The Corita Art Center (CAC), dedicated to artist and educator Corita Kent, officially opened its doors on March 8th in downtown Los Angeles. This new cultural space will house the artist’s archive while also functioning as an education facility and community space.
Often referred to as the “Pop art nun,” Kent—also known as Sister Mary Corita—taught herself to make prints during her time as a nun in the Immaculate Heart of Mary religious order in Los Angeles. These prints initially focused on religious subjects and took inspiration from medieval prints. By the 1960s, as Pop art gained popularity and began to influence Kent’s work, she became well-known for her colorful, socially conscious prints incorporating text and political slogans.
The Corita Art Center’s inaugural exhibition, “heroes and sheroes,” features a series of 29 prints by Kent honoring figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, and John F. Kennedy, through whom she explored ideals of justice and peace. These prints, produced between 1968 and 1969, tackle themes from civil rights to nuclear disarmament, appropriating popular trends in advertisements and mass media in the ’60s.
“The exhibition will debut the full suite of heroes and sheroes in Los Angeles for the first time, highlighting Corita Kent’s powerful use of mass media to address the pressing issues of her era—many of which remain strikingly relevant today,” said Olivian Cha, senior curator at CAC. “Designed to engage and inspire a younger generation, the exhibition is also accompanied by a thoughtfully developed curriculum that we hope will foster dialogue and deeper reflection as it tours colleges and universities nationwide.”
In addition to its exhibitions, the Corita Art Center will offer a range of programming, including workshops and educational activities designed to delve into Kent’s life and artistic practice. The center also features a comprehensive archive of her works and materials—approximately 30,000 items in total. When Kent passed away in 1986 at the age of 67, her archives were inherited by the Immaculate Heart Community, which first established the CAC in 1997. The foundation was housed within Immaculate Heart High School, which only provided a hallway as its exhibition space. Last fall, the CAC announced its plans to become an independent nonprofit and subsequently relocate.
CAC’s new space features several murals painted by teachers and students from the L.A. Trade Tech College’s sign graphics program. One of these murals is based on Kent’s Ten Rules (1967), a set of directives she co-authored with her students at the Immaculate Heart College.
“It is long overdue for Corita Kent’s work to have a space of its own—as a hub for creativity, community, and dialogue that reflects her belief that art should be accessible to all,” said Sheharazad Fleming, Corita Art Center board chair. “In a city where female artists remain vastly underrepresented, the opening of the Corita Art Center in this vibrant and creative neighborhood stands as a powerful testament to her enduring impact and the necessity of amplifying women’s voices in art.”
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