STOP ARTIST EVICTIONS

AT 800 TRACTION

AVENUE!

The Demands of the Residents of 800 Traction Ave.

1. Stop the evictions and let the residents stay in their homes! They have nowhere else to go, and they are not being offered any relocation assistance!

2. Recognize the history of Japanese Americans and the contributions of the current residents who have been a major part of the Arts District and Little Tokyo! Oppose the Cultural Heritage Commission historical designation that erases this history!

3. Protect the arts and culture of the Arts District and Little Tokyo! Preserve one of the last remaining community arts spaces in the Arts District! What is the Arts District without artists?

4. Stop gentrifying and displacing our communities! If this building is flipped, it will impact the entire community and your rents will rise too!

800 Traction Ave. and the Growth of the Arts District

• Residents of 800 Traction Ave. have played an important role in the growth of the Arts District. Before the Arts District was a district at all, it was considered an unsafe community of mostly abandoned warehouses. In the early 1990s, Traction residents formed the Traction Ave. Community Watch and volunteered to patrol the neighborhood. This is just one of the residents’ many efforts for self-determination and community-building.

• The Arts District was formed in part because of artists like those in 800 Traction Ave. By the 1960s, many of the manufacturing companies consolidated or closed down, and left many of the warehouses east of downtown empty. In the 1980s, the City of LA realized artists were converting these abandoned warehouses into art studios and lofts. Rather than kicking them out, the City saw an opportunity to use the arts to grow the community. The Artist in Residence Act (1982) and Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (1992) relaxed zoning restrictions and allowed for the conversion of pre-1974 industrial buildings into live-work lofts. 800 Traction Ave. is one of the first building to receive the Artist in Residence designation, marked by a hazardous diamond sign with the letter “A” for artist.

CALL TO ACTION:We need your help! Support efforts to stop artist

evictions at 800 Traction Ave. now!

Follow and share on social media! Attend our events and actions!

@standwith800traction @artistsdistrict

Sign the petition:https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-

evictions-at-800-traction-avenue.html

Oppose the historical designation by the Cultural Heritage Commision (CHC) of the City of LA!

DLJ’s application erases the history of Japanese Americans and artists from the building!

Attend the hearing: Thursday, October 5, 2017 from 10am-12pm, LA City Hall, 200 S. Spring St. (enter on Main St.). Attendees are welcome to speak for 2 minutes by filling out the request

form available from staff.

Attend organizer meetings: Tuesdays from 6-8pm at the Japanese American

Cultural & Community Center 244 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles

Arrange for the artists and tenants to speak at your events!

What important CULTURAL ASSETS are located within 800 Traction Ave.? • Japanese American National Museum storage

• Archive of artist Matsumi Kanemitsu (1922-1992)

• Gemini G.E.L art archive

• Community art space

• Space for mentorship and continuing artists’ legacies

• According to DLJ’s application for the building to become a Historical-Cultural Monument:

The Joannes Brothers Company Building is significant in the context of the history of industrial development in Los Angeles for its association with the food processing industry and in the context of architecture as an excellent example of an early 20th century industrial loft.

Who are the building owners and why do they want to evict the tenants?Donaldson, Lufkin and Jennrette, DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners (DLJ-CS) is a large New York developer led by Credit Suisse executives. They want to evict the tenants solely in order to make a profit, likely turn the building into a multi-use facility with a restaurant.

They have applied to the Cultural Heritage Commission of LA for a “historic building designation,” using the fact that the building was once a famed coffee company. If they are awarded this status, DLJ will benefit with tax breaks and increased property value; however, DLJ’s “history” excludes 60 years of the most recent history of the artists in the building, the role they played in the development of the now internationally known “Arts District,” and their contributions as a part of the Little Tokyo community.

DLJ-CS has arguably one of the worst human rights and criminal records of any company. They were convicted for felony conspiracy tax evasion by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2014. One of its executives was jailed for playing a key role in causing the 2008 financial meltdown. CS faces charges in Italy for laundering drug cartel money, was convicted in Japan for assisting and covering up corporate crime, and was sued for its investments in the former apartheid government of South Africa, among many other scandals. DLJ-Credit Suisse should not receive perks from the city for continuing their criminal record by evicting artists from the Arts District and Japanese Americans from Little Tokyo.

