Trending
A new mural planned for next year in L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown district will honor the neighborhood’s lasting legacy, community members say.
The headquarters of Filipino community nonprofit Search To Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), at 3200 W. Temple Street in Los Angeles, will be the latest canvas for the new mural, which officials hope to unveil by spring 2025.
The vibrant “HiFi” neighborhood west of downtown and south of Echo Park, bordered by the 101 Freeway to the north and Beverly Boulevard to the south, is regarded as the birthplace of the Filipino American community of Los Angeles, leaders say.
1 of 6
Expand
Los Angeles is home to the largest population of people of Filipino descent, according to the Los Angeles Almanac.
The future mural will be on the west-facing wall of SIPA’s headquarters, at the HiFi Collective, a supportive housing community and mixed-use community center in Historic Filipinotown.
Outreach for the mural’s concept began in early October, during Filipino American History Month, said Kimmy Maniquis, executive director of SIPA.
To end the month of events, SIPA hosted the 9th annual “Katipunan Poetry Slam” on Saturday, Oct. 26, where creatives were invited to share their works and stories in a friendly competition. As part of its outreach, SIPA had a booth to raise awareness and get more input about the future mural.
While no specific design or theme has been decided on yet, Maniquis is excited to see the collaboration to create something beautiful.
“The mural doesn’t necessarily need to be a historical piece, or even depict actual people in the community,” she said. “We could generate something liberatory in nature; that’s symbolic, inclusive, that captures the spirit of diversity across all identities and beliefs… about what’s ahead for us as a community of Historic Filipinotown.”
The neighborhood already has two cultural markers dedicated to Filipino history — including the nation’s largest Filipino American mural, Eliseo Art Silva’s “Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana” (1995), located in Unidad Park.
Other public arts planned for the area include a mural dedicated to Filipina and Filipina-American heroines , from nonprofit FilAm Arts, a news release said.
Only around a dozen or so have participated in SIPA’s online survey about the HiFi Collective Mural Project, said Maniquis.
The survey, open through the end of October, asks participants for input and definitive themes for art that “will embody the HiFi community and values.” It also asks for community artist/muralist recommendations.
Long Beach Filipino American Bodeck Luna is the set lead artist heading the project. There is potential for up to three artists to collaborate, said Maniquis.
At Saturday’s poetry event, competing artists like Los Angeles resident Maria Bolaños were excited to hear about the opportunity to uplifting Filipino culture and values through art.
“It’s super dope that SIPA is building towards a mural,” Bolaños, 33, said. “Murals are such an important display — a big, vibrant, insistent display of, ‘We are here.’”
1 of 19
Expand
The Katipunan Poetry Slam, organized by HiFi arts organization Sunday Jump, provides a platform for Filipino American poets to channel the fighting spirit of their ancestors in this celebration of free speech, organizers said.
Modern slam poetry is an echo of “balagtasan” — a poetic political debate in Filipino culture.
Themes focused on identity, community solidarity and lived experiences, and honored the history of the Katipunan — a revolutionary group that fought for independence against centuries of Spanish colonization in the Philippines.
Bolaños competed in the event, which she called a “poetic home” for her. Bolaños’ poems and written works usually involve themes of decolonization and the Filipino diaspora.
Her first poem was about the current situation in Gaza — one she felt other colonized Filipinos would also relate to.
Poet Paul “KP” Abesamis also performed work he said was heavily influenced by his religious beliefs and complexities of being a Filipino and an Evangelical Christian. For Abesamis, there’s “a tension” within these identities which he is proud to stand in.
For him, being a Filipino American means constantly evolving: a “continuous metamorphosis.”
“I don’t think that you have to be a certain race or look a certain way to hold the faith that I have,” the Covina resident shared. “Helping redefine the Filipino American journey and experience, that’s something we can take pride in.”
Continuing October’s Filipino American History Month festivites, L.A. City Hall was lit up in the red, white, blue and yellow colors of the Philippine flag. Also on Saturday, the neighborhood celebrated labor leader Larry Itliong at a free community festival.
For more information: www.sipacares.org
Staff writer Allyson Vergara contributed to this report.
A new mural planned for next year in L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown district will honor the neighborhood’s lasting legacy, community members say.
