While driving along Mednik Avenue in East Los Angeles it is impossible to miss David Lopez’s two 13’h x 25’ w murals on the exterior of the Community Development Commission: Housing Authority building. These murals were originally painted on a wall of the old Casa Maravilla housing project bungalows, but were salvaged and relocated when the housing project was torn down in 1975. Designed by the artist and teenage assistants from the community, one mural features an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe surrounded by a radiating aura of colorful light while the other mural includes a cross overlaid with lines from a poem by Sam Zepeda. The poem reads, Hermano, y porque estoy aquí en la tierra, sin sangrar, sin andar; Hermano por qué? (translated to “Brother, and because I am here in the earth without bleeding, without going; brother why?”). The murals, joined together by a brick pillar, were dedicated to a young gang member who died as a victim of gang violence. The murals were originally designed to serve as a local community shrine and today people still come to these murals to leave flowers, light candles, and pray.

A native of East Los Angeles, David Lopez attended the Art Center College of Design and majored in illustration before pursuing a career in the film industry. Lopez worked as a production painter, scenic artist, and background animation artist for Batman, Lethal Weapon, and several Michael Jackson commercials. He has also worked with Robert Arenivar on a painting for the Pentagon of the Hispanic Medal of Honor winner and on a mural in an East Los Angeles bar that has been destroyed. Lopez currently lives in Saugus, California.