THE BUILDING’S HISTORY The seller, Rollins & Rollins, owned the properties, which comprise a total 15 units and 65,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, since 1978. Built in 1918, the main five-story property, at 800 Traction Avenue, originally housed the Ben-Hur coffee and spice factory and was designed by Los Angeles architect John Parkinson. The adjacent two-story building, at 810 Traction Avenue, also served industrial tenants. In the 1980s, both structures were converted to the artist-in-residence lofts that our community leaders are now being evicted from. In 1916, he designed what is currently another AIR residential loft building still emblazoned with names of its former occupants: Joannes Brothers Company and Angeles Desk Co. Located at 800 Traction Ave., it also formerly housed Ben-Hur Products, Inc., a California-based producer of coffee, spices, extracts, tea and desserts, which was acquired by McCormick in 1953.

The building at 800 Traction Ave. dates back to 1916, when the Joannes Brothers Company commissioned famed architect John Parkinson to build a facility to house their coffee, tea and spices. The building later held desks for Angeles Desk Company before being converted into artist-in-residence lofts in the ’80s. For her, the building’s transfer from the previous owners — Rollins & Rollins, two brothers who owned the building since 1978 — to the New York financial behemoth is part of larger a shift that has changed the complexion of Little Tokyo, too.

DLJ filed an application for “historical-cultural monument” status with the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission through Clarett West Development, the same firm that handled the Taft Building restoration. The building “reflects the broad cultural, economic or social history of the nation, state or community,” the application states. It is unclear how much DLJ would receive to retrofit the building’s exterior but it is clear that the city should not let them profit off of artist evictions.

These most recent evictions are part of three waves of displacement and redevelopment that historically impacted

the Japanese American and Little Tokyo community:

1942 - 1946: WWII Japanese American concentration camps1952: Civic Center expansion, eminent domain of a whole block of Little

Tokyo for the LAPD headquarters (now known as the Parker Center)

1970 - 1980s: Displacement and evictions by Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA/LA) and Japanese real estate investment

And now the fourth wave: Little Tokyo and the Arts District are faced with the redevelopment of downtown as well as the rise of transit-oriented development sparked by the new Metro Regional

Connector and West Santa Ana Branch.

TRACTION AVENUE COMMUNITY WATCH

Mark Oberhofer, Cabu Michaud, L.A.P.D.Sgt, George Rollins, Joel Bloom, Raymond Newton, Qathryn Brehm, Bunny Rollins, August 31, 1993

The Traction Avenue Community Watch group was formed in 1993 after the L.A. Riots to walk the neighborhood every Thursday. The L.A.P.D. gave us a female armed officer to walk with us as protection. Cab drivers would not pick you up on this side of Alameda, pizza parlors would not deliver here for years. The artist inhabited buildings were plagued by criminal groups who had master keys to mailboxes and were stealing mail from the buildings. It took years to get to the bottom of this. Al’s Punk Rock/Art Bar on Hewitt was across from 800 Traction. After it closed at 2 a.m. on weekends, there would be crowds of people on the street drinking, fighting, breaking bottles. Kurt Cobain and Billy Idol played there long there before they were well known.

p.s. Joel Bloom, http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/14/local/me-bloom14p.p.s. Joel took over the abandoned store in 1993.

we've had weddings, birthdays, parties and more parties

people died there and we celebrated

bbq's graduation and holiday parties, gallery openings and more parties

we used to hang lights from the corners of the building at christmas time

it looked like a big cake

we had tea parties - east meets west that was featured in the la times

we had nisei week art shows

we created and worked, made art and celebrated life

we made kazari's for tanabata

did tours for different groups and organizations

installed art installations in little tokyo

set-up pop-up galleries in the korean market, support korean/japanese relations in the community

participated in art exhibits and auctions for all the nonprofits in little tokyo

judged art contests for the city and state

—Nancy Uyemura

NANCY UYEMURAI’ve been in the building for 34 years.

At one time, I had three spaces (#6, #9, and the first floor and basement space) that I used as a studio, gallery, and work and storage space for Mrs. Gooch’s natural food stores where I was the Director of Visual Communications. I would make Thanksgiving dinner for all the Japanese artists in the neighborhood and do a big New Year’s Day celebration for 60-70 people. I’ve had great parties here—birthday parties and live music and good food and yummy punch—and amazing shows in the gallery. I would hire local artists to help with the decor for the markets and we’d eat late dinners of pizza with the crew. Once, the Little Tokyo Koban crew did a stake out in the gallery space to see if they could see who was breaking into Maryknoll!

