Compton is most definitely a brand, not only linked to the athletic accomplishments of Venus and Serena Williams, but the urban violence that’s made it into hip hop lyrics, from N.W.A. to Kendrick Lamar.

“Compton is known globally. It's not always about the greatest things, positive things,” said Abigail Lopez-Byrd, executive director of the Compton Art and History Museum.

For two years the museum has organized art exhibits and offered arts workshops for teens and the general public to give people a more complete picture of the city’s Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous residents over time.

The museum’s done so out of a 900-square-foot space. But its leaders announced on Tuesday that come early next year it’ll be doing so out of a space five times as large, created by one of the region

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