Item 29 - Councilmember Requested Relating to Public Artworks

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was the first Orange County resident to receive the Maestro Award from the Latino Arts Network, and his work was the subject of Chapman University's Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA exhibition My Barrio: Emigdio Vasquez and Chicana/o Identity in Orange County. His Santa Ana works include Chicano Gothic (1987) at Memorial Park; Visions of Santa Ana (1987) at Angels Community Park; Children, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1988) at Madison Park; The Strongest Bond of Humans (1986), an untitled mural (1988-89), and The Legacy of Cesar Chavez (1997) at Santa Ana College; and Visions of Orange County(1991) at the OCTA Terminal. Chicano Gothic in particular has been the subject of a recent multi-year restoration effort led by the Santa Ana Community Artist(a) Coalition in collaboration with the Vasquez family, MuralColors, and the City, and is now preserved as a free-standing wall as part of the Memorial Park aquatic center renovation. Lost Art Despite the artistic, historical, and community significance of these works, the City has lost meaningful examples of Chicano public art over the years, including Vasquez's Visions of Orange County at the Bowers Museum (demolished C. 1991), Towards the Solidarity of All Peoples at the Jerome Center, and La Juventud, Nuestras Raices y el Futuro at the El Salvador Center, alongside O. Cadiz's whitewashed Raitt Street mural. These losses underscore the need for durable legal protections for the works that remain. Designating Historic Properties Chapter 30 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code provides such a framework. Under § 30-1 and § 30-2, the Historic Resources Commission, by resolution and at a noticed public hearing, may designate buildings, structures, objects, or sites as historical properties on the City Register. Designation criteria include works associated with notable artists or designers whose style influenced artistic development (§ 30-2(a)(2)) and objects or sites of historical significance associated with important political, social, economic, or cultural activity (§ 30-2(a)(4)(d)). While § 30-2(a) generally requires that nominated works be at least 50 years old, § 30-2.1 expressly allows the designation of younger works "of exceptional significance" meeting one or more of the same criteria. The works of O. Cadiz and Vasquez located in Santa Ana satisfy these criteria, with several of the older O. Cadiz works (1972, 1974, 1975) meeting the 50-year threshold and the Vasquez works qualifying under the exceptional-significance exception based on documented academic, curatorial, and community recognition. Historic Designation Filing Fees Pursuant to § 30-2.4, governmental agencies are exempt from designation filing fees. The City may therefore initiate nominations for works it owns, and may also initiate nominations for works on other property subject to the owner-notification requirements of § 30-2(b). Designation does not preclude further restoration, modification under § 30- 6 (certificate of appropriateness), or future demolition where warranted under § 30-7, but it ensures that any such action proceeds through a public, transparent process with appropriate review. Arts and Culture Commission; Public Art and Preservation Policy Initiating these nominations also complements the Public Art and Preservation Policy currently under development through the Arts and Culture Commission and supports the broader community advocacy that has driven recent mural preservation successes CITYATTORNEY CITY MANAGER CITY CLERK Sonia R.Carvalho Alvaro Nunez Jennifer L.Hall 20 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA-P.O.BOX 1988, M31 -SANTA ANA,CALIFORNIA 92702 TELEPHONE(714)647-6900- FAX(714)647-6954-www.santa-ana.org