JAIMEE ITAGAKI I have lived in 800 traction ave #3 for 20 years [3 is my lucky number! My favorite memory of living in 800 traction was the day I got married in 2005. My husband and I were very late-in-life married for the 1st time, both of us. He and I lived together for 3 years at 800 traction before deciding to get married.

We had thought about which venue suited us best for our marriage site and thought why not get married there! The coolest building in the Arts District! What about getting married on the roof of the building because it has a beautiful view of the LA skyline-everyone wearing fancy outfits with flip flops? Why flip flops? Because the roof had a very soft surface and hard shoes would damage it + it might be dangerous and a liability, and we knew the landlord would not allow it because of that. And so it was that he said no.

But then, as luck would have it, our neighbor who lived on the 4th floor had a loft space which has a spectacular view of the LA skyline, offered to share his space for this auspicious occasion! This space in the past housed the Gallery IV, which was owned by residents of 800 Traction: Nancy Uyemura, Matsumi Kanemitsu, and 2 artists from Japan! I was fortunate to curate an art exhibit there! So the history was all there. My history.

We were married on April 16, 2005 by Rinban Noriaki Ito who is the head priest at Higashi Hongangi Temple on 3rd street in Little Tokyo. A live jazz trio played that day [and I mean old school- real deal-amazing-straight ahead jazz], Scott Nagatani played piano, and my brother sang the Hawaiian wedding song acapella for us! All the resident neighbors of the building were there-100 friends and family, music, pink champagne, laughter, love and happy tears of joy, flowed throughout the day.

BRUCE YONEMOTOI’ve been at 800 Traction since 1999.

My favorite memory at the building is celebrating the opening of my retrospective at the Japanese American National Museum.

MILES HAMADA

STANLEY BADEN24-YEAR RESIDENT OF 810 TRACTION AVE #15 In January of 1996, I was working with artist Lynda Benglis on a series of prints for PRINT Press of the University of North Texas at 810 Traction. I left the front door that is on Traction Avenue open in order to allow Lynda to experience the vibe of Traction. As we were discussing the prints and she was telling me of her intentions, we heard footsteps and two voices coming into the studio from off of the street. When I looked up, I saw the actor/artist Dennis Hopper and an assistant walk into the studio. Mr. Hopper loudly said “hey man, are you doing silkscreens here?” He was working on the film The Last Days of Freddie the Fly. Aiko served him and his assistant tea and they stayed for a considerable time visiting with Lynda and looking at the prints I had on the walls that we had done with other artists. Eventually, they were called back for shooting but returned later to visit more.

I’ve spent 24 years at #15, 800 / 810 Traction Ave.

My sweetest memory is the quiet weekends and nights. Dodger Stadium used to shoot fireworks after some special games, and we would stand in the middle of the street to watch them.

AIKO BADEN

MARK OBERHOFERArt lessons : Sam Francis Santa Monica 1985 : Ed Moses Santa Monica 1986Resident since ........................................ 1991Artist since ....................................... .....2000(photography,painting,film.sculpture Los Angeles Film School ....................... 2003

HIROMICHI KAMATA& MOTHERI lived in 800 Traction from 1991 to 1994 and then from 1999 to the present day.

In the mid to late ‘80s, Ms. Uyemura (Nancy) had a studio on the first floor and she was designing the shop window displays for Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Market and others. At one time she was working in the loading dock with its shutter wide open so I could see her and her assistants making objects for display. Soon, I ended up helping them and that’s how I started my relationship with this building and its tenants. I was much younger then and remember those days as some of my happiest days.

What is an “Arts District” without artists?

What would Little Tokyo be without Japanese Americans?

Follow @ArtistsDistrict on Facebook & Instagram

E-mail: standwith800traction@gmail.com

In partnership with Sustainable Little Tokyo & the Japanese American National Museum

Zine team: Audrey Chan, Keshy Jeong, Andie Kimura, Taliah Mancini, Taiji Miyagawa, Scott Oshima