Weaving All Ways

Artist: Lake, Carly b. 1994

Date: 2024

Medium: Glass tesserae and mortar

Artwork Dimensions: 16 x 8 ft.

County Department: Public Works

Artwork Site: La Puente Enhanced One-Stop Development Center

Supervisorial District: 1

Current Status: On view

About the Artwork: <em>Weaving All Ways</em> is a glass mosaic mural celebrating the native plants and Indigenous basket weaving traditions of the surrounding area. It honors the heritage of La Puente while embracing stewardship of the land, the diversity of past and present communities, and the essential values of environmental sustainability. The plants featured in the mosaic include Live Oak, Tule, Toyon, Black Walnut, Golden Poppy, Elderberry, Nopal, Deergrass, and Chaparral Yucca, which have been used in traditional dye and basketry weaving across the region since time immemorial. Artist Carly Lake received cultural guidance from Cindi M. Alvitre (Tongva) and Lorene Sisquoc (Apache, Cahuilla) to shape the symbolism of the basket depicted in the artwork. The zig zag lines represent water and the dots in the swirling pattern signify the Milky Way where the ancestors pass on to, honoring the basket weavers of the past. The hands embody the weavers of today who tenderly hold the future, nourishing the next generation along life's river.

About the Artist: Carly Lake is a visual artist primarily working in watercolor, natural dyes, and weaving practices. She creates nature-focused illustrations for books, editorial, and mural artworks. Her debut picture book, <em>Waa'aka The Bird Who Fell in Love With the Sun</em> (Heyday Books) by author Cindi Alvitre (Tongva), was awarded Excellence in a Picture Book of Cultural Significance by the Children's Literature Council of Southern California. Alongside her art practice, Lake develops classes on topics of drawing, watercolor painting, connecting with nature, and cultivating imagination for children and adults. She facilitates hands-on workshops about natural dyes, sharing ethnobotanical histories, artistic techniques, and collective learning about our shared ecology. Through natural dyes, she is interested in maintaining a tangible engagement with her local environment, as well as continuing to connect with personal and global histories. Lake received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and minor in Native American Cultures from California State University at Long Beach. She lives near the San Gabriel Mountains in Ontario, CA.