A walk through of the Flour+Water exhibit and presentation of community-engaged research on gentrification in Northeast LA.
Sponsored by the Center for Community Based Learning and Latin American Studies Program.
Funding for the exhibit and website was made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Arts and Technology grant, Occidental College.
Light refreshments will be served.
About John Tapia Urquiza:
Borne and raised in Northeast Los Angeles, John Tapia Urquiza has worked as an advertising art director and designer for the first half of his career. His array of clientele and projects range from Asia to Europe, but he is most proud of his work with nonprofit organizations and the public projects in his native Los Angeles. In the midst of his commercial work he began teaching design and photography. Having lectured for many years on visual communications and production, he eventually transitioned into publishing as the editor of photography at a fashion industry publication. In 2012 Urquiza embarked on a research project inspired by photographer Don Noormark's book Chaves Ravine. He recognized in Noormark’s images the same faces of his aunts and uncles in a community that was wiped away by the corruption of Los Angeles. Initially developed as photography workshops, that research continues through today examining the effects of gentrification on the predominantly Latinx community of Northeast Los Angeles. Urquiza currently instructs an immersive college course Visualising Gentrification: Bridging Land Use, Data and Visual Ethnography that explores community level research around the effects of gentrification.
About Grace Hut '21:
Grace Hut graduated from Occidental College in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy. During her time at Oxy, she interned at tenants’ rights organizations and deepened her understanding of the history and strategies of resistance to displacement in Los Angeles. She currently works as a Digital Outreach Organizer with the Coalition for Economic Survival, where she connects renters across Los Angeles County to tenants’ rights information and legal support.
About Martha Matsuoka '83:
Matsuoka Matsuoka '83 focuses her teaching and research at the intersection of community and regional development, organizing and social movements, and environmental justice. She is the Executive Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, an applied community-based research center on campus. Her work in the field of community-based research draws on work with a wide range of NGOs including the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, the Urban Habitat Program, the Liberty Hill Foundation, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, and the International Women's Network Against Militarism. She currently serves on the Leadership Board of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council and the Board of Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. Her first book, This Could Be the Start of Something Big: Regional Equity and America's Metropolitan Future, co-authored with Manuel Pastor and Chris Benner, was published by Cornell University Press in 2009.
