Act on it! Community Writing

January 23, 2026

a few people at a table writing

The Vincent Price Art Museum, in collaboration with Writ Large Projects, presented three public programs that encouraged visitors to create their own work, inspired by the exhibition Act On It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles. 

Rooted in the themes of the exhibit—visibility, empowerment, and cultural affirmation—this community writing project captures moments of creation, reflection, and dialogue. Through writing prompts and activities, this programming centered around questions like: How does art respond to social issues? And how has art been used to create community? Communal writing events transform individual expression into shared experience. They build bonds across communities, spark new conversations, and create spaces where participants see themselves and each other reflected in words and stories.

As lead collaborator, Writ Large Projects brings its ethos of amplifying marginalized voices and challenging systems that have historically erased communities of color. By preserving and sharing these works, the archive ensures that these voices continue to resonate—documenting not only artistic creativity but the enduring power of storytelling as an act of cultural affirmation and collective care.

The programs focused on poetry as a powerful medium to engage with the exhibition because of the ways in which poetry can bend language and change meaning. In this way, poetry can challenge us to stretch our imaginations: and to change and bend conditions that are inadequate and unjust. 

During the exhibition’s run, we invited attendees to share written responses to a number of prompts during three separate events. We invite you to read these reflections below, as part of our community writing project. 

As part of the Act on It! opening reception on Saturday, September 27, 2025, attendees were invited to reflect on the exhibition’s themes through a public archiving session led by Writ Large Projects and facilitated by writer Ernest Hardy. 

You can read these writings below: 

a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper

On November 13, we hosted another program featuring a blackout poetry activity facilitated by poet and artist Rebecca Gonzales. Blackout poetry refers to the practice of taking an existing text and blacking out certain portions, creating a new text from the remaining phrases and sentences. 

That same evening, Ernest Hardy presented a multimedia lecture investigating the many dimensions of Black erasure (collective, historical, structural, and cultural) through an incisive mix of film clips, literature, music, and social media. 

You can see the blackout poetry that community members created below: 

a photograph of a blackout poem with black markings
a photograph of a blackout poem with markings
a photograph of a blackout poem with markings
a photograph of a blackout poem with markings
a photograph of a blackout poem with markings
a photograph of a blackout poem with markings
a photograph of a blackout poem with markings
a photograph of a blackout poem with markings

On December 6, we presented an afternoon of poetry and close engagement with the exhibition. The program began with an ekphrastic poetry workshop, where poet Rebecca Gonzales guided participants in writing poems inspired by artworks on view.

Read the ekphrastic poems below: 

a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper
a photograph of a poem on a lined sheet of paper

Acknowledgements

Act On It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in collaboration with the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College; Riverside Art Museum; Lancaster Museum of Art and History; and California State University, Northridge, Art Galleries.

Local Access is a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by LACMA as part of the Art Bridges Initiative.

All exhibitions at the Vincent Price Art Museum are underwritten by the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation and East Los Angeles College.

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