages of life in the artwork Gifts of Freedom and Knowledge. Artist George Evans’ layered metal, multi-panel, photo montage celebrates South Los Angeles’ distinct personalities, landscapes, and cultural traditions with imagery that is deeply rooted in shared histories and personal ties. A mythical continuous stream winds through Magic Johnson Park alongside the local icons and characters who serve as hallmarks of a place in which the artist finds “home.” The foreground features Alice “Sweet Alice” Harris (founder, Parents of Watts), Rev. Dr. Sonja R. Dawson (pastor and women’s advocate, New Mt. Calvary Baptist Church) and Reginald Johnson (founder, Willowbrook Inclusion Network). These deeply engaged community members are representative of the many neighborhood guardians whose combined dedication underscores decades of advocacy in the surrounding neighborhoods across generations, particularly for children and young adults. These cyclical gifts of knowledge have flowed and adapted rhythmically to changing neighborhood demographics and needs. For Evans, this remains the solid and generous community nurtured his talents and allowed him to become what he is today — artist, teacher, mentor.
Artist Statement
"My role is that of a Shaman who reflects and expresses the life of the village."
About the Artist
GEORGE EVANS (b. Los Angeles, CA) was born in Watts and grew up on 89th Street in an artistic family that nurtured a love of art, books, music and nature. His brother is a jazz musician and one of his sisters, Wanda Coleman, was a renowned LA poet. George Evans’s mother wanted him to be a musician, but his heart was always set on visual art. Evans developed his craft from drawing, painting, printmaking and photography. Evans trained early in his father sign shop, Carter’s Printing, and Valentine Photography Studio and completed his Bachelor of Fine Art at the California Institute of the Arts at Chouinard. According to Evans, there were two important opportunities that informed his career: art classes in Watts after the rebellion in 1965 and a gift of LACMA membership from his mother. Evans has served nearly 2 decades as a professor of Graphic Design at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.
Locations: Willowbrook/Rosa Parks
- 7th St/Metro Center Station
- Metro Center Station
- Pico Station
- Grand/LATTC Station
- San Pedro St
- Vernon Station
- Slauson Station
- Florence Station
- Firestone Station
- 103rd St/Watts Towers
- Compton Station
- Artesia Station
- Del Amo Station
- Wardlow Station
- Willow St
- Anaheim St
- Fifth Street Station
- First Street Station
- Downtown Long Beach Station
- Pacific Av
- Washington Station
- Pacific Coast Highway
- Willowbrook/Rosa Parks
- A Line
- LATCC/Ortho Institute Station
- Jefferson/USC Station
- Expo/Vermont Station
- Expo/Western Station
- Expo/Crenshaw Station
- La Cienega/Jefferson Station
- Culver City Station
- Expo/La Brea Station
- Farmdale Station
- Palms Station
- Expo/Sepulveda Station
- Expo/Bundy Station
- 26th St/Bergamot Station
- 17th St/SMC Station
- Expo Park/USC Station
- Westwood/Rancho Park Station
- Downtown Santa Monica Station
- Allen Station
- Chinatown Station
- Del Mar Station
- Fillmore Station
- Heritage Square Station
- Lake Station
- Memorial Park Station
- Sierra Madre Villa Station
- South Pasadena
- Southwest Museum Station
- Highland Park Station
- Indiana Station
- Maravilla Station
- Mariachi Plaza Station
- Pico/Aliso Station
- Azusa Downtown Station
- Gold Line Bridge
- Alignment, Sierra Madre Villa Parking and Bus Facility
- Arcadia Station
- Duarte/City of Hope Station
- Irwindale Station
- Monrovia Station
- Atlantic Station
