The Living Murals of a Santa Ana Councilmember’s Classroom
- Cynthia Rebolledo
- 16 hours ago
- 7 min read
Paintings of four local women recognize their courage, leadership and commitment to the community.
The walls of Valley High School ethnic studies teacher Benjamin Vazquez’s classroom do not sit quietly.
They’re loud – in color, layered mediums and brushstrokes – from the steady hands of students who have been taught that history is not only found in textbooks but in the stories carried by their own community. Under the guidance of Vazquez, who is also a Santa Ana councilmember representing Ward 2, those walls have transformed into a living archive that documents the past, honors the present and challenges the future.
“I often tell my students that history is not distant; it lives in their neighborhoods, in their families and in the people they pass every day,” said Vasquez, who has been teaching for 24 years. To inform them, he references stories written by Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano – known for chronicling the often overlooked, cultural, social and political history of Orange County – and encourages them to look beyond printed pages and to see Santa Ana itself as a primary source.
“I would take Gustavo’s stories into the classroom and we would make comics out of them,” Vasquez said. “At first, it was just a way for them to learn to prove and synthesize information and make it their own. Then they took those same stories and started creating art.” A chronology of eight 4-by-5 feet panels show depictions of indigenous history, farmworkers, East L.A.’s Chicano Moratorium, Santa Ana city struggles, “Dreamers” and immigration.
For many students, that idea was new. Marilyn Cordero, a 20-year-old junior college student pursuing a degree in nonprofit management, recalls picking up paintbrushes for the first time in Vasquez’s class. “I remember we were always shocked every time we learned something new about our own city,” said the former student. “By creating art about different movements and Orange County history, we were able to process what happened and how it happened.”
Students spent weeks researching Chicano history, cultural icons and local stories that shaped their identities. They studied struggle and resilience – the fight for educational equity, labor rights and cultural recognition. Yet Vazquez pushed them further. “Whose stories are still missing?” he would ask. That question led to Las Poderosas – influenced by friend and artist Alicia Rojas’ Poderosas mural located in the city of Costa Mesa and “Las Poderosas de Latino Health Access” (“The Powerful Women of Latino Health Access”), an oral history project, sculpture, photo essay and companion publication on the promotoras of Latino Health Access.
During Vazquez’s summer program, students began designing murals that honored four women whose lives embodied courage, leadership and deep commitment to the Santa Ana community and beyond: Lisa Gonzales-Solomon, Sandra De Anda, Erika Robles and the late Vicki Sarmiento, who passed away in 2024. For the students, these women were not distant figures – instead, local examples of what it means to lead with purpose.
The process was not rushed. Each mural began with research, discussion and reflection. Students read about the women’s lives and shared personal connections. Vazquez guided them to think symbolically: What images could represent justice? What colors could reflect resilience? How do you paint compassion?
“This class prepared me mentally and physically to be able to stand up,” said Melissa Aburto, 21. “Not only for my parents, who are immigrants, but for neighbors and people who are suffering through the same thing.”
The four panels were recently unveiled to the honorees and their family members at Valley High School during a ceremony.
For Gonzales-Solomon, the students chose imagery rooted in care and protection. Her work as a lifelong educator and director of family and community engagement for Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) has touched numerous lives. The mural depicts school-grade children at Madison Elementary where she served as principal, Gonzales-Solomon’s red flower dress set against a bright yellow background, and interconnected figures – symbols of the support systems she helped build, especially during times of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The mural took my breath away – it completely captured me,” Gonzales-Solomon said. “It was the greatest honor I could receive, then to be recognized with Sandra De Anda, Vicki Sarmiento and Erika Robles – I see all of them as women who advocate for nuestra cultura – we are here on this Earth to serve others, to help others and to continue being the strong community that we are.”
De Anda’s mural carried a different energy – bold, urgent and unafraid. As director of policy and legal strategy, De Anda’s work with the Orange County Rapid Response Network places her at the frontlines of defending families and outlining them with resources. Students painted monarch butterflies, street vendors and Jornaleros. ICE appears in the background. A cell phone is lit up with alerts that the rapid response network sends out when ICE is present in the community. De Anda is adorned with her signature straw tejana hat and immigrant city football club shirt.
“It is a great honor to have worked closely with the SAUSD superintendent and school board members, Valerie Magdaleno and Hector Bustos, who saw first hand the impact of enforcement on our local families at our immigration court,” said De Anda, who also empowered leaders at school sites to know and exercise their rights.
Robles’ mural radiated warmth and mutual aid. Robles is founder of United Across Borders Foundation, a nonprofit that supports low-income and immigrant families through food distributions, toy drives and resources. Robles’ journey from immigrant to community leader resonated deeply with students. They painted brown grocery bags filled with food, boxes with toys and vibrant Chinelos, traditional costumed dancers from Robles' home state of Morelos. For some students, it felt personal; they had seen or even benefited from similar acts of generosity in their own lives.
Then there was Vicki Sarmiento. A civil rights attorney with decades of experience fighting injustice, her story carried both weight and inspiration. Born in La Paz, Bolivia and raised in Santa Ana, she had dedicated her life to defending marginalized communities, taking on cases of police misconduct and systemic abuse. Students painted a white dove, Sarmiento’s alma mater of Santa Ana High School and a wooden gavel with a sound block – symbolizing her belief that justice must serve humanity.
Her brother, Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, accepted the honor on her behalf. He highlighted his sister's work and shared how she sat in the same classrooms as many Santa Ana students and testified before Congress. “I miss her a lot as her brother, I loved her and I know that she loved her community,” Sarmiento said. “She was Santa Ana raised and a product just like you, so please remember her as all of you pursue your careers for civil rights, justice and representing people that are voiceless.”
Throughout the project, Vazquez emphasized that these murals were more than assignments. They were acts of documentation.
“People will walk by these walls,” he told his students, “and they will learn who we are.”
For the students, the experience was transformative. They were no longer just learning history – they were creating it. “They saw how art could preserve stories that might otherwise be overlooked,” Vasquez said. “They understand that representation matters, that seeing someone who looks like you leading, organizing or fighting for justice can change how you see your own future.”
Vazquez’s goal has never been simply to teach facts. He is not an artist by trade. He wants his students to see themselves as historians, storytellers and active participants in an ongoing narrative, using art as a vehicle to interpret and create history.
“This is civic engagement that needs to be done to create civic-minded students who are then going to be civic-minded citizens. You need to know that you belong here.”
The Chicano history murals and Las Poderosas project now stand side by side, bridging past and present. One tells the story of collective struggle; the other highlights individuals who continue that legacy today. Together, they form a powerful reminder that history is not finished – it is still being written, painted and lived. And at Valley High School, it is on the walls.
The students' Las Poderosas murals will be on view at the May 2 Santa Ana artwalk at ITZ Happenin! Studio – hosted by artist-in-residence Joese Hernandez – in the basement of the Grand Central Art Center.
“Now the kids feel more ownership of the school as they walk through the hallways and they see this history,” said Vasquez, smiling. “When kids walk into my classroom for the first time they look around and do a full 360 and ask what class is this. I love it because that is what my classroom is supposed to do – it's supposed to invoke curiosity and capture their imagination.”
