This is East Lubbock Art House (ELAH)! We’re accountable. We’re creative. We’re giving back to our community.

Mission, Vision and Purpose 

MISSION: The mission of East Lubbock Art House (ELAH) is to make art accessible for all individuals while working at the intersection of creativity and activism toward a more equitable community. 

VISION: The vision of ELAH is to create an autonomous, beautiful, and sustainable community of diverse creators and change-makers. 

PURPOSE: The purpose of ELAH is to provide arts, literacy and cultural resources. 

ELAH was founded in 2020 as an arts and culture organization and 501c3 non-profit, providing services to our region’s racially, economically, and geographically marginalized. Since then, ELAH is an emergent utopia (a self-evolving, community-driven third space focused on harmony, innovation, and liberation). As an experimental creative community center, ELAH uses the arts to propose radical alternatives to address intergenerational racial trauma tied to poverty and psychological issues. We champion storytelling, narrative reclamation, and cultivating artists, culture bearers, and neighbors as change agents. Our three programming pillars —Creative Education, Artistic Expression, and Community Engagement—aim to address trauma-induced conditions strategically. Programs like our Artist Internship Program and Community Art Classes utilize creative resistance as a tool for holistic healing and entrepreneurial self-sufficiency. ELAH is innovative in generating a safe third space where our neighbors experience art and creativity as education and enrichment for the imagination. As an imagined space and cultural playground, our approach is forward-thinking.  

Our approach recognizes the need for: (1) Site specificity and community-responsive organizing, (2) Experimentation and experiential learning, (3) Unorthodox approaches to norms in education, and (4) Democratization of the arts. 

The structure of ELAH stands alone in our community with three main methods of functionality:

Communication: Create a pro-Black framework of accountability where stakeholders can hold powerful and necessary conversations. 

Collaboration: Create a center of activation among marginalized leaders with lived experiences who want to become partners of movements even more prominent than our organization.

Community: create a fellowship of multi-generational artists and activists who work towards movement building. 

ELAH Diversity and Racial Justice Efforts and Practices

At East Lubbock Art House (ELAH), our mission is rooted in a commitment to racial justice, equity, and creative empowerment. As a Black-led organization, we operate at the intersection of healing, resistance, and imagination. We recognize that for our community—and this country—to thrive, we must confront the legacy of chattel slavery and its enduring systems of exploitation and devaluation. ELAH is a space of reckoning and reimagining, where Black healing is centered, and our community’s resilience becomes the foundation for transformation.

We are unapologetic in our pursuit of the impossible: a future where systemic oppression is dismantled, and creative equity flourishes. This journey requires courage, collaboration, and the acknowledgment that we hold the power to reshape our current reality. At ELAH, we work in the liminal space between the world as it is and the liberated future we envision, using art as a tool to critique and subvert oppressive systems while distributing power and promoting equity in all we do.

Our approach is multifaceted and inclusive. We understand that racial repair benefits all of us, and while our work centers Black healing, we actively engage non-Black allies, including non-Black people of color and white individuals, as Agents of Repair. Together, we co-create solutions that address historic harm while imagining a new reality built on shared accountability, belonging, and justice.

At ELAH, we are not constrained by binaries or monolithic perspectives. We honor the complexity of lived experiences, the intersection of art and activism, and the power of both strategic planning and organic emergence. Our work is a tapestry of multitudes—a recognition of the unique narratives that intersect within our community and the collective story we are building.

Our strategy begins in East Lubbock, a historically Black and now majority Latinx neighborhood, on the 400 block of MLK Jr. Blvd. This place, both a symbol of resilience and an epicenter of transformation, is the canvas upon which we paint a vision of justice and equity. Block by block, we are deconstructing the legacy of systemic racism and reimagining it as a framework for liberation and empowerment. Through mutual aid, volunteerism, and the arts, we create spaces where racial barriers crumble under the weight of collective creativity and community solidarity.

We are learners, builders, and dreamers. We are audacious in our belief that art is not just a reflection of the world but a tool to transform it. At ELAH, we invite everyone to join us in this journey of repair and creation, where the boundaries of what is possible are shattered, and the flourishing of Black healing and thriving propels us all toward a liberated future.

Staff and Board Members

East Lubbock Art House was founded by Danielle Demetria East and a host of volunteers. Danielle is originally from La Grange, TX but moved to Lubbock in September 2019 to complete work as one of the four artists-in-residence at the Charles Adams Studio Project. Curreently, East is one of the inagural fellows of the Housing, Land and Justice Artist Fellowship hosted by Race Foward.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kenneth Castillo, President 

Rape Prevention Specialist with Voice of Hope – Rape Crisis Center, Latino, male. 

Carolyn Rollison, Vice President

Retired Community Activist; Black, female. 

Jane Lindsay, Treasurer 

Professional artist, Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University, Victims Advocate for Lubbock County, and the Owner of Maggie Jane’s Farms; White, female. 

Ricky Sherfield, Secretary

Owner of RealDeal Designs, Black, male. 

Sangmi Yoo, Board Member

Associate Professor of Art at the School of Art – Texas Tech University. Asian, female. 

Sarah Kannel, JD, Board Member

Attorney – Hurley, Guinn, Singh, & VonGonten. Black, female. 

Non-discriminatory Policy

East Lubbock Art House (ELAH) is committed to fostering a just, inclusive, and liberated future for all. As a Black-led arts organization rooted in equity, healing, and creative empowerment, we uphold a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination, harassment, or intimidation in any form.
We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, immigration status, disability (physical, mental, or neurodivergent), socioeconomic background, veteran status, or any other aspect of identity that makes each of us unique. We recognize the intersectional nature of oppression and actively work to ensure that our programs, policies, and practices reflect our core values of justice, access, and dignity.

Harassment or intimidation of any kind—toward a client/artist, employee, volunteer, or Board Member—contradicts our mission and will not be tolerated. This includes but is not limited to, verbal abuse, physical threats, exclusionary behavior, or microaggressions. Any individual found to be in violation of this policy may face removal or termination.

We believe that creating a safe, affirming, and culturally responsive environment is foundational to our work. ELAH’s community includes people of all identities and lived experiences, and we hold ourselves accountable to building and maintaining a space of belonging and co-liberation.

If you believe you or someone else has experienced discrimination or harassment in connection with ELAH, we encourage you to report your concerns promptly and confidentially. Please email us at eastlubbockarthouse@gmail.com or call (979) 338-9238. All reports will be taken seriously and addressed in alignment with our commitment to equity and justice.
Together, we are building a future where all people, especially those most impacted by systemic injustice, can thrive, create, and lead.