Debora is a prominent Chicano muralist, with Catholic faith and spirituality playing an important role in his work. Photo courtesy of Fabian Debora
Inside the Art Studio with Muralist Fabian Debora
Large painted canvases hang from walls. Students huddle around computers, elegant digital graphics leaping from the screens. Artists work at wooden easels, intensely focused on their craft.
It’s all happening inside the Boyle Heights art studio of muralist Fabian Debora, who recently welcomed IACS President Fr. Dorian for a visit.
“Art should be universal,” Debora said. “That’s what we create here – art for the people, by the people and of the people of our communities.”
Debora will be speaking at “Guadalupe: Holy Art in the Streets of Los Angeles” on April 10, 2022 at the USC Fisher Museum of Art. The IACS event will also feature a discussion with journalist Sam Quinones. Conversations will be moderated by Fr. Dorian and eminent Latina theologian Prof. Nancy Pineda-Madrid, T. Marie Chilton Chair of Catholic Theology at Loyola Marymount University.
“This exciting event breaks new ground by exploring the fascinating way spirituality and street art come together in our communities,” Fr. Dorian said. “We’re honored to welcome two high-profile speakers to USC to discuss the influence of Catholic faith, spirituality and the presence of the Virgin Mary in urban art across Los Angeles and Southern California.”
A bestselling author and former Los Angeles Times journalist, Quinones has spent the past decade reporting on the opioid and meth crisis in the U.S. As a side project, Quinones traveled across L.A. documenting graffiti and street murals depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe. His book “The Virgin of the American Dream: Guadalupe on the Walls of Los Angeles” is a photo essay spotlighting that work.
Quinones is also the author of “The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth,” published in November by Bloomsbury Publishing. The book has earned widespread accolades, including being named an Amazon editor’s pick for best nonfiction and a finalist for the 2021 Nonfiction Award from the National Book Critics Circle.
Art should be universal.”
Debora was born in El Paso, Texas and grew up in East L.A. A former gang member who has overcome battles with poverty, drug addiction and incarceration, Debora has successfully channeled his creative energy into public art and arts education. Along with being a sought-after muralist, printmaker and painter, Debora serves as executive director of the Homeboy Art Academy, teaching art to formerly incarcerated teenagers and adults facing the same challenges he once did.
“Chicano art is art that corresponds to the needs and struggles of our people,” Debora said. “Public murals are mirrors that should reflect social issues and the people they represent. We come from oppression, displacement and segregation. As an artist, it’s important that I embrace all of that.”
Want to go?
“Guadalupe: Holy Art in the Streets of Los Angeles” will be held on Sunday, April 10 at 3 p.m. at the USC Fisher Museum of Art.
The live in-person event is part of “Guadalupe – At the Break of Dawn,” a multi-year academic collaboration between the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC and Loyola Marymount University exploring new perspectives on the religious and cultural impact of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Learn more about “Guadalupe: Holy Art in the Streets of Los Angeles” at: iacs.usc.edu/holyart
Muralist Fabian Debora, executive director of the Homeboy Art Academy, discusses the influences of Catholic faith and spirituality in Chicano art. Video by Adair Murrillas, MCA Productions/Leuzinger High
