Detail of future artwork at Little Tokyo/Arts District Station “Will Power Allegory” by Audrey Chan featuring Julia Bogany and her great granddaughters and dancers at the annual Kihaayy Paar Kuruvungna celebration

Post by Letitia Fernandez Ivins
Senior Manager Transportation Planning, Metro Arts and Design 

It is with deep sadness and a sense of communal loss that we honor the passing of the Tongva Tribal elder Julia Louise Bogany “Wiseone.” A beloved cultural counselor, educator and leader among the Gabrieleño-Tongva people, Bogany worked for decades to increase knowledge, appreciation and support of Tongva language and cultural practice. She also served as the Cultural Affairs Officer for the Gabrieleño-Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians.

Through story-sharing and research, Bogany informed numerous artworks in Southern California. Her imprint is felt across the Metro system through artworks such as the Gold Line Bridge by Andrew Leicester on the Eastbound I-210 Freeway in the City of Arcadia, The Crying Rock and Saint Monica at Downtown Santa Monica Station by Walter Hood, and future artworks by Audrey Chan,  Mariana Castillo DeBall and Karl Haendel.

In the recently organized  Metro Community Conversations: Tongva Representation in Public Art , Bogany shared her journey to raise the visibility of the Tongva in which artists have played a key role.  During the conversation last fall, Bogany put it this way: “It’s like having a big family that has actually made us visible.”

We are profoundly grateful to have known Julia Louise Bogany’s boundless generosity, warmth, energy, candor, wisdom and inspiration. Her legacy will live through the people and public artworks that she has touched across LA Metro and the Southern California region.

As Julia once stated, “Relationships with people empower us to do the work with and in community.” Grounded in this belief, we strive to honor her legacy.

Detail of recently installed artwork at Downtown Santa Monica Station “The Crying Rock and Saint Monica” referencing the sacred springs named Kuruvungna by the Tongva.

“Gold Line Bridge” by Andrew Leicester, designed with consultation from Julia Bogany

We invite you to take a moment to listen to Julia Bogany share a window into her life’s work during the Metro Community Conversation held on November 17, 2020:

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