NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:December 12, 2017

Contact Person: Tom Carey, (323) 227-9931, email: tomascarey@gmail.com

The Church of the Epiphany/La Iglesia de la Epifana Presents

The Art of Protest: Epiphany and the Culture of Empowerment
On View January 6, 2018 - March 29, 2018

(Los Angeles, CA)The Church of the Epiphany presents The Art of Protest: Epiphany and the
Culture of Empowerment, an exhibition depicting this parish's involvement in social justice issues
since the late 1960s. The legacy of the Chicano Movement is a call to action andcreative social
engagement. Epiphany Church historically and today provides an all inclusive space for reflection,
dialogue, and transformative personal change that gave the Chicano a sense of acceptance and
belonging.

Co-curated by LACMA educator Sofia Gutierrez, artist Ricardo Reyes (nurtured in the Chicano
Movement/El Movimiento at Epiphany 1960s) , historian Roslio Muoz (co-chair of the Chicano
Moratorium), and architect Ravi GuneWardena (principal at Escher GuneWardena, preservation
architect for Epiphany), the exhibition brings together work by Movimiento artists from the 1960s
and 1970s with that of contemporary artists and historic photographic documentation of this Lincoln
Heights community's role in the affirming the rights of native and immigrant Latin Americans in the
Los Angeles region over the past 50 years.

Works exhibited include those by both well-recognized and locally known Chicano artists: Vibiana
Aparicio-Chamberlin, Chaz Borqorquez, Alfredo de Batuc, Beto de la Rocha, Andres Duran,
Margaret Garcia, Roberto Gil de Montes, Henry Glovinsky, Michael Gomes, Wayne Healy,
Gilbert Lujan (Magu), Lilia Ramirez, Ricardo Reyes, Guadalupe Rodriguez, Victor Rosas,
Victor Solis, Sheryl Spangler, John Valdez, Sergio Verdin. Works by a selection of
contemporary artists who sympathize with current Latino social justice issues and the legacy of the
Movement, will be included: Guillermo Bert, Carolyn Castano, Ismael de Anda, Isaias Delgado,
Alex Donis, Shepard Fairy, Alexis Garcia, Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca, Ken Gonzales-Day,
Juan Manuel Ildefonso, Tish Lampert, John Lewis, Arlene Mejorado, Camilo Ontiveros,
Bruce Richards, Sandy Rodriguez, Mariane Sadowski, Albert Valdez, J. Michael Walker,
Gloria Westcott, and other artist members of Epiphany Church.

Image Captions (L-R, Above): Ricardo Reyes, Tres Reyes/Epifania. Oil on Canvas; Lydia Lopez Archives, Cesar Chavez
at Epiphany, 1960s; Camilo Ontiveros, Colchones III, 2008.

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Starting on the Epiphany at Epiphany! Exhibition-related events spread over three months tie
todays struggles with traditions that run deep, connecting the role of the church in giving voice to
disenfranchised peoples. A series of charlas (conversations) with activists, academics, curators,
historians and artists, in the spirit of "Mental Menudo," honoring the late Chicano artist Gilbert
"Magu" Lujan, are planned.

Saturday, January 6, 2018 ExhibitionOpening

4 pm Feast of the Epiphany Celebration
5 pm to 8 pm Opening of Exhibition The Art of Protest
with Blessing by Gloria Arellanes, Tongva Spiritual Leader

Thursday, January 4, 2018 - Soft Opening

5 pm Press Preview with Curators and Artists
6 pm to 8 pm Reception

Friday, February 2, 2018 - Candelaria/Candlemas

6 pm Interreligious Service offered for Dreamers / DACA Children
7 pm Charla / Panel Discussion -Defending the Dream
Speakers: Justino Mora, Karla Estrada, and Ivan Ceja - Undocumedia;
Enrique Mora - Border Angels and others.
https://www.thenation.com/article/california-dreaming-justino-mora-dreamer/

Saturday, March 3, 2018 - 50th Anniversary of the East L.A. Walkouts

4 pm Charla / Panel Discussion -Blowouts - 1968
Speakers: Rosalio Munoz, Vickie Castro and others.
(details to follow)

Saturday, March 10, 2018 - Block Party and Drop in Art Workshop
11 am to 2 pm Artist Workshops with Alexis Garcia, Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca,
Sofia Gutierrez, Ricardo Reyes, Albert Valdez, and Gloria Westcott.
3 pm Charla / Conversation - Place and Displacement: Activism and Liberation Pedagogy
Speakers: Bill Kelley Jr.(Curator andHistorian, Latin American and Latino Art);
John Spiak (Chief Curator, California State Fullerton Grand Central Art Center)
4 pm - 6 pm - Block Party: DJ-Social Engagement Artist, Musica Tipica - Banda
Descendencia Yalalteca, and The Tracks.

Thursday, March 29, 2018 - Exhibition Closing / Performance

7 pm Maundy Thursday Service - Commemorating Cesar Chavez
8 pm Exhibition Closing / Veiling of Images
Performance: Gabriel Romero, Actor - Los Beltrn, Dante's Cove.

Exhibition and All Events take place at:

The Church of the Epiphany/La Iglesia de la Epifana, 2808 Altura Los Angeles, CA 90031

FURTHER INFORMATION

For over 125 years, the Church of the Epiphany has played a significant role in the community life
of Lincoln Heights. Most importantly it was, and is, a center of Latino culture and social justice
work. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Church of the Epiphany served as the Los Angeles base for
Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers movement. It was the home of La Raza, the
Chicano civil rights movement (the newspaper, La Raza, was printed in the basement), hosted the
Chicano Students Movement, and it was one of the East Los Angeles posts for Senator Robert F.
Kennedy's presidential campaign. It supported the activities of the Brown Berets, the Chicano

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Moratorium (protesting the inequality of Vietnam War draft), and the Chicano student walk-outs
of 1969. These activities are well documented in archival photographs in private collections of the
parish members. Historian Rosalio Munoz and activist Lydia Lopez, both members at the
Epiphany in the 1960s, have accumulated a formidable historical record.

Drawing from the archival collections of Rosalio Munoz, Lydia Lopez, and others, as well as from
their oral and lived histories, the exhibition will present a view into the unfolding of events in this
community. Artworks by artists from the Lincoln Heights neighborhood who were active in the
Chicano Movement (many who continue to convey the struggle for Latino social justice through art),
and by contemporary artists whose work speaks to current human rights issues, will occupy the
entire church sanctuary, transforming the space into an alternative creative environment intertwined
with history and art.

The series of charlas (conversations) listed above will commemorate significant dates in the
Movement coinciding with the liturgical calendar. The closing of the exhibition will take place on
Maundy Thursday, incorporating the ritual veiling of icons and removal of images.

Founded in 1887, the Church of the Epiphany, is the oldest surviving Episcopal Church building in
Los Angeles. It was unanimously declared a cultural landmark, Historical Monument # 807, by Los
Angeles City Council in 2005, due to its role in the Chicano Movement, through efforts by
Councilmember Ed P. Reyes, the representative for Lincoln Heights who also grew up in this
neighborhood. Currently in the process of restoration, in 2017, the church received a grant from the
National Fund for Sacred Places, a program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with
the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

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