Central American Art and Resistance in 1980’s LA

In this episode, we go back to 1980s Los Angeles, when civil wars in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua sent hundreds of thousands of people north and helped turn LA into “Little Central America.” With professor and longtime participant Rubén Martínez as our guide—someone who lived through this moment firsthand—we follow the Sanctuary Movement as churches quietly, and then publicly, open their doors to refugees the U.S. refused to recognize. Sanctuary meant food and a place to sleep, but it also meant music, theater, poetry, and posters that challenged U.S. policy while helping people process their grief.

From there, we step inside Echo Park United Methodist Church, where artist and performer Elia Arce and a circle of Central American poets, musicians, and organizers transform the basement into a cultural home. We also sit with Rev. David Farley, pastor emeritus of Echo Park United Methodist, who was there to witness it all. Upstairs, families try to stay invisible on classroom floors; downstairs, performances inspired by banned writers, songs from back home, and handmade banners turn fear and exile into shared story.

Our last stop is the Getty Research Institute, where archivist Jasmine Magaña—a Salvadoran Angeleno herself—is helping build a new, expansive record of this era. 

Through in-depth oral histories with artists and organizers, she and her colleagues work to preserve stories that were never formally recorded but continue to shape Los Angeles today.

Together, Rubén, Elia, and Jasmine show how the art around the Sanctuary Movement didn’t just document a moment—it held people together, reshaped Los Angeles, and still offers a blueprint for solidarity in our own tense times.

Special thanks to Rubén Martínez, Elia Arce, and Jasmine Magaña. Deep gratitude to Lindsey Gant and Diana Carroll for their generous support in publishing and creating the web pages and Gina White for her work on rights and clearances.