By Lookout Staff

November 18, 2019 -- Queer Latinx artist Analisa Raya-Flores, whose work explores ethnicity and class, has been named the Annenberg Community Beach House writer in residence.

Raya-Flores will hold the post -- which includes a private office on the upper floor of the Guest House of the former Marion Davies estate -- until December 17, Cultural Affairs officials said.

"Flores is inspired to create work about invisibility, identity politics and perhaps most significantly, the representation of minorities in modern mythology," officials said.

Analisa Raya-Flores

That "mythology" includes films, tv shows and "even campfire songs," officials said. Flores' Beach House project is a solo performance entitled "The Legend of Graham Canyon," inspired by historical accounts of One-Eyed Charlie Parkhurst and the "male-impersonators" of Victorian-era music halls. Parkhurst -- who was born Charlotte in 1812 -- was a stagecoach driver, farmer and rancher in California who lived and dressed as a man.

Flores' aim is "to illuminate the everyday traumas, stresses, and neuroses of Otherness, and to make them accessible and relatable to a diverse audience," cultural officials said.

Flores is the daughter of a migrant worker turned judge and an English teacher turned lawyer.

She will be posting weekly updates about her progress at beachhouseair.blogspot.com.

The residency allows the writer to complete a work-in-progress and share aspects of their work for the public’s benefit, cultural officials said.

"This program is best suited to writers who will be able to use the residency period to either finish or make significant progress on a particular work," according to the application.

The writer-in-residence receives an honorarium of $1,500 in monthly installments "as an acknowledgment of the public benefit of the resident to the community."

Residencies are offered as part of the City’s “Beach=Culture” program, a series of free performances, exhibitions, talks and events on the grounds of the old Marion Davies estate at 415 PCH.

To learn more about this program, how to RSVP to performances and workshops as well as weekly updates on Flores' progress, visit: santamonica.gov/beachculture.