Through the healing powers of the arts, the Crenshaw Dairy Mart (CDM) addresses poverty, economic injustice, and prison abolition in Los Angeles County. In 2021, CDM began prototyping and building abolitionist pods - autonomously irrigated, solar-powered gardens within geodesic domes - with communities impacted by food insecurity, housing insecurity, and the prison industrial complex. Offered alongside workshops on food justice, art, and healing justice, CDM's abolitionist pod project reimagines community care and models how art and science can collectively address social issues. CDM’s programming will accompany an exhibition about the abolitionist pod project and its evolution across Los Angeles County. Events will include health and wellness workshops using herbs and flowers, organic gardening and micro-farming workshops, a community farmers market, and Black farmers’ meet-ups.
Free the Land! Free the People! Higher Education Curricular Resource
Crenshaw Dairy Mart, "Free the Land! Free the People!" a study of the abolitionist pod (September 21, 2024 - February 15, 2025), Installation view at Crenshaw Dairy Mart, Inglewood, CA. Courtesy of Crenshaw Dairy Mart. Photographed by Elon Schoenholz and Angel Xotlanihua.