Phase One: Spring 2019
What is (NE)LA Stories?
(NE)LA Stories engages with community members who have lived and shaped the local cultural landscape of Los Angeles from the second half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, with a particular focus on the distinctive community of Northeast Los Angeles.
This project is the first step of a sustained effort by the Institute for the Study of Los Angeles (ISLA); Oxy Arts; and Occidental Library, Special Collections and Archives to document this region's rich history through personal interviews of its inhabitants and cultural contributors.
In this phase of the project, the interviews were conducted in teams of two by undergraduate students in two sections of Professor Jeremiah B.C. Axelrod's course “Countercultural Northeast LA: The Arts of Resistance” [CSP 70] during the Spring semester of 2019.
Recordings were immediately used as the basis of an exhibition entitled “Compass Rose” by artist Debra Scacco, which was on public view at Occidental’s Oxy Arts space on York Blvd. during the Spring and Summer of 2019.
In Memoriam
We are proud to dedicate this phase of our ongoing project to storyteller Ann Walnum, who dedicated her life and tireless energies to building a more just and beautiful community in Northeast Los Angeles. She is missed.Interviews
Andy Ledesma
Andy Ledesma is an LA based artist whose career has spanned more than three decades. Andy believes art is a vehicle for change and the betterment of humanity. Interview conducted by Raveena Dhiman on 27 March 2019.
Ann Walnum
Ann Walnum was a long-time resident of Mount Washington and dedicated community activist, as displayed in this personal statement composed for this project: "I have always shown love and concern for my community of Northeast Los Angeles. It is reflected in my contributions to the groups I work with. I focus on access and fairness for all." Interview conducted by Dana Dveris on 24 March 2019.
Antonio Castillo
Antonio is a life-long resident and active member of the Northeast LA community. His family moved to Highland Park in the early 1970s. Interview conducted by Kyler Parris on 10 April 2019.
April Ibarra
April is a director of theatre and film and the Director of Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre. She is a board member for Cornerstone Theatre and the Associate Producer/Production Coordinator for the Highland Park Independent Film Festival. Interview conducted by Clarissa Kiyomura on 28 March 2019.
Brenda X. Perez
Brenda is founder of grassroots project Restorative Justice for the Arts mobilized to preserve murals and to protect the cultural identities narrated through community art. Interview conducted by Alyssa Aldaz on 30 March 2019.
Carmela Gomes
In 1999 Carmela Gomes came home to Highland Park. She takes great pleasure in the progressive development of NELA through her work with various community groups. Interview conducted by Seth Holston on 25 March 2019.
Daniel Ruiz
Daniel Ruiz, a Los Angeles native and self-taught muralist with over 20 years of experience has lived in Highland Park most of his upbringing. He is inspired by LA's graffiti art scene and the ‘Big Three’ Mexican Muralists. Interview conducted by Allison Wilson on 27 March 2019.
Gwen Freeman
Partner at Knapp, Petersen & Clarke, painter, author of light mysteries and screenplays, past president and current board member of the Arroyo Arts Collective. Interview conducted by Gus Grunau on 22 March 2019.
Isabel Rojas-Williams
Isabel Rojas-Williams, a leading art historian and civic activist who had a major role in helping write the Mural Ordinance, which lifted the mural moratorium in Los Angeles. Interview conducted by Mandi Nguyen on 21 March 2019.
Jessica Ceballo y Campbell
Jessica Ceballos y Campbell is a child of immigrants, grandchild of an Indigenous Californian, and was born and raised in North East Los Ángeles. Interview conducted by Layla Devlin on 20 March 2019.
Jimmy Alvarado
Jimmy Alvarado is an ELA punk musician, artist, historian and filmmaker. He writes for Razorcake and is guitarist for Our Band Sucks and La Tuya. Interview conducted by Sophie Engle on 19 March 2019.
Joe Bravo
Joe Bravo was born in San Jose, California and is internationally known for painting on tortillas. Joe has also painted several murals in Los Angeles. Interview conducted by Julissa Larios on 24 March 2019.
Jollene Levid
Jollene Levid, MSW is a mother, organizer, and feminist. She is a United Teachers Los Angeles Regional Organizer and the founding Chairperson of AF3IRM. Interview conducted by Hanling Christine Gu on 21 March 2019.
Julie Macias
Julie is a second-generation Highland Park native who currently lives, writes, and DJs in NELA. Interview conducted by Sophie Kaviar on 23 March 2019.
Kathleen Gallegos
I am an artist, a mother and grandmother, the best friend of a few, and the Founder and Director of the Avenue 50 Studio art center. Interview conducted by Garrett Pittman on 21 March 2019.
Linda Hoag
Therapist, activist, facilitator of community art making, puppet lover, poet, Metro rider, member of the Arroyo Arts Collective and the Highland Park Ebell Club. Interview conducted by Michelle Garcia on 21 March 2019.
Mando Medina
Born and raised in Highland Park since the early 70s - seen it all. I now run Highland Park Community Anti Gentrification social media pages. Interview conducted by Ethan Gregoire on 28 March 2019.
Marita de la Torre
Marita De La Torre is an actor, story teller, and entertainment producer. She is the Co-Founder of the Highland Park Independent Film Festival. Interview conducted by Arora Aarush
Maryam Hosseinzadeh
Maryam Hosseinzadeh’s lifelong passion is learning about and sharing histories of greater Los Angeles. She lives in Glassell Park where she also spent formative time as a young child throughout the 1980s.
May
May, a multidisciplinary graphic designer, grew up in a Filipino American family of seven. Her fondest memories are those from childhood on San Pascual Avenue. Interview conducted by Sophie Kaviar.
Rosalio Muñoz
I come from a family of educators and church workers on my dad's side who immigrated here in 1918. On my mother's side they were artisans & worked in commerce. They are from Tucson, AZ circa 1788. I'm a Chicano christian communist, and I'm indigenous to this planet. Interview conducted by Aerex Narvasa.
Saúl Narro
Born, baptized and raised in Highland Park. Attended schools in HLP. Returned to coach Track & Cross Country at Franklin High. Co-founder of the El Mercado street festival. Interview conducted by Dav Mahendra
Shane White
My name is Shane White. I grew up in Echo Park and Highland Park in the '70s and '80s. I am an artist, musician and anarchist. Interview conducted by Sophie Engle.
Soraya Medina
Soraya has lived in NELA since 1991. She has two daughters raised in NELA. She continues to be involved in health and food justice there, and commutes from Boyle Heights. Interview conducted by Matthew Anzalone.
Susan Moss
Artist and author Susan Moss has works held by 540 collectors, including five museums. Her books Keep Your Breasts!, Survive Cancer, and The Accident Stager are sold world-wide. Interview conducted by Theodore Bortz.
Terrence Butcher
Terrence Butcher is a writer, historian, tour guide, actor, and an associate producer with the Highland Park Independent Film Festival. He currently resides in a historic suburb just east of Los Angeles. Interview conducted by Matthew Scarlett.
Todd Taylor
Todd Taylor is the Executive Director and co-founder of Razorcake/Gorsky Press, a 501(c)(3) non-profit punk organization proudly founded in Highland Park in 2001. Interview conducted by James Howe.
Virginia Rose Espino
Virginia Espino is a native daughter of California, born and raised in northeastern Los Angeles. She is a lecturer of Chicana and Chicano Studies and Working Class history at UCLA and serves on the Board of the California Latinas for Reproductive Justice and the Southwest Oral History Association. Her passion is recovering lost or hidden histories through the oral tradition and making them available to the public at large.