Ghetto Film School + Huntington Partnership

Everywhere & Nowhere (2023)

Ubiquitous, yet nonexistent. Idolized, yet ostracized. Sanctified, yet demonized.

Inspired by The Huntington’s collections and reflecting on the theme of “Everywhere & Nowhere,” the GFS Fellows constructed Visual Portraits of a person, place, or thing that exists uniquely in their world, examining the things around them with humility, respect, naive curiosity, and—above all—love. What does it mean to be everywhere and nowhere? With the acquisition of Mercedes Dorame’s Smoke to Water in the “Borderlands” exhibition and the inclusion of Njideka Akunyili Crosby The Beautyful Ones, the class theme, “Everywhere & Nowhere,” correlates to the dualities of erasure and preservation within a society, culture, and urban history.

Nuestro Pueblo (2022)

Nuestro Pueblo was inspired by the “Borderlands” exhibition in The Huntington’s Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art. “Nuestro Pueblo” references the foundational Indigenous, Californio and Spanish settlements from which Los Angeles got its name: “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles” or “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels.” The 2022 series focuses on the importance of preserving and documenting our city through a lens in order to understand the rich, diverse, and complex cultural fabric of Los Angeles.

Reimagining Portraiture (2021)

In 2021, “Reimagining Portraiture” inspired students to immerse themselves in an in-depth study of portraiture via the work of artist Kehinde Wiley and the Grand Manner Portraiture in the Huntington’s European Art Collections. 

Portraits in Light (2021)

The 2020 inaugural project in the series, “Portraits in Light” focused on The Huntington’s Jonathan and Karin Fielding Collection of Early American Art. Students conceptualized, planned, and shot 17 moving image self-portraits inspired by the collection.