More than a venue: The Block Club builds a creative home base in Southeastern San Diego
Nearing its first anniversary, the space has become a social hub within the Black Arts and Culture District.
Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan
Walking into The Block Club on Imperial Avenue, the space can feel completely different from one visit to the next.
During Brushfire, it’s a night of live art and chess matches paired with DJ music. At various arts and makers fairs, guests shop for locally created clothes, jewelry and paintings. The space also hosts book club discussions, yoga sessions, coworking hours, movie nights, parties, gallery shows and SoulCraft Saturdays, where people create their own art projects alongside their neighbors.
Avi Mehta (right) teaches Hayley Krolik (left) how to play chess during Brushfire at The Block Club in Encanto on Oct. 18, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego
The Block Club functions as a third space — a place outside of home and work — where community members can gather, create and connect without the pressure to spend money. Through free co-working hours, cultural programming and open access to art and meeting space, it offers a welcoming, low-barrier hub designed for belonging, expression and community building.
“We just wanted to create a free, creative co-working space,” said La Raza Webb, chief operations officer. “And then our motto was just to allow for it to organically become whatever the community needed, because that's originally what we wanted.”
Nestled in the Black Arts and Culture District, The Block Club was founded in March 2025 by Webb’s mom, CEO Denise Raimo-Webb, and partner, President Phillip Coleman.
The Block Club is a community improvement project powered by Raimo Residence, a nonprofit founded in 2018 by Raimo-Webb focused on affordable housing and community improvement. The organization provides affordable housing to veterans and low-income families in San Diego and Riverside counties, including two apartments above The Block Club. The space also received a grant through the city’s Storefront Improvement Program, as well as donations from community members and memberships to the co-work space.
“To keep the space free, it's definitely taken a labor of love, but we receive a lot of volunteer support, as well as the donations and the help of Raimo Residence,” Coleman said.
Though she grew up in Skyline Hills, Webb had spent about 13 years out of state before returning to San Diego to launch The Block Club with her mom.
During the pandemic, while they were still living in Chicago, Webb and Coleman started a hybrid educational program geared toward Black community members covering topics from hair care to blockchain technology. That effort, Restoring The Fundamentals, inevitably became a pilot for The Block Club. When Raimo-Webb secured the mixed-use building on Imperial Avenue, the couple relocated to San Diego.
From there, the triad of co-founders joined the Black Arts and Culture District advisory committee, spent time connecting with folks in the neighborhood and received feedback through a digital survey to shape how the space would develop.
“[We] essentially received enough feedback that said, ‘Hey, we want our own space where we can throw our own events, our birthday parties, our graduation celebrations, but we also don't want that financial hurdle to be very high,’” said Coleman, who is originally from Detroit.
Cousins Zyhir and Lenise Colter paint during Brushfire at The Block Club on Oct. 18, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego
Growing up in the neighborhood, Webb spent time at the Encanto and Skyline recreation centers and the local YMCA, but she said none centered on the arts. In Balboa Park, she found that focus at the WorldBeat Cultural Center and Centro Cultural de la Raza — the latter of which inspired her name — yet she still longed for an arts-driven space closer to home.
“I was highly involved in community activities, though, because I participated in capoeira, Martin Luther King Jr. street parade, Encanto Street Parade, as well,” Webb said. “I was able to see how community can work together to create these types of arts and cultural footprints in this area, but not a home base like The Block Club is.”
That vision and community feedback helped shape its launch and first year of operation.
“Being that it’s within the Black Arts and Culture District, we wanted to do our best to protect and preserve Black art and culture,” Coleman said.
People hang out making art in The Block Club backyard on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego
During an event last fall, vendors lined the backyard to sell clothing, jewelry and other artwork, including Jay Shelby, owner of the Mental Reset clothing brand and a member of The Block Club.
Born and raised in Encanto, just minutes from the venue, Shelby said the space reminds him of a time when the neighborhood regularly hosted community-centered events.
“I remember times when this street would be shut down and we would be having events that were exactly what The Block Club is pointing at and trying to revitalize in the community,” he said. “Not only is it helping do that, but it's also helping spark the minds and inspire the people that are going to do that, and just helping create that driving force behind it.”
Shelby, who also displays his artwork in the space, said having a physical hub in his own neighborhood has strengthened both his creative work and sense of representation. He encourages other creatives to see the space as a resource.
“It's a physical place that provides a foundation, friends that I know that I can bounce ideas off of or just talk to on a personal level,” he said.
On March 29, The Block Club is celebrating its first year of service with an event starting at 2 p.m. Check out the nonprofit’s website in the coming weeks for more details. Webb is also hosting Women Who Wander to celebrate female creators and entrepreneurs in the travel industry to honor Women’s History Month on March 13.
As The Block Club continues to grow and expand its programming, Webb said continuing to invest in the neighborhood remains deeply personal.
“Being from this area and having the ability, the privilege and the wits to be able to bring this type of improvement to the neighborhood that I grew up in has been truly a blessing and just an honor,” Webb said. “I'm happy to be here to serve the community.”
This is the first article in a series on third spaces. If you’re interested in supporting this series or other arts and culture coverage, please consider making a donation via Givebutter or emailing maya@daylightsandiego.org to discuss sponsorship opportunities.
