THE FRONT is an active agent in the cultural life of San Ysidro. Dozens of art exhibitions, concerts, dance performances, lectures, book readings, workshops, and many other cultural activities have made THE FRONT the most important cultural institution of South San Diego.

Casa Familiar’s Art and Culture Center, The FRONT, was developed as an idea in 2004, as Casa Familiar’s Enterprise Rose Fellowship came to a close, as a space devoted to the promotion of the arts and community/neighborhood design. A long-time dream of Andrea Skorepa and Luz Camacho to have an art gallery finally saw an opportunity in 2006 when the property was purchased, re-developed, and opened in November of 2007.

The FRONT is an adaptive reuse project in that the building was the first commercial dry goods store in the border community of San Ysidro and is a Louis J. Gill-designed building, nephew of the more well-known San Diego architect of the era, Irving Gill. The 1929 building was restored and rebuilt to include new services and utilities, restoration of the 3,000 square foot commercial storefront, restoration and refinishing of the two-2nd story apartments, and meeting all modern codes.