​ Los Angeles, CA-- Brooklyn & Boyle proudly closed 2015, our 7th year of publication, with a distinctly Angeleno tribute to La Virgen de Guadalupe, despite the fact that prominent Mexican literary critic Heriberto Yépez, considered to be a progressive and provocative voice, once penned an essay in Mexico City's Milenio where he condescendingly alluded to the fact that Chican@ artists and art are still stuck in an extended adolescent veneration of the iconic image. Of course, he also included our alleged love affair with Che Guevara in the screed and suggested that Chican@ poetry was banal and that Mexican Americans were not hip to formal experimentation in literature.... But back to our internalized external legacy from the hilltop known as Tepeyac, the upcoming December issue of Brooklyn & Boyle features a striking photograph of beloved East LA artist Ofelia Esparza standing in front of the statue of La Lupita that once stood vigil over the parking lot at

by Abel Salas Renowned artist Roberto Gutiérrez has the silhouettes of the 6th Street Bridge etched into his soul. Some might even say he is in love with the historic cement and steel structure that has joined Boyle Heights and downtown Los Angeles for more than three quarters of a century. Born just over a decade after the bridge was built in 1932, the veteran artist, known for his tender, stylized Eastside cityscapes, was saddened when he heard that it would be torn down and replaced. The new viaduct, a sleek, futuristic behemoth based on a winning design selected as part of an international competition, is a harbinger. Alongside the recently opened Broad Museum, it is indicative of a now obvious top-down commitment to restoring and re-invigorating DTLA as part of an overall plan. Great cities, as noted in much of the public information and in statements issued around the bridge replacement project, are typified by dynamic city centers. Vibrant urban hubs invite suburbanites b