Gardena Public Art - Johnny Siqueiros

City of Gardena Public Art

Phase 1: The Site

The site I chose is the city of Gardena, California. I figured this site was a great pick because this is my hometown and has been my home town since I was born and means so much to me because all of my life experiences have taken place here. I know this city like the back of my hand but living here for so long there have been many updates to the city which includes mostly renovations on various artworks that have been here since before I was born, this seemed like the best place for me to really focus on the intricacies this city has to offer when looking through an artistic perspective. Being apart of Los Angeles County there are so many other cities that are more grand and offer more art, but the atmosphere here along with its existing artworks make this city feel loved from the people who live in the community.

Phase 2: Field Work

Going out and scouting was very fun when looking at some of the busiest places in Gardena such as Gardena Blvd and the city's library. There is so much character to the main parts of Gardena and the city makes an effort to put art in places where it will get the most love from those who live here and those who are passing through. Many of the artworks in Gardena are murals but have different variations on what they focus on/represent. 

Title: Mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Date (earliest found): July, 2007

Location: 16582 S Ainsworth St, Gardena, CA 90427

Artist: Unknown

Placement: Outside of the Retroverse Toy Store

Type: Mural

Representation: This mural being in the heart of Gardena represents the latin community that make up majority of Gardena, this is also located where the gang "G-13"is most active so it can also represent the latin background of the gang. 

Title: Untitled

Date: 1964

Location: 1731 W Gardena Blvd, Gardena, CA 90247

Artist: Livio Napolitani 

Placement: Entrance of Gardena Mayme Dear Library

Type: Ceramic tile mosaic

Representation: The quote under the mosaic states, "Were it not for books, human culture would pass into oblivion as quickly as man himself." This gives us some insight into who this mosaic represents, which are the people who appreciate history, including now, where books and knowledge are the most important things humans have. The mosaic depicts knowledge throughout time. The mosaic was commissioned by Los Angeles County Arts Commission Civic Art Collection.

Title: They Not Like Us!

Date: July 2, 2025

Location: 15345 S Western Ave, Gardena, CA 90249

Artist: Rask Opticon

Placement: Outside of Cheapest Smokes Gardena smoke shop 

Type: Street art mural

Representation: This street art mural represents all of Los Angeles, and the people depicted in it are famous athletes and rappers who represent Los Angeles, such as Nipsey Hustle, Kendrick Lamar, Kobe Bryant, and Shohei Ohtani. All of these people represent Los Angeles, and even with the "West Coast" included in the mural with the sunset and trees, everything about this screams Los Angeles. 

Title: Untitled

Date: November 14, 2024

Location: 16508 S Vermont Ave, Gardena, CA 90247

Artist: Marcelo Rodriguez

Placement: Outside of Dulcis fama Ecuadorian restaurant

Type: Advertisement mural

   Representation: This "Ecuador" mural was commissioned by the restaurant that the mural is located on, it represents the restaurant/bakery as a whole with the restaurant serving Ecuadorian food, I really am fond of this one because it takes a piece of Ecuador and places it in Gardena there is no Ecuadorian representation or food establishments so this is a nice touch and they are doing very well in business since opening. 

Phase 3: Critical Analysis

When analyzing all of the artworks throughout my community, there seems to be a theme of "representation" together, with representing those who live there and making a statement with how big the artworks are. There are various themes of Latin heritage because of the individuals who live here are majority latin, there is also a hint of religion intertwined with he artworks with the figure that is focused on mostly being Our Lady of Guadalupe which is displayed in both of the artworks I included because religion is vital to those who live in Gardena with a popular couch named St. Anthony Of Padua church/school that is the main church for Catholics in Gardena. The only art I included that someone did not commission is the Our Lady of Guadalupe, located on the side of a toy store. There is so little information about it that everyone who knows about it has just seen it throughout the years with touchups, but no one has claimed to have done it. All of the other artworks were commissioned by an establishment or by the city, such as the library mosaic. When asking the question, what condition is the art in? Two of them are fairly new, but the library mosaic and the Our Lady of Guadalupe mural have been there for decades, and have required little maintenance. The only neglect to the Our Lady of Guadalupe mural is that some gang members will add a little bit of graffiti on the corners, but never defacing Our Lady of Guadalupe. All of the artworks seem to be representative of the demographics of the community, with everything being tied to Los Angeles specifically or Latin heritage. 

Phase 4: Proposal

I am pretty pleased with all of the artworks within my community; they all tell a story of their own and are very representative of the community and of the City of Gardena. I think they do an amazing job in showcasing the people who live within the community and how large in size the artworks are, so that everyone can enjoy them. It is hard to miss, and I also love how they were placed in the busiest places in the city to ensure that everyone passing by can see them. I do dislike how low in variety most of the artworks are; most of them are murals, which I think were chosen to cover more space on the buildings. The smaller artworks, such as the library mosaic, seem to be more impactful also because of the location and materials that were used to create it, since Gardena does not have any statues or interactive artworks, so I would like to see more variety when it comes to the materials and forms of the artworks. I would like to recommend having more artworks of different natures and having them be in less populated areas of the city, such as straying away from Gardena Blvd, which is the busiest place in the city, and more artworks like the library mosaic, where it is not as busy but still has people to come by and appreciate it. Adding these new locations and variations of artworks, such as statues and more structural pieces where people can sit or enjoy, I believe, should have themes of either being bright and beautiful or very modern to add a modernized feel to the city, instead of having older murals that have been here for decades. I believe that more modern pieces of art will not only fit in with certain areas of Gardena, such as the newly built apartments not too far from Gardena Blvd, and new establishments that are being built, but will also give a new and fresh look to the city.