Skip to main content

Ed Fuentes: Larger than Life Human Cyclone

Support Provided By
The Human Cyclone

Departures' resident mural and street art specialist Ed Fuentes gets a nod today in the L.A. Times, describing him as a "human cyclone," a fast-moving chronicler of the changing faces of downtown L.A. In the article, he describes his passion for murals:

Murals were designed to be art for the masses, and in the case of ethnic-based murals, spoke for those underrepresented. In Los Angeles, its own identity is lost because it's a region people come to reinvent the city, and/or reinvent themselves. This current legacy of remaining murals, plus the manifesto of current artists, may not realize their work represents another undervalued voice: The city's own history. When I was looking to create my own form of narrative, I sensed the traditional L.A. mural, in its best form, is a novel.... I thought to myself, what is a modern way of storytelling, and used a newspaper column as a tone ... ended up writing more to get a higher level of storytelling.

Read the L.A. Times article here, and spend some quality time browsing through the archive of his writings for Departures, or his own blog viewfromaloft.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr for updates and exclusive content.

Support Provided By
Read More
Looking west over the Heart Mountain Relocation Center with its sentry name sake, Heart Mountain, on the horizon.

How Japanese American Incarceration Was Entangled With Indigenous Dispossession

Indigenous land dispossession was bolstered by the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II — and vice versa.
Chiqui Diaz at work advocating to end social isolation | Courtesy of Chiqui Diaz

Youth Leaders Making a Difference Honored by The California Endowment

The Youth Awards was created in 2018 to recognize the impact youth voices have in creating change throughout California. Learn more about the positive work they're accomplishing throughout the state.
A 2011 crime scene in Tulare County, where one of Jose Martinez's victims was found. | Courtesy of Marion County Sherff’s Office via FOIA/Buzzfeed

California's Unincorporated Places Can Be Poor, Powerless — and the Perfect Place to Commit Murder

It's time to do better by communities that don’t even have local police to call, let alone defund.