The creative spirit is powerful. It can encourage, inspire, and transform someone in the simplest of ways, stirring a passion for making the world a better place. How many of us can remember that influential teacher or artist who shaped how we thought and felt about the world? Who not only lit that creative spark in us but helped us to nourish it so it would burn brightly? These are visionaries that are important for us to remember and celebrate, and in Hollywood, we have many that fit this description. 

Corita Kent (1918–1986) was an artist, educator, and advocate for social justice. At age 18, she entered the religious order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, eventually teaching in and then heading up the art department at the Immaculate Heart College. Her work evolved from figurative and religious to incorporating advertising images and slogans, popular song lyrics, biblical verses, and literature. Throughout the ‘60s, her work became increasingly political, urging viewers to consider poverty, racism, and injustice. In 1968, she sought dispensation from her vows and moved to Boston. After 1970, her work evolved into a sparser, introspective style, influenced by living in a new environment, a secular life, and her battles with cancer. She remained active in social causes until her death in 1986. At the time of her death, she had created almost 800 serigraph editions, thousands of watercolors, and innumerable public and private commissions.

Corita was praised by art critics for her exceptional talent of recognizing the eternal in the ordinary and celebrating it with bursts of brilliant colors and bold shapes. Some of her most foundational and influential work was created at 5518 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, which sits across the street from Immaculate Heart College where she taught. 

Between 1960-1968 she made some of her most recognizable works at 5518 Franklin, while hosting notable creative leaders, and influencing a generation of young artists through her art and teaching. The building currently is the location of the Sun Cleaners dry cleaning business, but retains its integrity from when Corita made her powerful silk-screen images that addressed issues of poverty, racism, war, women’s rights, and injustice with a distinctive bold graphic style that influenced artists and activists worldwide.

It was a place of creative refuge, and her time in Hollywood is remembered by many. In fact, in 2019, the City and County of Los Angeles declared November 20th to be Corita Day in honor of her legacy. She lived in Los Angeles for 46 years, from the age of 5. Her family arrived in Los Angeles by ship and joined her mother's family in Hollywood in a multifamily housing unit. The Kent family were not rich, and “Hollywood was, as Corita once described it, a sleepy town.” (1) The family resided at 6616 De Longpre Avenue, near Seward and North June street. The small park, De Longpre Park, was just across the street.

Corita and her family belonged to the nearby Jesuit-led Blessed Sacrament Parish on Sunset Boulevard. This is also where Corita and her siblings attended school at the Blessed Sacrament School. Although she did move to Boston, she was frequently in Los Angeles for the remainder of her life. Throughout this time she continued to influence and inspire a generation of artists and leaders in the area. 

In recent months, however, a threat to Corita’s legacy is taking shape. Her once-studio building at 5518 Franklin is being threatened with demolition, to create more parking for the Lazy Acres organic market, which is taking over the nearby Rite-Aid. Despite the fact Sun Cleaners is the current occupant of the space, it is concerning to think that this important cultural location could soon disappear. 

To learn more about this developing situation please read more HERE and HERE.

Also across the street from her previous studio is The Corita Art Center. Founded in 1997, the Center maintains the largest and most comprehensive collection of her work. The Center’s collection is comprised of Corita’s artwork, ephemera, articles, slides, and other archival material that visitors won’t see anywhere else. The Corita Art Center is dedicated to preserving and promoting Corita’s artistic and educational legacy as well as her passion for social justice. Today, the Corita Art Center supports exhibition loans and public programs, oversees image and merchandising rights, produces public programming, and serves as a resource of information about her life and work.

There is now a new generation interested in uncovering the history of trailblazing female artists and who are drawing inspiration from Corita’s distinct and vibrant artwork.

Her work is also found at The Hammer Museum in L.A., which has a very comprehensive collection. Public institutions and private collectors around the world hold Corita’s work, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MOMA, Smithsonian, The Library of Congress, Brooklyn Art Museum, Harvard Art Museum, and many others.

At a time of tumult and heightened division in America, Corita’s art and mission are more relevant than ever. She can still inspire us, help us to build bridges, and uplift the lessons she learned. She is one of the most fierce yet under-remembered women, artists, and social justice leaders of our time. As members of Hollywood, we feel honored she is part of the rich heritage of the community. 

FURTHER RESOURCES

Please explore the wonderful website for the Corita Arts Center. So much there to inspire and stir the creative spirit. Plus learn about programs and check out their store for prints and other unique items.

FOOTNOTES

1) Pacette, R, Corita Kent: Gentle Revolutionary of the Heart (Liturgical Press 2017)

Text was provided by the Corita Arts Center in collaboration with Hollywood Heritage.