Gabriel Enamorado
Co-Founder & Executive Director

I am a Guatemalan-American arts leader, graphic designer, and photographer raised in Southeast Los Angeles and Downey, and currently based in Long Beach, California.

My creative practice began as a teenager through graffiti, photography, and graphic design. Working under the name GABEONE, I photographed local events, designed flyers, and developed mixed-media projects. I later attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising while building a career in graphic design and photography.

In 2012, I co-founded the grassroots arts initiative that would eventually become Stay Arts, beginning a long relationship with community-based arts and cultural work in Southeast Los Angeles. Today, Stay Arts has grown into a nonprofit arts organization creating opportunities for young people, artists, and communities through arts education, public programs, creative spaces, and community partnerships.

As Executive Director, I lead Stay Arts' organizational strategy and development, working alongside our team to build the programs, partnerships, spaces, and infrastructure that make this work possible. My background as an artist and designer continues to shape how I approach leadership, from the experiences and environments we create to how our organization communicates, tells stories, and connects with the communities we serve.

Beyond my work at Stay Arts, I have spent more than two decades working across photography, graphic design, and creative production. My work has included civic and political campaigns, nonprofit and public-sector projects, hospitality, portraiture, editorial work, and documentation of the communities and places around me. Over the years, I have collaborated with organizations and institutions including the City of Downey, Kaiser Permanente, local school districts, and local and federal elected officials.

I have also remained involved in civic and community life in Downey, particularly around local history, preservation, arts and culture, and the development of public and community spaces.

I am committed to arts access, representation, and building lasting creative infrastructure in the communities that shaped who I am.