Central Los Angeles : Mural Bridges Old and New for Chinese Americans
A 25-by-30-foot mural designed and painted by high school students to depict the Chinese American immigration experience was unveiled Monday in Chinatown.
The mural, at West Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Broadway, “was a different way of getting kids to take pride in their community,” said Rhonda Ramiro, administrative coordinator at the East / West Community Partnership.
The partnership, a Chinatown-based drug abuse prevention program, recruited 26 youngsters to create the mural, Ramiro said.
The students, from both Asian and Latino backgrounds, spent several months researching the mural by interviewing community and family members about their experiences as immigrants, Ramiro said.
Later, the students worked with a professional muralist, Christina Miguel Mullen, to design the pictures, including one of a traditional Chinese herbalist next to a modern Chinese American woman doctor.
“It represent the bridging of the past to the present,” Ramiro said.
The completed mural, now visible from the street, wraps around a portion of the Chinatown Annex building where the partnership is housed.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
