The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout LA County. We fulfill our mission by providing services and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations; professional development opportunities; commissioning civic artworks and managing the County’s civic art collection; implementing countywide arts education initiatives; research and evaluation; career pathways in the creative economy; free community programs; and cross sector creative strategies that address civic issues. This work is framed by the County’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative and a longstanding commitment to fostering access to the arts.
Artist team Kyungmi Shin and Todd Gray of Shin Gray Studio, based in Inglewood, created a shade sculpture for the entry plaza of the library and constituent services center. The tree features large circular disks with cutout patterns of plants, leaves and flowers. These icons reference the tropical regions from which many Lennox residents originate. Also included are depictions of the elm tree, inspired by the name “Lennox” in Scottish, meaning “with many elm trees.” Shadows cast on the ground throughout the day become slowly moving images of the banana, palm and coconut tree leaves.
About the Artist:
The artist team of Kyungmi Shin and Todd Gray are the principles of Shin Gray Studio based in Los Angeles, CA. Taking cues from natural and cultural context of the project site, Shin Gray Studio creates public artworks that are visually striking and meaningful in relation to the site. A number of public artwork commissions for a variety of private and public entities have been completed including the Los Angeles International Airport, Hope Street Margolis Family Center in Los Angeles, Milton Rhodes Arts Center in Winston Salem, NC, and Lennox Library and Constituent Service Center in Los Angeles, CA, among many others.
Kyungmi Shin is a sculptor and installation artist. She received her MFA from UC Berkeley. Her works have been exhibited at the Berkeley Art Museum, Sonje Art Museum in South Korea, Japanese American National Art Museum, and Torrance Art Museum, and is the recipient of numerous grants, including the California Community Foundation Grant, the Durfee Grant, Pasadena City Individual Artist Fellowship, and L.A. Cultural Affairs Artist In Residence Grant.
Todd Gray is a photographer and received his MFA from Cal Arts. His work is collected by numerous public institutions including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Norton Family Foundation and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Brooklyn Museum of Art, Renaissance Society (Chicago), Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Smithsonian Anacostia Museum. Todd Gray is a professor of photography and digital imaging at California State University, Long Beach, CA.
