Seeking the Soul of L.A. on Its Streets: Paintings and Stories by J. Michael Walker

"an original, deeply empathetic spiritual geography of Los Angeles"

-Laura E. Pérez, Author of Chicana Art: The Politics of Spiritual and Aesthetic Altarities

Santa Ynez Street

In early fall 2000, J Michael Walker happened upon a young homeless woman on LA's

infamous Skid Row. Their accidental friendship sowed the seeds of his story "Santa Ynez Street."

Santa Ynez Street, Intro -

I was standing in the lobby of a drop-in shelter for the mentally ill homeless in the heart of Skid Row.

She was sitting in one of the grey plastic chairs lining the wall, dressed in a black blouse and beads. Frail and small with delicate features, she had the eyes of a doe.

I noticed her immediately: she looked far too young and vibrant to be in this place, as though she had somehow confused it with the bus station a few blocks away. Perhaps she was still new at “being homeless” and not yet beaten down by it. Perhaps this was why her eyes seemed fixed on something faraway - to shut out her mistaken surroundings.

“Excuse me,” I approached her, “Would you mind if I took your photograph?”

Her eyes brightened, a broad smile appeared, and she replied, as though I had happened by at the most opportune moment, “I've been waiting for someone to take a good picture of me.”....

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Joseph Arthur performing his song "In the Sun", at the Glastonbury Festival, June 2000 (A song that was an inspiration during this journey)	J Michael Walker reading "Santa Ynez Street", at the Los Angeles-Idea Project conference; June 2008, Barnsdall Gallery Theatre.