The LA County Arts Commission announces an addition to the County’s Civic Art Collection, a sculpture donated by renowned Mexican artist José Sacal. The artwork, which was originally created in 2012, honors two important women with roots in LA County, civil rights icon Dolores Huerta and LA County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis.

The LA County Civic Art Collection belongs to all County residents. It is comprised of historic and contemporary civic artwork located on County property and is managed by the LA County Arts Commission. The collection is made up of about 400 art objects that have been commissioned, donated or purchased since the Civic Art Policy was adopted in 2004 as well as historic artworks created before the establishment of the Civic Art Program. Information about the collection, including photos of artwork can be found at LACountyarts.org.

Mr. Sacal created the artwork to celebrate the work that Solis and Huerta have done to impact the Workers’ Rights Movement. The bronze sculpture is a double portrait. One side features Huerta, who is well known for her efforts to secure safe working conditions and workers’ rights for farm workers across the County. The other features Solis, who, in addition to being the first Latina ever to serve in a US Cabinet (as Labor Secretary for President Obama), continues to champion workers’ rights in her service with the County.

The artwork will be placed in the Millard Sheets Art Center at the Fairplex—home of the LA County Fair—where thousands of County residents visit annually. The location was chosen because of Millard Sheets’ history of investment in social activism as well as his support of Mexican artists such as muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. A similar sculpture of Solis and Huerta by Sacal can already be viewed at the Hilda L. Solis Academy in East Los Angeles.

Donations of artwork to LA County are accepted in compliance with specific procedures outlined as part of the Civic Art Policy.

José Sacal is a Mexican sculptor and ceramist born in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos in 1944. Sacal studied at the School of Painting and Sculpture of La Esmeralda under master sculptor Francisco Zúñiga. Before being an artist, at the age of 24 he worked in fashion, which allowed him to travel to Paris, Rome and New York. Sacal then returned to Mexico and experimented in sculpture where he developed his unique style. Sacal’s sculptures are figurative experiments of the human body, blending abstract with surrealism. His work is displayed all around Mexico City, the United States and Europe.

The Arts Commission provides leadership in cultural services for the County, encompassing 88 municipalities and nearly 140 unincorporated areas. In addition to its role implementing the County’s Civic Art program, the Arts Commission funds nearly 400 nonprofit arts organizations through a two-year $9 million grant program, implements the regional initiative dedicated to ensuring all students receive quality arts education in the County’s 81 public school districts, and funds the largest arts internship program in the country. LAcountyarts.org.