should like to be able to love my country as much as I love justice.”
A print bearing this powerful quote by Albert Camus crafted by DIY printmaker Sister Corita Kent in her East Hollywood office hung on the wall of Senator Bobby Kennedy’s office in DC. Sister Corita was an artist, educator, social justice advocate, and perhaps L.A.’s most prolific nun. But now the historic space that incubated her passion for art and education is in jeopardy thanks to developers who want to make way for a new grocery store and parking structure.
While she ran her DIY print house and gallery space at her old studio at 5518 Franklin Avenue, she also was celebrated across the country. She combined elements of popular advertising images and slogans, song lyrics, biblical verses, and literature to form the groundwork for what would become her pop-art movement born in Los Angeles. Her old studio is considered a neighborhood landmark in East Hollywood, but last week the fate of the building was uncertain.