Today, we’re excited to introduce you to Mito Aviles, the the newly appointed POC Arts and Cultural Affairs Commissioner for the City of West Hollywood.
Hi Mito, thanks so much for joining us today, but beyond that thank you for the incredibly important work you are doing in your official capacity at the city of West Hollywood. Before we get into your work on the Arts & Cultural Affairs Commision let’s spend a few minutes talking about how you got to where you are today.
Thank you so much for having me. It’s my honor and pleasure to be here. Taking me back…back to where it all started. Growing up first generation, POC, gay, and wealth deprived in this country but also living in Los Angeles, where the struggle was real. As a teenarger, I had made it my personal mission to become an Architect but then was bitten by the social justice work bug at the age of 17 years old. From inequalities, oppression, marginalization of culture to plainly, the inability to have the access to the means that most of my white counterparts had but also having the awareness to know it at a young age was what sparked my social justice awakening.
So, at 18 years old I started working as a door-to-door canvasser in Northeast Los Angeles. I had one of the hardest neighborhoods to canvass–Ramona Gardens Project Complex in Boyle Heights. My job was to educate on the issues in the community, register constituents to vote, and ensure the constituents of that neighborhood would show up to the polls and actually vote…was most important. It was election day and once the polls closed, I achieved one of the highest voter turnouts in the campaign. It was that marginalized neighborhood that not only showed up for themselves and for their community but they felt empowered because their voices were heard. It was that moment that solidified it for me. My heart and passion belonged to social justice.
From that campaign, I made a name for myself in grassroots organizing and I started working for various other campaigns throughout Los Angeles–the reelection campaign of LGBTQIA pioneer, Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg, organizer for SEIU Local 399 where we fought for accountability and transparency in hospitals for nurses, Justice for Janitors campaign for worker protections, and various others.
I decided to graduate with a Political Science/International Affairs Degree from UC Riverside–at the time, one of my biggest accomplishments. Graduating from college made me feel empowered. The notion of having a degree made me feel like I had an equitable seat at the table with all my white counterparts. Not quite the case but the notion was there. Shortly after, I landed my first “BIG” job right after graduating college, working for a freshman Member of Congress.
I continued working within the social justice space and then I moved into West Hollywood. I fell in love with West Hollywood. It was my home. Not only did I fit West Hollywood but West Hollywood fit me. I immersed myself in the City, its culture, its people, its politics and that’s when I encountered issues within the City that my neighbors and friends were bringing to my attention. It was then that I realized I needed to do something. I needed to stand with the very community I loved so much. So, I brought my activism into the political space and that’s when I decided to run for office.
My run for office, although unsuccessful, but super impactful and effective created a much-needed stir in the City. I vowed to not take money from big business or developers and to bring West Hollywood back to its constituents, the very residents that wanted to feel heard and seen. Unfortunately, that was not enough for me to win but I remained in the City. I continued working on projects I was most passionate about within the social justice space and the arts. I was part of a successful mannequin rental business in the City which thrived.
Now, I’m the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commissioner for the City of West Hollywood and I sit on the Social Justice Task Force for the City where I bring inclusion, diversity, into the creative space but also to the City as a whole. I’m a firm believer that the arts need to be free and accessible to the public. So this is just the beginning for my tenure on both the Commision and the Task Force.
Appreciate you sharing your story – so let’s jump into what you are currently focused on. Tell us about your role on the Arts & Cultural Commission and what your focus and priorities are.
My role as an Arts and Cultural Affairs Commissioner is to ensure I voice the importance of bringing art that is inclusive and diverse into the City. Historically, West Hollywood has been a predominantly white city. Run by white people to empower the white agenda. Fortunately, the tide is beginning to inch it’s way to much needed change.
Politics is a slow process and there are growing pains most times but one remains hopeful and continues to propel the movement forward.
As a Commissioner, I challenge my team to do outreach that goes outside of our 1.9 square mile city and to ensure we are always operating from the space of equity when it comes to the artist, art, and organizations we select to work with. I’m a firm believer that cultural shifts in mindset happen. Slowly sometimes, but they do happen.
I make it a point to have the conversation of diversity and inclusion be top of mind. It will no longer be silent, it will forever be amplified and magnified. This is a legacy I want to leave in the City as my role as Commissioner and as a Social Justice Task Force Member.
Can you go into more detail about some of the challenges and opportunities? If you get all the support you need, what sort of results can we imagine over the next few years?
What I will say is that politics and government as a whole are slow moving. So with that being said, there are always challenges. We might want an immediate response to agenda items, initiatives, etc however, they don’t necessarily happen fast. Whether it be a lack of outreach, the turnaround time for awarding grant money to artists, the immediacy isn’t always there.
Also, lack of funding. As we all know, arts programs everywhere lack funding. My commission is also one of those entities that needs more funding to be able to create more programming for artists and the creative class. To be able to allow artists to create and to feel supported is massively important.
Working with neighboring cities on art initiatives so there is a cross-pollination between communities is something I have started doing. From West Hollywood, to Beverly Hills, to South LA, Inglewood, East LA, etc. Bridging the cultural gap within our cities and neighborhoods is vital so we as a society are able to go into each other’s communities and experience art that transcends divides. That I find to be key.
In an ideal world, if there was more funding for arts programming we would be able to fund more artists but also be able to create more programs where there is more art living and thriving in the city. I will say it again, art needs to be free and accessible to the public. Period.
For folks reading this and thinking – wow, I really want to help – what can they do? Do you have some action items you can share with us?
I love that there are folks out there thinking how they can help! Truly the moment to do so is now. That’s the first step. I would suggest contacting the West Hollywood City Council and let them know the importance of more funding for the arts. They are the governing body with the ability for more funding. I have brought this to surface with my Commission and some of the Councilors already so it’s a matter of keeping the conversation alive. Having the conversation living and thriving in West Hollywood.
