Radio Juxtapoz, ep 163: Nellie Scott on the Enduring and Reenergized Legacy of Corita Kent

May 08, 2025 | in Magazine

american sampler, from the heroes & sheroes series, 1968-69, serigraph, 22½ x 11½ in., image courtesy of Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, corita.org

a passion for the possible, from the heroes & sheroes series, 1968-69, serigraph, 23 x 12 in., image courtesy of Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, corita.org

life-new life, 1966, serigraph, 28 x 25 in., image courtesy of Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, corita.org

Nellie Scott, Executive Director of the Corita Art Center, Corita Day, Photo by Miriam Brummel

Corita in classroom c. 1969. Image courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, corita.org.

wet and wild, 1967, serigraph, 17 ¾ x 23 in., image courtesy of Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, corita.org

yellow submarine,1967, serigraph, 23 x 35 in., image courtesy of Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, corita.org

with love to the everyday miracle, 1967, serigraph, 23 x 35 in., image courtesy of Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, corita.org

stop the bombing, 1967, serigraph, 18 x 23 in., image courtesy of Corita Art Center, Los Angeles, corita.org

Photo credit Marc Walker / Corita Art Center, Photo courtesy of Corita Art Center, corita.org

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The first thing I said to Nellie Scott, Executive Director of the Corita Art Center in downtown Los Angeles that preserves and promotes Corita Kent’s art, teaching, and passion for social justice, was that I wish we didn't need to do this. I wish Corita Kent's work had already done its work, that the world was free of oppression, racism, inequality, chaos and fear. Maybe Nellie and I could just talk about love and a butterfly, the upcoming showing of Kent's work at Andrew Kreps and kaufmann repetto in NYC this month. But the times they are a'changing and oh how they stay the same. The new Corita Art Center opened in March and since, Pope Francis has passed, the structure of democracy in America has been bent to a near breaking point and art has an act of protest and social awareness is struggling to find its footing. So, it's time for Corita Kent once again.

In this conversation on the Radio Juxtapoz podcast produced by the Unibrow, Nellie Scott speaks of the founding of the Center in 1997 and its association with the Immaculate Heart Community, how Corita Kent went from entering the religious order Immaculate Heart of Mary at age 18, to championing civil rights, anti-war activism, and peace, through her unique aesthetic of printmaking. She left the order in 1968 and moved to Boston, where she continued to make work. Her art, and her life, was devoted to finding a deep understanding of the human experience, through teaching and creating. Corita left behind a great legacy that continues to reverberate - at the time of her death in 1986, Corita had created almost 800 serigraph editions and thousands of watercolours, alongside public and private commissions. From Boston to Los Angeles, Corita’s life is a truly inspired story.

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The Unibrow's Radio Juxtapoz podcast⁠ is hosted by Juxtapoz editor, ⁠⁠⁠Evan Pricco⁠⁠⁠. Episode 163 was recorded at the Corita Art Center in Los Angeles in late April 2025. Video clip here of Corita making in the studio by Thomas Conrad

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