About this Event
A Presentation on Our Lady of the Angels: The Virgin of Guadalupe on the Walls of Los Angeles by Sam Quinones
As a part of the PRS' YesterdayLA series, we're excited to welcome best-selling author Sam Quinones to the Library to celebrate the release of his new book on Angel City Press, Our Lady of the Angels: The Virgin of Guadalupe on the Walls of Los Angeles. This landmark book marks the first foray into photojournalism for Sam Quinones, a veteran reporter and author known for his deep exploration of Mexican and American cultures (Dreamland, The Least of Us, True Tales from Another Mexico). Through a vivid collection of images, Quinones documents the profound intersection of faith, history, and community survival on the streets of Southern California. Presented in both English and Spanish, this dual-language book brings the spirit of the City of Angels into its pages through evocative, candid photographs from the streets of LA.
In Los Angeles, the Virgin has migrated from the churches to the streets. Quinones’s photography captures how immigrant entrepreneurs—mechanics, bakers, and taco vendors—commission murals of the Virgin as a form of security they can actually afford. That is because even the most hardened gang members revere her image; they often refuse to deface any wall where she appears. In neighborhoods once blighted by gang warfare, these murals transformed scarred walls into urban sanctuaries.
Our Lady of the Angels also serves as a poignant record of a disappearing Los Angeles. As property values climb and corporate chains replace local mom-and-pop shops, many of these iconic murals are being lost. Despite these shifts, Quinones captures the Virgin’s enduring presence alongside everyday items, blessing both the businesses and the people who shop there.
On storefronts, alleyways, and street corners across the city, murals of the Virgin of Guadalupe grace the walls of Los Angeles in a tapestry of faith, identity, and culture. Our Lady of the Angels: The Virgin of Guadalupe on the Walls of Los Angeles captures the sacred and everyday presence of murals across the city, offering a poignant lens into the cultural heartbeat of LA neighborhoods. Each image is a testament to community, artistry, and devotion—a visual pilgrimage through urban altars where spirituality meets street art. Celebrating religious iconography, Latinx culture, and the layered stories of LA itself, this collection invites you to see the city anew—through the lens of its most beloved saint.
Sam Quinones is a Los-Angeles-based independent journalist, who worked for ten years in Mexico (1994-2004), where he wrote the first two of his four books of narrative nonfiction. In 2004 he returned to Los Angeles where he worked for another ten years as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Our Lady of the Angels is his first book of photojournalism.
The Virgin of Guadalupe has always been a part of my life, not just because I’m Catholic, but because of her ubiquity in mural form across Southern California. But not until Sam Quinones came out with this book did I ever think of Lupita as a personification of the American dream in all its beauty and peril.
— Gustavo Arellano
Tickets: $10 (in person only event)
Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.
ABOUT YesterdayLA
This July, the Philosophical Research Society celebrates our beloved city’s rich and diverse past with YesterdayLA, a month-long exploration of unique stories and works of art that have become part of the fabric of Los Angeles history. The landscape of our city is changing faster than ever before. By examining the LA of yesterday, we invite Angelenos to gather together to not only look back but forward to the possibilities of our great city’s tomorrow.
Throughout its 90+ year history The Philosophical Research Society has stood as a sanctuary for those seeking truth and enlightenment, with its doors open to Angelenos who have created great works of art and innovation, political movements, and spiritual evolutions across the eras. YesterdayLA will explore the fascinating stories of our city’s past with the continued spirit of curiosity that has stood as the pillar of PRS’s mission.
CONTENT DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed by the presenters are solely those of the presenter and may not represent those of the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), its affiliates, or any individuals associated with PRS. Presentations are intended for informational and entertainment purposes.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard, Los Angeles, United States
USD 12.51
