PACOIMA, Calif. — With every brush stroke, about 10 artists came together to change the face of a Pacoima neighborhood by creating a 10,000 square foot mural and in the process of removing graffiti and giving the community an artistic history lesson.
Many of the artists grew in and around Los Angeles. Levi Ponce is the lead artist on the project and is a well-known artist in the San Fernando Valley, working on the majority of murals on Pacoima’s mural mile.
“We’re no longer just kids on the streets, painting under our own accord," he said. "We’ve taken it to that next level where we are trusted by our own community to be able to literally change the face of our communities."
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Ponce started out as a child painting signs for businesses with his father.
"To go from, you know, humble beginnings as a sign painter with my father to being bestowed this responsibility, it’s really amazing," Ponce said. "It’s a beautiful thing and again it’s flattering and I’m just honored to be given the brush, you know.”
His latest mural is called Rushing Waters because of the large streams of water that once flowed through the area.
The artwork pays tribute to the area's Native American heritage as well as highlighting natural and man-made landmarks in the San Fernando Valley.
It’s a project that Councilwoman Monica Rodríguez has been working on for years, helping to get the funding needed. For a long time, the wall had been a source of blight in the area, covered in graffiti.
“Typically murals have been very effective to combat graffiti, and I think that the hope is that it will be respected and preserved because local artists were instrumental in helping bring this image to our community,” said Councilwoman Rodriguez.
“It wasn’t my decision to paint here, it wasn’t our decision to paint here, the community demanded it,” Ponce said.
Now the mural, which is at a major intersection on San Fernando Road and Paxton, will not only welcome visitors to Pacoima but also serve as a reminder of what a community can do when they come together.