APeyes: Catching a Glimpse of Asian American and Pacific Islander Murals in Los Angeles
Called the Mural Capital of the World, Los Angeles hosts hundreds of murals, throughout the city. As diverse and as vibrant as the city's population, L.A. 's murals visually represent nearly every ethnic community that resides here. Among the countless murals that exist in the Los Angeles County and Southern California area, how many murals reflect the Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) community? How and when were they formed? What stories do they tell and what histories do they reveal? And what is happening to them now?
The LEAP
Leadership in Action interns undertook a project seeking answers to
these questions. We hoped to link art, activism, and history in
documenting the existing API murals in Los Angeles. What began as
research, countless phone calls, site visits, and conversations with
community leaders and artists for our pamphlet, however, turned into
our own education of the struggles reflecting different API ethnic
communities in the greater Los Angeles area. Furthermore, as we
progressed in our research, we encountered the sobering reality of
cultural murals painted over years ago, the difficulty of maintenance
for existing murals, and the overall lack of public awareness on
community murals.
These challenges became our motivation. Our project APeyes: Catching A Glimpse of API Murals in Los Angeles aims to increase awareness, visibility, and knowledge on existing API murals in Southern California . We believe that understanding the significance behind the API murals will deepen our desires to understand our various communities. Moreover, we wanted to explore the possibilities of community based mural making as a site of activism in its preservation of our collective public and cultural memories that are not reflected in mainstream art.
Click to enter APeyes HOME PAGE
"In reading about these murals, we hope that you catch a glimpse of our
community and history in these words and images so that you can be a
part of that process of moving our communities forward similar to the
depictions in these murals. “APeyes” visually portrays and celebrates
the diversity and struggles of our collective API communities through
its past murals, existing murals, and the creation of future murals.
LEAP Leadership in Action Interns 2007
More Information
For additional information on the Leadership In Action Group Project, please contact:
Jade Agua
Community Program Manager
(213) 485-1422 ext. 4107
jagua@leap.org |
