To miss "Manifest Equality," which closes at 6 p.m. Sunday, is to lose out on one of the most awe-inspiring experiences in L.A. this year.

Works by more than 170 artists take on the civil rights fight that continues to dog the land of the free, most specifically the situation in California where the honeymoon legalizing marriage between same-sex couples was quickly outlawed when Prop 8 passed in 2008.

During a week when much of this town's focus is on Team Hollywood's craft and what the marketing machines behind those works will reap at the Kodak Theater Sunday night, down the road on Vine, south of Sunset (that most storied spot of broken dreams), the most honest of collaborative art experiences fills a gaping storefront, most recently home to the discount chain Big Lots! (Exclamation the store's, not mine, thrilling as that graveyard to consumerism could be.)

In its wake, the high price of legislating love and marriage is considered through photography, paintings and multimedia assemblages, some of it presented on the fractured sections of a white-clapboard house by Jed Lind. A portrait of Abraham Lincoln there by Scotlund Haisley brings to mind a declaration by that most cherished of civil rights advocates: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Case in point why this cause is not limited to homosexuals. This is an equal rights, equal access issue. When we take into account there are fellow citizens who are regarded as a subclass because of some barbaric, anachronistic notions of what is right...well, it's nothing short of wrong. Exceptions are un-American, inhuman.
Unfortunately, even well-meaning supporters continue to frame this as a "gay" issue.

Elaborating that thought is at the heart of Manifest Equality, according to founder Yosi Sergant, who sought to enlist artists who are straight and gay, and artwork that is as much about civil rights as it is about the LBGT community. The 33-year-old Yosi was part of the Manifest Hope movement and art shows in Denver and Washington D.C., which supported Barack Obama's presidential campaign. His enthusiasm got the better of him last fall when he was communications director at the National Endowment for the Arts, and after resigning, rather than sticking his head under a pillow, he decided to continue his activism through cultural engagement.
Yosi, along with event producer Apple Via and publicist Jennifer Gross, engaged collaborators Shepard Fairey, Aaron Rose and the creative crew at Commune Design (including Roman Alonso who designed the inevitably iconic logo), among many, many others, to stage this first Manifest Equality event.
There are some incredible pieces here, many which had already sold by opening night Wednesday.
But the real impact here is the sum of its parts. Why simply viewing the work on the (incomplete) online gallery is not enough. From the heart-shaped string installation outside to the heart-shaped shallow pool installation in a private room (both by the gifted Mike Murphy), it's all about being present.
All proceeds from sales of the artwork and the gems in the pop-up shop benefit Courage Campaign.
Go by day. Or hit tonight's closing night party, featuring performances by Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock, Sea Wolf and Sam Sparro, as well as DJ sets by the Crystal Method. (Hit the ME site to rsvp). Entrance is free. Just don't miss it.


"Manifest Equality," 1341 Vine Street, Hollywood. Open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Closes Sunday, March 7 at 6 p.m. FREE.