The Los Angeles Union Station quieted to the murmurs of speeding trains, as spoken word artist Nate Lovell stood alone under the spotlight. Lovell opened Metro Art’s LAte Night Train of Thought last November 8 with the story of his father facing cancer. He mended abstract metaphors with doses of reality, telling audiences that even on his father’s deathbed, his father did not love Lovell the same way Lovell loved him.
“Let’s turn the tears into taffy, the ache into altar, the wound into witness, because art connects the way mercy does,” Lovell said. “Not because it erases the hurt but because it dares to love who hurt us anyway.”
Metro Art is the Los Angeles Metro’s initiative to make art accessible for Angelenos, with the LAte Night Train of Thought emphasizing performance art such as spoken word poetry, improvisation and rap.
The event started with the “How Does Art Connect LA?” panel discussion between the executive director of Zócalo Public Square, Moira Shourie, Dynasty Typewriter co-founder Vanessa Ragland, Da Poetry Lounge Co. (DPL) president Jasmine Williams, Sasheer Zamata of Dynasty Typewriter and comedian and rapper Open Mike Eagle.
“2025 for Los Angeles has been the year of fire and ICE,” Shourie said.
Williams said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) disrupts creative places, including DPL, where artists are concerned about potential raids. As the president of a primarily Black organization, Williams said accessibility and safety for marginalized communities should be a priority for creative spaces, especially given the current political climate. She said the best creatives can do today is simply waking up every morning and cultivating a community during trying times.
“Art is meant to ignite us and connect us,” Ragland said. “[Being a creative] literally changes lives.”
Williams discussed how performance art, through Da Poetry Lounge, has been a way for people to meet on Tuesdays and feel connected for over 27 years. Williams said the lounge is a gateway for people to discover spoken word poetry regardless of what kind of artist they are. As people routinely come together to DPL to share their dreams and passions, Williams said this community “saved” her life.
Eagle felt the same as Williams, as he said creative spaces in LA, like DPL, The Upright Citizens Brigade and Lincoln Heights, are where he draws his creativity from.
“I’m inspired by a lot of what I’m consumed as a creator, and this city has been very important for that,” Eagle said.
Ragland discussed how the impact of art is magnified when one experiences it with other people. However, with the increase of artificial intelligence (AI) and rapid digital media consumption, she said it is now easier and cheaper to consume in isolation than with a community.
“There’s no time in history that [performance art] has been more important and at more of a premium with everything that’s going on with the internet and AI,” Ragland said. “One thing that keeps us human is the sharing of space with other people, and the way it can transform us.”
Ragland said that the city government should incentivize and reward artists as art “changes lives.” Williams said she wants to see artists make a living and be able to afford rent in LA.
Zamata agreed as she said she wishes to pursue a longer career in television; however, she realized opportunities are better outside of Hollywood.
“It’s a shame because we have the prose here. This is Hollywood. It’s where everything had a move.” Zamata said. “I would love to find a way to bring those [opportunities] back.”
When asked for advice on becoming a stronger artist in LA, Eagle said that it was about intentionally finding opportunities to build one’s creativity. He said there are several workshops around L.A. that teach different skills, such as poetry, acting or comedy. Williams also said volunteering in creative industries to learn from one’s idols is also a great resource Angelenos should maximize.
As the night continued, spoken word poet Ravina Deepak Wadhani performed a poem on her name. Wadhani was followed by the crowd as they used their chest to shout out her name.
When the station quieted once more, she relayed a familiar story of being in a room where people refuse to pronounce a person of color’s name correctly.
“When you sound out my name and our names, there is an army of a matriarchy threaten[ing] to remind you that our names are not crafted to sit pretty on your tongue,” Wadhani said.
Improv actors Eugene Cordero, Colton Dunn, Lauren Lapkus, Ify Nwadiwe, Gil Ozeri and Zamata followed with skits pulled from attendees’ most memorable travel stories. To end the night, Eagle performed his own songs, rapping about the artistic experience where some of the most creative, bright people are not those in power — they are ordinary people who struggle to pay rent.
“If there’s ever a place for a soul to wake up, it’s in Los Angeles,” Ragland said. “It’s our human responsibility to keep [art] alive.”