Date(s):
Time:
Location:
Type:
Audience:
Category:
Language:
Description:
Join us to hear creators Ashley Walker and Tien Nguyen, with special guest Monica Lee, in discussion. This event marks the culmination of the 2025 Creators in Residence at the Los Angeles Public Library, featuring conversations with the Creators and a showcase of their work created during the residency period.
Creator Ashley Walker's project, Threads of Los Angeles, reimagines the city's history through the lens of fashion, transforming moments of architecture, music, migration, protest, and environment into wearable art. Six vibrant, newly designed costumes will be on display, taking inspiration from the city's Central Avenue jazz scene, the architecture of Paul R. Williams, the Zoot Suit Riots, the 1992 Uprising, and more. Come hear more about Ashley's process in creating these uniquely L.A. wearable art pieces, which pay homage to the city's history with a contemporary flair. This will also be the only opportunity to view all six custom outfits in one place, as they next travel individually to branch libraries across the city.
Creator Tien Nguyen has been exploring the Library's Menu Collection, sharing stories behind selected menus on social media as a way to examine how food has shaped Los Angeles. She also created a display of menus from Little Tokyo, now on view on the second floor of the Central Library, and another display soon to be on view at the Pio Pico-Koreatown branch, which traces the history of the neighborhood through its menus. In this program, Tien will be in conversation with Monica Lee, the founder and chef of Beverly Soon Tofu, a Koreatown institution that closed in 2020. Monica has also donated a highly unique menu to the Library, in the form of a painted gourd, which will be on display.
Following the program, join the Creators in the Courtyard for a meet and greet and limited edition swag.
Bios
Ashley Walker is a fashion designer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Leimert Park Threads, which transforms cultural history into wearable art, celebrating the resilience and creativity of Black communities in Los Angeles. Walker's past work includes collaborations with Metro Art Los Angeles, Forever 21, and Savage X Fenty, and he has led projects centered on themes of migration, activism, and identity. A graduate of Howard University, Walker began his career as a visual merchandising manager for Levi's and Nike in New York before returning to Los Angeles, where he expanded his practice into photography and creative direction.
Tien Nguyen is a food writer focused on the intersection of food and culture, blending a journalist's depth with an author's storytelling skills. She is the former senior food writer at L.A. Weekly and has written for the Los Angeles Times and Eater. Nguyen co-authored L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food and The Choi of Cooking With Roy Choi, and Sohn-Mat: Recipes and Flavors of Korean Home Cooking With Monica Lee. A longtime Angeleno and an instructor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Nguyen works to highlight how food tells the story of Los Angeles—its neighborhoods, traditions, and migrations.
Monica Lee opened Beverly Soon Tofu in 1986. It was the first restaurant of its kind in L.A., a pioneer serving soon tofu stew to residents and visitors of Koreatown for over thirty years.
The Los Angeles Public Library Creators in Residence is an initiative that invites creative individuals from a wide range of fields across Los Angeles' diverse communities to engage with the Library's collections, facilities, staff and patrons, devising a new project that responds to or is inspired by the Library's mission of providing free and easy access to ideas, information and technology for all. It is produced in partnership with the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, and funded by an endowment provided by the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund.
For ADA accommodations, call (213) 228-7430 at least 72 hours prior to the event.
Para ajustes razonables según la ley de ADA, llama al (213) 228-7430 al menos 72 horas antes del evento.