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CITY OF SANTAANA <br /> Councilmember-Requested Item Report <br /> DATE <br /> May 5, 2026 <br /> TOPIC <br /> Historic Designation for Sergio O. Cadiz and Emigdio Vasquez Public Artworks Located <br /> in Santa Ana <br /> COUNCILMEMBER-REQUESTED ITEM TITLE <br /> Discuss and Consider Directing the City Manager to Direct Staff to Identify, Evaluate, <br /> and Prepare Nominations to the City Register of Historical Properties for Public <br /> Artworks by Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma and Emigdio Vasquez Located Within the City <br /> of Santa Ana <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> Background <br /> Santa Ana is home to one of the largest concentrations of Chicano public art in <br /> Southern California. Among the most significant artists whose works define this cultural <br /> legacy are Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma (1934-2002) and Emigdio Vasquez (1939- <br /> 2014). Both artists produced works of regional, state, and national significance, and <br /> several of those works are located within Santa Ana on City-owned, other public, and <br /> private property. <br /> About Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma <br /> Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma was a Mexico City-born architect and muralist who studied <br /> painting under Diego Rivera before immigrating to California in 1961. His work is <br /> documented by the Getty Conservation Institute's Am6rica Tropical Interpretive Center <br /> and was featured in the California Historical Society's traveling exhibition Murales <br /> Rebeldes: L.A. Chicana/Chicano Murals Under Siege, organized as part of the Getty's <br /> Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative. Within Santa Ana, his works include a concrete <br /> relief mural at City Hall (1972), the History and Evolution of the Chicano in the United <br /> States mural at Santa Ana College (1974, in collaboration with MEChA students), and a <br /> mural at Fremont Elementary School (1975). His Raitt Street mural, created in 1994 <br /> with community youth through the City's Safe Haven Youth Program, was whitewashed <br /> in July 2019 — an event that prompted national attention and helped catalyze ongoing <br /> community advocacy for mural preservation policy in Santa Ana. <br /> About Emigdio Vasquez <br /> Emigdio Vasquez, widely recognized as the Godfather of Chicano Art in Orange <br /> County, created more than 400 paintings and over 22 murals throughout the region. He <br /> CITYATTORNEY CITY MANAGER CITY CLERK <br /> Sonia R.Carvalho Alvaro Nunez Jennifer L.Hall <br /> 20 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA-P.O.BOX 1988, M31 -SANTA ANA,CALIFORNIA 92702 <br /> TELEPHONE(714)647-6900- FAX(714)647-6954-www.santa-ana.org <br />