Santiago Park Mural

Santiago Park Mural 

Roberto del Hoyo, 2011

Former Santa Ana Parks, Recreation, & Community Services Agency Director, Gerardo Mouet asked the mural’s artist, Roberto Del Hoyo, to paint a mural that displayed themes of Santiago Park and the Discovery Science Center. Del Hoyo painted the center panel in his Los Angeles art studio. Over 100 volunteers from Santa Ana donated their time to help paint the other two wall panels under Del Hoyo’s supervision. The mural’s dedication ceremony was held on January 15, 2018.

People walking from Santiago Park notice a unique artistic transition in the Santiago Park Mural. In the first half, the mural contains colorful depictions of natural and environmental beauty, including Eucalyptus leaves, water grass, California Poppy flowers, the Santa Ana River, and the San Gabriel Mountains. The other half then follows with countless pictures of cubes, spheres, and other geometric symbols.

At the very bottom of the Santiago Park Mural are river rocks with Tongva Tribe glyphs. Historically, these glyphs appeared on rocks and boulders, representing some kind of Tongva ritual, such as hunting or coming-of-age ceremonies. The first Tongva people settled along the Santiago Creek Watershed during the 1700s. As a hunter-gatherer society, the Tongva gathered a variety of fruits, seeds, hunted small game, and fished to survive.