Public Art of El Monte-Lissette Curiel


This mural is located at the valley mall of el monte or in other words Main Street. This artwork was commissioned by SHEIN to celebrate national Hispanic Heritage Month. This artwork created by Sergio Robleto is titled Generations which is fitting considering a family of mariachis that go back 4 generations of playing music is depicted in this mural. Mexican culture is clearly represented in this mural since Mariachi music is a part of that culture. Locals of the community feel pride when seeing this mural as well as represented. 


The mural shown is another mural located at the valley mall or main street and was also commissioned by SHEIN to celebrate Hispanic heritage month. This mural was painted by Alex Ali Gonzalez. Hispanic culture is depicted with the embroidered dress that the woman with brown skin is wearing. She also has roses on her head. 

This mural titled She Brought Her People With Her was painted by the South El Monte Art Posse. She Brought Her People With Her was funded by the city of El Monte and is meant to depict El Montes history. There are many references depicted in this mural for instance there is a reference to the History of murals in in the city of El Monte. There was a moratorium imposed by El Monte on murals. This moratorium in turn white washed the history of creative activism in the city of El Monte. This white washing being referenced can clearly be seen in the mural with a hand with a fair complexion painting white paint over the other figures in the mural. 

Shown here is another mural located at the valley mall or main street. It is titled Come Walk With Me and is painted by the artist Kiara Aileen Machado. This mural is funded by the city of El Monte and was created in order to celebrate the diversity of LA. There is some reference of El Montes history like the El Monte Berry Strike which was to advocate for the rights of agriculture workers. There is also a reference to the farmers market that is in El Monte as well as the foods that can be found in El Monte like tamales, conchas, and  biónicos. The lgbtqplus community is also referenced as depicted in the pride flag, which shows support of the lgbtqplus community. The people depicted in the image are members of different ethnicities who are smiling and are very friendly with each other, like there is a strive for a close and accepting community. 

Another one of the many murals the Valley mall has is this one titled Kizh Spirit in the Sky. This mural was painted by the artist Man One and was commissioned by the city of El Monte. Kizh Spirit in the Sky was created in  order to honor the people of the Kizh Nation or also known as the Gabrieleno Band of Indians. Their former chief is depicted in this mural wearing his ceremonial clothes. Behind the main figure of this mural are Kizh markings and iconography found in the area. 

This artwork is located at the El Monte Station or Metro terminal in El Monte, near the entrance of the station. It is titled Time Piece and was created by the artist Donald Lipski. This artwork was funded by LA Metro an is meant to establish a sense of place and how a public clock speaks to tradition, history, stability and community as Lipski himself puts it. It is made of stainless steel and the clocks are made of mixed media.


Located outside of La Blanquita, which is a tortilleria and carniceria is the mural shown here.  I could not find any information about it unfortunately however la virgin de Guadalupe is depicted in this mural which is a reference to Mexican culture as she holds importance. Near her figure are many different fruits and other greens depicted. This leads me to believe that this artwork was commissioned by La Blanquita itself. 

Analysis: Viewing all these artworks makes one realize that there is definitely strive for representing diversity and representing different communities. There is however a lot of representation of the Hispanic community that mainly lives around El Monte. A lot of the history of El Monte is centered in these artworks and as for funding it is mainly the city of El monte funding artworks. 

Proposal: So the reason I choose El Monte as a place to analyze artworks is because I live in South El Monte and am very familiar with El Monte since it nearby. My family and I also frequently visit and pass by El Monte a lot of the time since I was a child. It was really nice seeing all the artworks near my community especially since growing up near El monte I have memory of no murals being around. I do really like what is being shown in all these artworks, there is a lot of Hispanic culture represented in these artworks as well as meaningful history that took place in El Monte being represented. I do like the idea of diversity being represented in artworks so maybe an artwork in the form of a sculpture representing diversity in El Monte would be nice. I feel this would fit nicely near one of the shopping centers of El Monte where many different people frequent and walk around. 


Works Cited:

“kizh spirit in the Sky.” Man One Art. (n.d.). https://manone.com/kizh-spirit-in-the-sky 

La Virgencita. (n.d.). La Virgencita on Instagram: "La blanquita market. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C1xjoImS0bO/?hl=en 

Ohanesian, L. (2022, February 8). A 1970s moratorium stunted El Monte’s mural movement. A new work brings it back to life. PBS SoCal. https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/artbound/el-monte-mural 

Shein celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month in big, beautiful way. Nylon. (2022, September 27). https://www.nylon.com/fashion/shein-hispanic-heritage-month 

Time piece in El Monte, CA. Public Art Archive. (n.d.). https://publicartarchive.org/art/Time-Piece_1/5b3754e3 

Verano, B. F. (2024, January 11). New “Come walk with me” mural in El Monte Honors Latino Community. CaloNews.com. https://www.calonews.com/featured-topics/justice/new-come-walk-with-me-mural-in-el-monte-honors-latino-community/article_ee92a792-943e-5879-a02d-c8229f87786a.html 

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