AltaMed’s mission is to eliminate disparities in health care access and outcomes by providing superior quality health and human services through an integrated world-class delivery system for Latino, multiethnic, and underserved communities in Southern California.  

Since 1969, our team of qualified multicultural and bilingual professionals — from these same communities — has focused on eliminating barriers to primary care services, senior care programs, and even essential community services.  

As part of our holistic approach to healthcare, AltaMed exhibits an art collection throughout all our clinics and service sites whose subjects reflect the diverse communities we serve. The arts are used in a variety of ways to heal emotional injuries, build empathy, develop a capacity for self-reflection, and alter thinking patterns. Engagement with art also has the potential to help reduce stress and depression, and can alleviate the burden of illness.  

Art has the power to inspire and to document history. It shows us the cultural trends that affect each decade. It can show us the faces of those who are otherwise invisible. It can cross language and cultural barriers by visually telling a story.   

Art is for everybody, even when it is not about everybody. And it lasts as long as we can preserve it, giving us the opportunity to make certain that history is not forgotten and repeated.

If you would like to donate an artwork to AltaMed, please contact [email protected]