- East LA/Civic Center Station
- Little Tokyo/Arts District Station
- Lincoln/Cypress Station
- Union Station
- Soto Station
- APU/Citrus College Station
- Norwalk Station
- Lakewood Bl
- Harbor Freeway Station
- Vermont/Athens
- Aviation/LAX Station
- Mariposa Station
- El Segundo Station
- Douglas/Rosecrans Station
- Redondo Beach Station
- Long Beach Bl Station
- Florence/West Station
- Florence/La Brea Station
- Aviation/Century Station
- Avalon Station
- Hawthorne/Lennox
- Crenshaw/Vernon Station
- Crenshaw/MLK Station
- Crenshaw/Expo Station
- Florence/Hindry Station
- Willowbrook/Rosa Parks
- Crenshaw/Slauson Station
- Crenshaw/I-105 Station
- North Hollywood Station
- Van Nuys Station
- Valley College Station
- Woodman Station
- Sepulveda Station
- Woodley Station
- Balboa Station
- Reseda Station
- Tampa Station
- De Soto Station
- Canoga Station
- Alignment Landscaping
- Plaza and Alignment Lead Artist
- Chatsworth Station
- Nordhoff Station
- Roscoe Station
- Sherman Way Station
- Laurel Canyon Station
- Pierce College Station
- 7th St/Metro Center Station
- Metro Center Station
- Pershing Square Station
- Wilshire/Vermont Station
- Vermont/Beverly Station
- Vermont/Santa Monica Station
- Vermont/Sunset Station
- Hollywood/Vine Station
- Hollywood/Highland Station
- North Hollywood Station
- Universal City/Studio City Station
- Civic Center/Grand Park Station
- Hollywood/Western Station
- Union Station
- Westlake/MacArthur Park Station
Select Slideshow by Artist
- Abeles, Kim
- Abramovic, Karl
- Acedo, William
- Adams, Lisa
- Adelman, Suzanne
- Adobe LA,
- Aguirre, Jose Antonio
- Aldrich, Lynn
- Alejandre, Abel
- Almanza, Eric
- Ambriz, Kristina
- Amescua, Michael
- Anderson, Jonathan
- Andres, Holly
- Antonakos, Stephen
- Appleton, Steve
- Argote, Carmen
- Arion, Katherine
- Askin, Walter
- Aspillera, Diana
- Asselin, Michele
- Atienza, Jazmine
- Baca, Judith F.
- Ball-Nogues,
- Barajas, Daniel
- Bell, Bill
- Benavidez, Roberto
- Beniston, Christie
- Bey, April
- Birk, Sandow
- Borofsky, Jonathan
- Botello, Paul
- Brailsford, Robin
- Brandt, Matthew
- Braunstein, Terry
- Brown, Karen Hochman
- Callwood, Dennis Olanzo
- Campbell, Joyce
- Cardenas, Rafael
- Carlson, Cynthia
- Carron, Lindsay
- Chang, Chusien
- Cheng, Carl
- Clarke, Lee
- (CLUI), The Center for Land Use Interpretation
- Cockcroft, Eva
- Comen, Sam
- Cosentino, Manny
- Cranston, Meg
- Davis, Michael
- Davis, Caryl
- Debora , Fabian
- de la Loza, Alejandro
- de la Sota, Raoul
- de la Torre , Jamex and Einar
- Delgado, Roberto
- Delgado, Roberto L.
- De Magalhaes, Nzuji
- Dickson, Charles
- Diehnelt , Franka
- Dierdorff, Christofer C.
- Diez, Paul
- Disselkoen, Alexis
- Divola, John
- Dobrowner, Mitch
- Doolin, James
- Dowell, Roy
- Dreager, Jacqueline
- Duffy, Ricardo
- Durazo, Martin
- East Los Streetscapers,
- Eatherton, Thomas
- Edmonds, June
- Elliott, Marco
- Erenberg, Sam
- Evans, Cynthia
- Evans, George
- Fedak II, Nicholas
- Fernandez, Patricia
- Ferraz, Cat
- Fine, Jud
- Flick, Robbert
- Flores, Elsa
- Freeman , Charles (Brother Boko)
- Frieden, Sarajo
- Fu, Colette
- Gale, Gayle
- Galloway, Stephen
- Gamboa Jr., Harry
- Garcia, Willie
- Garcia, Margaret
- Garten, Cliff
- Gaulke, Cheri
- Gil de Montes, Roberto
- Gillespie Pryor, Jane
- Gleaton, Tony
- Glickman, Andrew Z.
- Goin, Peter
- Gonzales-Day, Ken
- Gonzalez, Daniel
- Goodin, Robert
- Goodpasture, Lynn
- Gray, Colin
- Gray, Ja'Rie
- Green, Phyllis
- Grimmer, Mineko
- Groh, Paul
- Gruda, Larry
- Guyton , Tyree
- Hanami, Clement
- Heller, Danny
- Hernandez, Bodeck Luna
- Hernandez, Judithe
- Hernandez, Alepsis
- Hido, Todd
- Hollen, David
- Holliday, Hadley
- Hood, Walter
- Hsiung, Michael C.
