Art collectors Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys quietly purchased an entire exhibition of local photography at Por Vida coffee shop and gallery in Barrio Logan.
The Dean Collection, the personal, world-class collection of Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys, is committed to featuring contemporary artists and artists of color. The couple has a home in San Diego, where they are raising their children.
Just days before the announcement that their major exhibit, "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys," would open at MCASD this spring, Swizz Beatz visited Por Vida.
He was so impressed by the show that he acquired every piece.
While celebrity attention might seem serendipitous, spaces like Por Vida and the Barrio Logan creative community have been working for years — decades — to lift up art and support living artists.
Transforming a cafe into a gallery
Last fall, married couple Carolina Santana and Milo Lorenzana, made a bold decision.
Their cafe, Por Vida had thrived for a decade: vibrant walls filled with art, beans roasted in-house and sourced from farmers they know and a menu brimming with creative, Mexican-inspired beverages. It had long been a community gathering spot.
But something was missing, and they were ready for a change.
"Caro was just like, 'What if we take it back to the roots of how we got started?"
Lorenzana had run several influential Barrio Logan art spaces over the past 15 years — including The Spot and La Bodega Gallery. And he was inspired by spaces like Voz Alta, a gallery founded by the Taco Shop Poets collective over two decades ago to create space for border Latinx/Chicanx creatives.
When they opened Por Vida, coffee would be central, but art on the walls was always part of the vision.
This year, they unveiled a renovated interior: fewer tables, minimalist white walls for curated exhibits and plenty of space for visitors to browse.
While the transition is a risk, Santana and Lorenzana tend to follow their instincts whether it’s unveiling a new drink, cutting a menu item or a bigger leap like this.
"It's all intuitive, to be honest," Santana said. "It truly is an intuitive approach that we've run with operating Por Vida. Even timing-wise, if it felt right, we ran with it. And even no matter how good the idea, if it felt like the timing was off, we just put it on hold."
They remain optimistic, and grateful for the community. At first, they planned to try the gallery format for a year. But exhibits are already booked well into 2027, featuring local artists and world-class visiting talent.
We're excited to see what's next for us, and who comes through the door next. We got Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys already on month two.Milo Lorenzana, Por Vida
"We're excited to see what's next for us, and who comes through the door next. We got Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys already on month two," Lorenzana said, laughing.
A neighborhood lens
Por Vida's first exhibit, "La tierra me está llamando," by Tekpatl Patricia Cruz, featured magical realism-infused paintings and portraits exploring family roots — some painted directly on strips of bark.
"She is a local artist from Barrio Logan, a muralist, she's a wife, a mother, community activist, business owner — all those beautiful things,” Lorenzana said. “She hit the ground running for us."
The current exhibition, "Neighborhood Visualz," presents 46 film photographs by Oscar Cruz and MJ Pimentel (@sd_sharpshooter and @whoshotya_35mm).
The Dean Collection purchased the entire show after Swizz Beatz and his daughter visited last week.
"I think about 95 or so percent of the photos were taken in Barrio Logan, of the community, of the people that are there, the actual grandmas, the grandpas, the kids, the park — just highlighting the things that create the fabric of Barrio Logan," Lorenzana said.
This is historically just a very gorgeous, very strong neighborhood, a neighborhood that takes care of its own.Oscar Cruz, artist
Pimentel and Cruz shoot and develop 35mm film, embracing the slow and mindful process and capturing the world as they see it.
"This neighborhood means everything to me. I'm born and raised here. All my friends are here. My family lived here. It's everything that I know," Cruz said. "I want the world to see its beauty. This is historically just a very gorgeous, very strong neighborhood, a neighborhood that takes care of its own."
Pimentel describes Barrio Logan as a "heartbeat," where everyday interactions are the moments she tries to preserve.
"I love taking photos everywhere I go, but there's something about just a special, raw moment, whether it's like an embrace or someone who I see all the time and you catch their warm smile — little moments that you can't get back. You can't go back and redo," Pimentel said.
Pimental and Cruz began working together at the start of COVID when she overheard him talking about film photography through her open window. She realized she was already a fan of his work, but was fascinated to learn he developed his own photographs — and wanted to try too.
They connected with Lorenzana and Santana, who provided artist studio space in Por Vida's basement. There, they set up a darkroom where every photo in the exhibition was developed.
Barrio Logan's creative vibrancy didn't just give Pimental and Cruz a place to create and hang their work, it gave them permission.
"This community is what even got me to start saying 'I'm an artist,' or to believe that my photographs are art," Pimental said.
This community is what even got me to start saying 'I'm an artist,' or to believe that my photographs are art.MJ Pimentel, artist
Neighborhood Visualz meets The Dean Collection
For Por Vida, the Dean Collection purchase is proof of concept.
"I don't want to say 'in so soon in our gallery career,' because I've been doing this for a long time," Lorenzana said. "We've been around it for a long time, but a moment like this in 15, 20 years can still humble you, you know? Man, anything can happen."
While entire-show acquisitions are rare, the impact goes beyond the financial.
A moment like this in 15, 20 years can still humble you, you know? Man, anything can happen.Milo Lorenzana, Por Vida
"The visibility and representation that is so important,” Pimentel said. “I feel like a lot of these people in these photos, they're my friends, they're my neighbors, they're people who are special to me. So I feel honored to be able to bring them to a platform like The Dean Collection and have it on a scale of that size — and kind of highlight them for other people to see the beauty in these moments that might have gone unseen had we not been walking around the neighborhood that day."
"It definitely was very unexpected," she added.
She pointed out what many grassroots arts leaders have long understood: "It really starts in your own backyard — those bigger museums or bigger platforms, they look to places like this for inspiration."
How to document a neighborhood
Cruz offers advice for photographers, amateur or seasoned, documenting communities: "Make sure anyone that you actually encounter on the street, try and actually have respect and maybe build a relationship with the people in those neighborhoods. Always move with respect."
Don't be afraid to show your work to the world.Oscar Cruz, artist
He encourages photographers to be intentional about their work. "Just be authentic. Have love for it."
And, he added, don't forget to get the art out there.
"If you're currently stuck in a slump and you have all this work that you're sitting on, don't be afraid to start trying to put it out. Don't be afraid to show your work to the world," Cruz said.
