Belonging: Art Connects Community
VPAM Foundation Gala 2025

Armando Duron
Art Collector and Cultural Advocate
Vincent and Mary Price Legacy Award

This award honors individuals whose leadership, generosity, and deep commitment to the arts have strengthened the cultural vitality of our communities. Armando’s longtime work as a collector, advocate, and supporter has helped shape the field of Chicanx and Latinx art in Los Angeles and beyond. His dedication to making this cultural heritage visible, celebrated, and accessible for future generations embodies the spirit of this award—and helps ensure our communities’ stories are seen and valued.

Jim Uyekawa
Art Faculty, East LA College
Victor Parra Community Award

The Victor Parra Community Award honors individuals whose leadership and service are deeply rooted in both the arts and community. Over three decades as an artist, professor, and mentor, Jim Uyekawa has shaped generations of artists and educators whose impact continues to expand across the field. His guidance has helped launch countless creative journeys and build lasting networks of mentorship, cementing the East LA College Art Department as a vital space for artistic growth in the region.

Ofelia Esparza
Artist and Altarista
Thomas Silliman Vanguard Award

The Thomas Silliman Vanguard Award recognizes artists whose bold, experimental work engages deeply with the social and cultural issues of our time. It honors those who push artistic boundaries and foster meaningful community connection. As a pioneering artist, altarista, and educator, Ofelia Esparza’s lifelong commitment to intergenerational knowledge, cultural preservation, and community-rooted practice has been a vital source of resonance, healing, and resistance embodying VPAM’s mission to uplift transformative cultural expression in our local communities.

ELAC Student Musicians

Students from the East Los Angeles College Music Department are led by a distinguished faculty of active performers, composers, and scholars. The department provides students with rigorous training and real-world opportunities to grow as musicians. ELAC music students consistently place at the top of statewide competitions, participate in professional recordings and festivals, and go on to successful careers in performance, education, and the music industry.

Las Chorizeras

Las Chorizeras is an all-female musical project founded by singer-songwriter Nancy Sanchez, featuring original music and reimagined classics from the American and Mexican songbooks in a fresh, regional fusion style. The ensemble blends mariachi instruments like the vihuela with Latin Alternative and folkloric sounds.

Nancy Sanchez, an award-winning vocalist born in Toluca, Mexico and raised in Southern California, brings together her bicultural roots through songwriting that weaves Mexican folkloric, jazz, and Latin influences.

Darlene Perez, a bilingual singer-songwriter from Orange County, has performed widely in the Latin Alternative scene. She brings rich harmonies and heartfelt vocals to the group, alongside her work in early childhood development.

MILCK

MILCK (Connie K. Lim) is a singer, songwriter, and activist known for creating powerful music that uplifts community, healing, and human dignity. Blending pop, soul, folk, and alternative sounds with lyrics that speak to empowerment and resilience, MILCK rose to prominence with her viral anthem “Quiet,” which became a global rallying cry for women’s rights and reached #1 on Billboard’s protest songs chart. Her latest album, Mother Tongue, explores identity, intergenerational healing, and belonging.

Her music has been featured in major shows and campaigns—from Grey’s Anatomy to national ads for Olay and TOMS—and she’s collaborated with artists like John Legend, Amanda Gorman, and Ani DiFranco. MILCK is also co-developing a new musical with La Jolla Playhouse and mentoring young leaders through a partnership with UN Girl Up.