Hugo Najera

As a deadly US-backed war raged in the 1980s, tens of thousands of Salvadorans made the Washington, DC, region their new home. This mass migration gave birth to a new artistic movement. Columbia Road in Adams Morgan became a hotspot of Salvadoran resettlement, where artists brought meaning to a uniquely Salvadoran-Washingtonian identity. In the process, they shaped the city’s vibrant, longstanding, and thriving cultural scene.

As a deadly US-backed war raged in the 1980s, tens of thousands of Salvadorans made the Washington, DC, region their new home. This mass migration gave birth to a new artistic movement. Columbia Road in Adams Morgan became a hotspot of Salvadoran resettlement, where artists brought meaning to a uniquely Salvadoran-Washingtonian identity. In the process, they shaped the city’s vibrant, longstanding, and thriving cultural scene.