- Hu, Iris Yirei
- Huggins, John
- Humble, John
- Huynh, Phung
- Isermann, Jim
- JoeSam.,
- Johnson, Eric Ernest
- Johnson, Torgen
- Johnson, Stephen
- Jordan, Chris
- Kahn, Ned
- Karlsen, Anne Marie
- Kay Wilson, Mary
- Keller, Lois
- Kim, Soo
- Kimura, Wakana
- Klein, Sheila
- Kobayashi, Kipp
- Korten, Noel
- Kosaka, Hirokazu
- Kozloff, Joyce
- Kruger, Barbara
- Kunce, Samm
- Kyong, Haeley
- LaBelle, Charles
- LaDuke, Tom
- Lazzari, Margaret
- Legrady, George
- Leicester, Andrew
- Lenihan, Terry
- Leonard, Gary
- Lere, Mark
- Letelier, Francisco
- Lewis, Joe
- Light, Michael
- Lipski, Donald
- Llanos, Ronald J.
- Logoreci, Susan
- London, Laura
- Lopez, Jose
- Low, Sandra
- Loza, José M.
- Lozano, Jose
- Lujan, Gilbert (Magu)
- Lusby, Cody
- Mackendrick, Matthew
- Maguire, Cindy
- Maisel, David
- Mallinson, Constance
- Man One,
- Marble, Tom
- Marlos, Daniel
- Martin, Walter
- Martinez, Daniel J.
- Martínez, Michele
- Massenburg, Michael
- McCollister, Kevin
- McCoy, Jessica Polzin
- McHugh , Jim
- McMillen, Michael C.
- Mendoza, Ricardo
- Merge Conceptual Design,
- Meyer, Diane
- Middlebrook, Willie Robert
- Millar, Robert
- Mohr, Patrick
- Montana, Star
- Motokawa, Emi
- Mueller, Nikko
- Muñoz, Paloma
- Myklebust , Andrea
- Nagasawa, Nobuho
- Nagatani, Patrick
- Neilson, Rob
- Nguyen, Christine
- Nicholson, Roy
- Nielsen, Margaret
- Niemi, Ries
- O’Brien, John
- Ohmit, Mary Ann
- Olabisi, Noni
- Opie , Catherine
- Ore-Giron, Eamon
- Orlovski, Stas
- Ortiz (Ms. Yellow), Nuria
- Outterbridge, John
- Pace, Sam
- Perlas, Marta
- Petropoulos, Renée
- Pinkney, Elliott
- Polubinskas, Paul
- Polzin McCoy, Jessica
- Ramirez, Ramon
- Ramos, Vincent
- Reiquam, Peter
- Reisenberger, Claudia
- Reyes, Miguel Angel
- Ringgold, Faith
- Rivera, Aaron
- Rockwell, Roxene
- Rodriguez, Samuel
- Rodríguez, Artemio
- Roloff, John
- Romero, Sonia
- Romero, Frank
- Ross, LP Aekili
- Rothenberg, Erika
- Rowe, Sandra
- Salas, Roberto
- Saldamando , Shizu
- Salzwedel, Brooks
- Sandoval, Teddy
- Schoenholz, Elon
- Schoonhoven, Terry
- Sears, Stanton Gray
- Shin, Kyungmi
- Shire, Peter
- Sjodin, Kajsa
- Spector, Buzz
- Sproat, Christopher
- Statom, Therman
- Stone, George
- Strayhorn, Robin
- Stromsoe, Dawna
- Stutz, Michael
- Sun, May
- Syrop, Mitchell
- Tang, Cha-Rie
- Tark, Soonae
- Thielen, Beth
- Torrez, Eloy
- Trevino, John
- Turner, Richard
- Tzanetopoulos, Paul
- Ulke, Christine
- Valadez, John
- Valdez, Patssi
- Vander Borgh, Matthew
- Van Patten, Dave
- Vaugel, Martine
- Vaughan, Stuart
- Waddell, Edith
- Warner, Pat
- Washington, Horace
- Weber, Sally
- White, Pae
- Willcocks, Angela
- Williams, Pat Ward
- Wilson, Stanley C.
- Wyatt, Richard