The headquarters of Filipino community nonprofit Search To Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), at 3200 W. Temple Street in Los Angeles, will be the latest canvas for the new mural, which officials hope to unveil by spring 2025.
The vibrant “HiFi” neighborhood west of downtown and south of Echo Park, bordered by the 101 Freeway to the north and Beverly Boulevard to the south, is regarded as the birthplace of the Filipino American community of Los Angeles, leaders say.
1 of 6
Expand
Los Angeles is home to the largest population of people of Filipino descent, according to the Los Angeles Almanac.
The future mural will be on the west-facing wall of SIPA’s headquarters, at the HiFi Collective, a supportive housing community and mixed-use community center in Historic Filipinotown.
Outreach for the mural’s concept began in early October, during Filipino American History Month, said Kimmy Maniquis, executive director of SIPA.
To end the month of events, SIPA hosted the 9th annual “Katipunan Poetry Slam” on Saturday, Oct. 26, where creatives were invited to share their works and stories in a friendly competition. As part of its outreach, SIPA had a booth to raise awareness and get more input about the future mural.
While no specific design or theme has been decided on yet, Maniquis is excited to see the collaboration to create something beautiful.
“The mural doesn’t necessarily need to be a historical piece, or even depict actual people in the community,” she said. “We could generate something liberatory in nature; that’s symbolic, inclusive, that captures the spirit of diversity across all identities and beliefs… about what’s ahead for us as a community of Historic Filipinotown.”
The neighborhood already has two cultural markers dedicated to Filipino history — including the nation’s largest Filipino American mural, Eliseo Art Silva’s “Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana” (1995), located in Unidad Park.
Other public arts planned for the area include a mural dedicated to Filipina and Filipina-American heroines , from nonprofit FilAm Arts, a news release said.
Only around a dozen or so have participated in SIPA’s online survey about the HiFi Collective Mural Project, said Maniquis.
The survey, open through the end of October, asks participants for input and definitive themes for art that “will embody the HiFi community and values.” It also asks for community artist/muralist recommendations.
Long Beach Filipino American Bodeck Luna is the set lead artist heading the project. There is potential for up to three artists to collaborate, said Maniquis.
At Saturday’s poetry event, competing artists like Los Angeles resident Maria Bolaños were excited to hear about the opportunity to uplifting Filipino culture and values through art.
“It’s super dope that SIPA is building towards a mural,” Bolaños, 33, said. “Murals are such an important display — a big, vibrant, insistent display of, ‘We are here.’”
1 of 19
Expand
The Katipunan Poetry Slam, organized by HiFi arts organization Sunday Jump, provides a platform for Filipino American poets to channel the fighting spirit of their ancestors in this celebration of free speech, organizers said.
Modern slam poetry is an echo of “balagtasan” — a poetic political debate in Filipino culture.
Themes focused on identity, community solidarity and lived experiences, and honored the history of the Katipunan — a revolutionary group that fought for independence against centuries of Spanish colonization in the Philippines.
Bolaños competed in the event, which she called a “poetic home” for her. Bolaños’ poems and written works usually involve themes of decolonization and the Filipino diaspora.
Her first poem was about the current situation in Gaza — one she felt other colonized Filipinos would also relate to.
Poet Paul “KP” Abesamis also performed work he said was heavily influenced by his religious beliefs and complexities of being a Filipino and an Evangelical Christian. For Abesamis, there’s “a tension” within these identities which he is proud to stand in.
For him, being a Filipino American means constantly evolving: a “continuous metamorphosis.”
“I don’t think that you have to be a certain race or look a certain way to hold the faith that I have,” the Covina resident shared. “Helping redefine the Filipino American journey and experience, that’s something we can take pride in.”
Continuing October’s Filipino American History Month festivites, L.A. City Hall was lit up in the red, white, blue and yellow colors of the Philippine flag. Also on Saturday, the neighborhood celebrated labor leader Larry Itliong at a free community festival.
For more information: www.sipacares.org
Staff writer Allyson Vergara contributed to this report.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The information provided by California News Bird is for general informational purposes only. While we strive to ensure that the content we publish is accurate, current, and reliable, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or availability of the information, products, or services contained on our website.
