Much like Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and Thai Town, the Salvadoran community needed a place to call their own. In the summer of 2012, community members came together to register an area south of downtown near the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Vermont Avenue as the El Salvador Corridor. The Corridor serves as a physical space for Salvadorans to feel affirmed in their place in Los Angeles, as well as a symbolic representation of their strength and unity as a people. Vibrant Salvadoran imagery a

Tropico de Nopal Gallery and Art-Space gives the Westlake community, and Los Angeles at large, a physical space to share and rejoice. The name of the space is a combination of references, first to the nopal (cactus) that is present in Mexican dishes and the novel “Tropic of Orange” by Karen Tei Yamashita. “Tropic of Orange” weaves the stories of several multi-ethnic characters, examining their lives intertwining in a world of magical realism. Tropico de Nopal’s owner Reyes Rodríguez, a Chicano a