The Afterlife of an El Sereno Post Office

This Shell of Former Civil Utilitarianism Makes a Terrific Art Studio

In 2011, after months of arduous searching, I happened upon a listing of a former U.S. Post Office for sale in the El Sereno neighborhood of Los Angeles. At the time, I was possessed with the idea of buying a building to convert into an art studio for my work on abstract drawings and paintings, sculpture installations, and performance-based pieces. My recent studios had been in industrial areas, and that meant fumes from neighboring factories, dirt and debris staining my works on paper, landlords who didn’t fix leaks or crumbling …