On Thursday, June 18, 2026, the Educational Committee of the Crescenta Valley Meher & Satig Der Ohanessian Youth Center will host a lecture on “Los Angeles, Beirut and Artsakh: A Diasporic Trajectory” presented by Ara Oshagan. The presentation will begin at 7:30 pm Pacific Time at Crescenta Valley Youth Center located at 2633 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020.

Ara Oshagan will present work from a trilogy of photography-based projects that traverse three locations of critical importance to Armenian communities and to him personally: Los Angeles, Beirut, and Artsakh.

Oshagan was born in Beirut and displaced to Los Angeles as a youth, where he has lived for more than 40 years. His documentary work in Los Angeles seeks to document a diaspora in time and to reassess how we draw the contours of community. Beirut is a complex and fraught return to his youth and a history of war, while Artsakh and the homeland have long occupied Oshagan’s imagination. He has worked there for more than twenty years and is currently engaged in a project with displaced Artsakhtsi communities. His work in these spaces reflects a diasporic state of mind: fractured, complex, full of longing, and layered notions of home.

Oshagan will present a broad selection of his work and discuss his experiences, as well as the ways these three sites are interconnected and intertwined.

Ara Oshagan is a diasporic trans-disciplinary artist and curator whose practice explores collective and personal histories of displacement, legacies of violence, identity, and (un)imagined futures. Oshagan has published four books of photography. Oshagan is an Artist-in-Residence at the 18^th Street Art Center in Santa Monica, curator at the City of Glendale and Director of Temporary Exhibitions at the Armenian American Museum in Glendale.

This event is open to public and community members. We look forward to seeing you there.

The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Attendees are encouraged to reserve the date and time for this important discussion.

Below is the YouTube video presentation on “ American Organizations Supporting The Armenian Cause: An Overview” presented by Raffi Hamparian at the Crescenta Valley Youth Center in Montrose, California on Thursday April 30, 2026.

https://youtu.be/aja9HzaENZs