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. This 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. 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. ____ Organized as part of LACMA’s Art Bridges Initiative, Before You Now focuses on the enduring themes of the artist’s self-portrait, as seen in a selection of works from LACMA’s collections of photographs, prints, drawings, videos, and installation art. Primarily featuring contemporary makers, the exhibition is an introduction to seeing American artists as they see themselves—or as they want to be seen by their public. They are shown contemplating their physicality in realistic fashion, highlighting their persona through symbolic tropes, or utilizing humor or conceptual methods to enlighten, exaggerate, or camouflage their reflective selves. Over 50 artists—including Laura Aguilar, Kwame Brathwaite, Kalli Arte Collective, Jennifer Moon, Roger Shimomura, Cindy Sherman, Rodrigo Valenzuela, and June Wayne—display an ongoing fascination with, or return to, the self-portrait. Before You Now aims to broaden the topic to include many whose practice leans into an autobiographical narrative, and explores artists who are adding to and redefining our culture by expanding on ideas of identity. Before You Now was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in collaboration with the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College; Riverside Art Museum; Lancaster Museum of Art and History; and California State University, Northridge, Art Galleries.