West Covina- Graciela Amayo


West Covina, CA | Official Website

The Site

West Covina is the city I have been living at for over a year now. I haven’t had the chance to see much of it since I work and go to school in other cities. I chose this city to use it as an opportunity to explore and learn more about where I live. 


Field Work


"Keep the Ball Rolling"

Location: 1840 E Garvey Ave S, West Covina, CA 91791

Artist: Margaret Hammond

Materials: Bronze, Landscaping



"Hangin’ Around"

Location:1363 E Cameron Ave, West Covina, CA 91790

Artist: Mark Hopkins

Materials: Bronze




“Life of Varied Colors”

Location: 420 S Glendora Ave, West Covina, CA 91790

Artist: Anne Marie Karlsen

Materials: Glass with metal framing


Critical Analysis

Hangin’ Around and Keep the Ball Rolling, represent the youth of West Covina. “Life of Varied Colors” represents the community members at East Valley Community Health Center as well as English and Spanish speakers. We can see the city focuses on the youth by having multiple parks with statues of children playing and having fun. We can also learn a bit about the history of the Hispanic population living in West Covina. We are able to confirm this through the artwork at the health center having the inscription not only in English but also in Spanish. This shows their appreciation to the Hispanic community. For the statues at the parks it seems that the city commissions the artists to create these since in one of the inscriptions we can see the names of the city staff. We are able to see the name of the mayor, the council members, and planning director from 2012. The “Life of Varied Colors” seems to be commissioned by the East Valley Community Health Center since we can see its name mentioned in the inscription. 


Proposal 

This project gave me the opportunity to drive around the city and see the type of community I have as well as its art. The first thing I noticed is that West Covina has no graffiti to be seen even though there are many blank spaces. The city really puts an effort to leave no evidence of graffiti. The city also has a very small amount of public art and it's usually in places that you can not see from the street. I also noticed that in a lot of main streets we can only see beige brick fences that can serve as canvases for murals. I believe the city needs more color and more personality. If we commissioned artists to paint murals along all these streets not only would we make our city more beautiful but we would also be creating more jobs. According to the Census the majority of the population in West Covina is Hispanic or Latino, Asian, and White. I was not able to see a lot of representation of these communities in the current public art. I believe it's important for the communities to see themselves represented in the city they live in. This creates unity and makes sure their histories are kept alive. 


Source:

U.S. Census Bureau Quickfacts: West Covina City, California, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/westcovinacitycalifornia/INC110224. Accessed 20 July 2026. 


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