Highland Park's North Figueroa Bookshop teams up with Homeboy Art Academy

At the North Figueroa Bookshop in Highland Park, some of the most interesting stories aren't on the shelves.

They're lining the walls.

The bookstore has teamed with Homeboy Art Academy for an art exhibition, "Visualizing the Future." Inside the store's recently expanded gallery space, the exhibit features photography, cyanotype and graphic arts by artists and creators aged 18 to 25.

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The diverse set of images ranges from street scenes and downtown landscapes to flower blossoms and a bearded dragon lounging on a lawn.

"Part of the mission and vision at the Homeboy Art Academy is to bring community together and to invite folks to help us, because this is a community effort,” says Fabian Debora, the artist, executive director, and founder of Homeboy Art Academy. "We work with gang-involved, criminally incarcerated young men and women who only want access … and we provide access to the arts as a way to receive them as they are for who they are and nurture their gifts and their talents."

"The truth is in these photographs, the truth is in their narratives. And that’s how we begin to bring people together and remove any misconceptions, misunderstandings,” says Debora, the recipient of a 2024 NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award.

During the show's May 9 opening, artists and attendees viewed the art, listened to music from Music Heals, and sampled some of the food vendors outside. The event seemed like an ideal fit for the bookstore, which incorporates hand-painted art on the front of the building.

Chris Heiser, publisher of Unnamed Press, which co-owns the bookstore with Tyson Cornell of Rare Bird Books, said that using the space to bring art and the community together had long been a goal.

"When we expanded North Figueroa Bookshop into a gallery space as well, our vision was to create an opportunity for members of the community and artists to participate. Not just in a literary culture, but culture at large, and part of that was through art," he says.

Heiser recalls that years ago, when he was working as a bookseller at Skylight Books, he first met Jesuit priest and Homeboy Industries founder Father Greg Boyle during an event for one of his books.

"I followed Homeboy for years, and then when we finally had the gallery space, I reached out and just suggested that we work together," he says, marveling at how the event came together so fast. "Their energy is incredible. They just make stuff happen; that's what they do."

Sophia Cervantes, an artist and student at El Camino College who helped curate the show, discussed the challenges that come with navigating an art space for a young artist.

"I wanted to emphasize and highlight their work and showcase them at a professional level, because that’s what they deserve. And being a student myself, and an artist myself, navigating my own exhibitions, I understand firsthand what it’s like to have to go through that process," says Cervantes. "And so my contribution here was to minimize some of that anxiety."

“With exhibitions like this, I think it’s really important to understand that not everyone has access to the same opportunities, and we can create spaces to uplift our community members and showcase how artistry can be displayed and how we can impact our communities in long-lasting ways.”

With an audience that ranged from toddlers on up, the event was full of good art, good vibes, and good works – including a team effort of artists and attendees who raced out into the street to help free a passing driver whose car had gotten stuck on a median strip outside the event.

The show will remain up through June 20, and the images are for sale. You can stop in, check it out, and maybe pick up an artwork or book while you're at it.

"When I see this art exhibit here at the bookstore, this is what it should look like. We’re not being demonized or marginalized,” Debora said. “This is what community should look like."

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 4:06 PM.