Vincent Price Art Museum and UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Present On the Side of Angels: Latina Lesbian Activism
June 17, 2025
On View: June 21 – Aug. 30, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 21, 4 to 6 p.m.
MONTEREY PARK, Calif. — Opening June 21, 2025, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) in collaboration with Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM) at East Los Angeles College (ELAC) proudly presents On the Side of Angels: Latina Lesbian Activism.
The new exhibition presents selections from the archival collections of prominent Latina lesbians, narrating their involvement in LGBTQ+, immigrant, labor, and housing justice movements from the 1980s through the late 2000s.
Featuring materials from the CSRC, the exhibition includes photography, posters, magazines, and video footage from the collections of policy and civil rights advocate Laura Esquivel, tenant rights attorney Elena Popp, and archivist, herstorian, and former CSRC librarian Yolanda Retter Vargas. While the materials on view primarily reflect Los Angeles-based activism, they also reveal how local organizing was often in active dialogue with broader national and transnational movements.
As explained by Veronica Terriquez, CSRC director and cofounder of the center’s Latina Futures 2050 Lab, the exhibition is an opportunity for museum visitors to witness first-hand the pivotal contributions and immense passion these women had in their pursuit of equal rights. “We are
incredibly proud of this exhibition because it features women who championed immigrant rights, safer working conditions, and broader acceptance of LGBTQ and other marginalized communities — efforts that have paved the way for cross-movement solidarity in Los Angeles and beyond,” Terriquez said. “We are grateful to our co-curators and our partners at VPAM for allowing residents to access in greater depth an important part of our history.”
“We are thrilled to once again partner with the CSRC to showcase its archival collections at the Vincent Price Art Museum,” said Gloria Ortega, VPAM curatorial assistant. “This exhibition examines a complex and often under-recognized history of Los Angeles, and we are excited to share it with our students and community.”
The exhibition’s title pays homage to Retter Vargas’s dissertation, On the Side of Angels: Lesbian Activism in Los Angeles, 1970-1990, completed at the University of New Mexico in 1999. Retter Vargas was an instrumental figure in diversifying archival collections across Los Angeles. During
her tenure at the CSRC, she notably expanded the archives to include the papers of Esquivel and Popp, who were associated with key organizations such as Connexxus/Centro de Mujeres and Lesbianas Unidas (LU), an organization that emerged from Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos (GLLU). Collectively, this exhibition showcases the complexity of Latina lesbian activism and highlights the critical role of women in advocating for social justice and the broader acceptance of LGBTQ+ communities.
“In researching the archival collections of Latina lesbians for this exhibition, we learned of the wide range of issues affecting Latina lesbian communities and the tactics used to vehemently protect them. In many ways, the collaboration between the Vincent Price Art Museum and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center is an application of the lessons Latina lesbian activism teaches,” said co-curators Vanessa Esparza Quintero and Jocelyne Sanchez.
“Latina lesbians frequently worked in coalition with Latino, LGBTQ, and working-class movements. In this period, it was common to pool resources to make projects and initiatives viable. With a current presidential administration that is actively targeting vulnerable populations and defunding humanities and arts fields, working in collaboration and combining resources are strategies we must implement to continue the work of keeping our communities safe and preserving histories subjected to erasure. We hope that the Latina lesbian history presented in this exhibition catalyzes audiences into action and inspires organizations with resources to work collectively.”
The exhibition’s opening will be celebrated with a reception on Saturday, June 21, from 4 to 6 p.m., in tandem with the opening of another new exhibition, Before You Now: Capturing the Self in Portraiture. Admission is free, no reservations required. In preparation for the reception, the Museum will be closed during regular operating hours on June 21.
On the Side of Angels: Latina Lesbian Activism is presented in partnership with the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, a research initiative led by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. The exhibition is curated by Vanessa Esperanza Quintero and Jocelyne Sanchez.
All exhibitions and programs at the Vincent Price Art Museum are underwritten by the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation and East Los Angeles College.
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About Vincent Price Art Museum
The Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM) at East Los Angeles College serves as a unique educational resource for the diverse audiences of the college and the community through the exhibition, interpretation, collection, and preservation of works in all media of the visual arts. VPAM provides an environment to encounter a range of aesthetic expressions that illuminate the depth and diversity of artwork produced by people of the world, both contemporary and past. By presenting thoughtful, innovative, and culturally diverse exhibitions and by organizing cross-disciplinary programs on issues of historical, social, and cultural relevance, VPAM seeks to promote knowledge, inspire creative thinking, and deepen an understanding of and
appreciation for the visual arts. Learn more about VPAM at vpam.org.
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About East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is the largest of nine two-year community colleges within the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). More information about ELAC is available online at www.elac.edu. Follow ELAC on social media at Facebook @EastLACollege, X/Twitter @EastLACollege, and Instagram @ELACHuskies.
Latina Futures 2050 Lab, a research initiative spearheaded by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC), was created in 2022 in collaboration with the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI). Funded by a $15 million California state budget allocation, Latina Futures seeks to increase knowledge and insight through applied policy research on the contours of the economic, political, and social lives of Latinas living in the United States over the next several decades.
Founded in 1969, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) is an established leader in the development of scholarly research on the Chicano-Latino population in the United States. For more information, visit www.chicano.ucla.edu.
The exhibition draws from the robust archives at the CSRC Library. Established in 1969, it currently holds over 648 archival and manuscript collections and is among the most important national and international research collections on the Latinx experience. Archival research visits are available by appointment only.
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Media Contacts:
Katie Dunham
Katie Dunham Communications / Vincent Price Art Museum
katie@katiedunham.net
Image: Lesbians of Color Conference, 1980. From the Yolanda Retter Papers. Courtesy of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.