CITY ATTORNEY
Sonia R. Carvalho
CITY MANAGER
Alvaro Nuñez
CITY CLERK
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 Coun
cilmember-Requested Item Report
DATE
May
5, 2026
TOPIC
H
istoric Designation for Sergio O. Cadiz and Emigdio Vasquez Public Artworks Located in Santa Ana
COUNCILM
EMBER-REQUESTED ITEM TITLE
Discuss and Consider Directing the City Manager to Direct Staff to Identify, Evaluate, and Prepare Nominations to the City Register of Historical Properties for Public Artworks by Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma and Emigdio Vasquez Located Within the City of Santa Ana
DISCU
SSION
Background
Santa Ana is home to one of the largest concentrations of Chicano public art in Southern California. Among the most significant artists whose works define this cultural legacy are Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma (1934–2002) and Emigdio Vasquez (1939– 2014). Both artists produced works of regional, state, and national significance, and several of those works are located within Santa Ana on City-owned, other public, and private property.
About S
ergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma
Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma was a Mexico City-born architect and muralist who studied painting under Diego Rivera before immigrating to California in 1961. His work is documented by the Getty Conservation Institute's América Tropical Interpretive Center and was featured in the California Historical Society's traveling exhibition Murales Rebeldes: L.A. Chicana/Chicano Murals Under Siege, organized as part of the Getty's Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative. Within Santa Ana, his works include a concrete relief mural at City Hall (1972), the History and Evolution of the Chicano in the United States mural at Santa Ana College (1974, in collaboration with MEChA students), and a mural at Fremont Elementary School (1975). His Raitt Street mural, created in 1994 with community youth through the City's Safe Haven Youth Program, was whitewashed in July 2019 — an event that prompted national attention and helped catalyze ongoing community advocacy for mural preservation policy in Santa Ana.
About E
migdio Vasquez
Emigdio Vasquez, widely recognized as the Godfather of Chicano Art in Orange County, created more than 400 paintings and over 22 murals throughout the region. He EXHIBIT 1
CITY ATTORNEY
Sonia R. Carvalho
CITY MANAGER
Alvaro Nuñez
CITY CLERK
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 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.
Emigdio Vasquez, widely recognized as the Godfather of Chicano Art in Orange County, created more than 400 paintings and over 22 murals throughout the region. He Emigdio Vasquez, widely recognized as the Godfather of Chicano Art in Orange County, created more than 400 paintings and over 22 murals throughout the region. He
CITY ATTORNEY
Sonia R. Carvalho
CITY MANAGER
Alvaro Nuñez
CITY CLERK
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 in Santa Ana, including the 2024 restoration of the La Raza murals on Civic Center Drive and the recent preservation of Chicano Gothic.
Historic Resources Commission
The Historic Resources Commission (HRC), not the City Council, holds the authority to designate properties to the City Register. The action recommended through this councilmember-requested item is limited to directing staff to identify eligible works, coordinate with stakeholders, prepare nomination applications, and bring those applications forward for HRC consideration through the established process under Chapter 30.
Recommended Action
Direct the City Manager to direct staff to identify, evaluate, and prepare nominations to the City Register of Historical Properties for public artworks by Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma and Emigdio Vasquez located within the City of Santa Ana, including specifically:
1. Identify all extant murals, sculptures, and public artworks by Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma and Emigdio Vasquez located within the City of Santa Ana, including works on city-owned, other public, and private property, and verify the current condition of each work, including the Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma concrete relief mural at Santa Ana City Hall (1972) and Emigdio Vasquez's Chicano Gothic (1987) at Memorial Park;
2. Evaluate each identified work against the criteria for designation under Santa Ana Municipal Code §§ 30-2 and 30-2.1, and determine the appropriate category for designation under § 30-2.2 (Landmark, Key, or Contributive);
3. Coordinate with the Vasquez and O. Cadiz families, the Santa Ana Community Artist(a) Coalition, and other relevant property owners (including the Santa Ana Unified School District, the Rancho Santiago Community College District, and the Orange County Transportation Authority) regarding works on property they own or control;
4. Prepare and submit nomination applications to the Historic Resources Commission for those works determined to meet the criteria under Chapter 30, prioritizing works on city-owned property — including specifically Chicano Gothic (1987) at Memorial Park and the Sergio O. Cadiz Moctezuma concrete relief mural (1972) at Santa Ana City Hall; and
5. Return to the City Council within 90 days with a status report identifying the works under evaluation, a proposed nomination schedule, and any further direction needed to complete the process.
SUBMITTED BY
Councilwoman Jessie Lopez
EXHIBIT(S)
N/A
currently under development through the Arts and Culture Commission and supports the broader community advocacy that has driven recent mural preservation successes Arts and Culture Commission; Public Art and Preservation Policy Initiating these nominations also complements the Public Art and Preservation Policy