MACLA is located in Downtown San Jose's William/Reed Corridor, an area known for stately Victorian homes and an influx of newcomers, largely from Mexico and Vietnam.  The entire city is undergoing great change and this neighborhood is being squeezed by competing pressure from longtime residents, upscale development and new immigrants.  The staff is multi-lingual and comfortable moving between and connecting these stakeholders.  MACLA functions as a neutral space for community dialogue; a contemporary gallery space and performance venue; a Rosetta stone for people in the community who need to communicate; and a fulcrum an fulcrum for the arts as a technique in community building.  MACLA staff relates their philosophy, "Our approach... has been to translate our most highly developed competencies - our artistic practices - into community-building strategies.  We have put to best use the characteristics of artists, such as the flexibility to adapt to changing situations and the resourcefulness to do a lot with a little.  We have also taken advantage of the innate ability of art to transcend personal differences and translate experience into terms understood by all."

MACLA works to establish a sense of neighborhood identity primarily through arts-based programs and community-wide events; empowering and engaging disenfranchised residents in neighborhood planning and development; performing focused advocacy training for Las Familias; and creating opportunities for people of different races and socio-economic classes to interact and develop an understanding of each other.  MACLA's empowerment strategy is based on the idea that a strong neighborhood identity that includes all those who live and/or work in the William/Reed Corridor will change the current power dynamic into a more balance representation of the community.  Using one of MACLA's best assets, its ability to connect a diverse group of individuals and entities toward a common goal, it continues to develop a power base that serves the entire Corridor.

For more information on MACLA visit www.maclaarte.org or contact: