César E. Chávez Learning Academies (CCLA) in San Fernando is getting a new look, as the Branded Arts Festival hosts 15 muralists to transform a once nondescript campus into a walkable museum.
Vibrant works of art can now be seen from nearly every corner of the campus, enveloping the students with visual inspiration. Some showcase contemporary and abstract work expressing the artists’ unique styles, while others painted photorealistic portraits of César Chávez and Dolores Huerta.
Each of the school’s four academies – ArTES Magnet, Social Justice Humanities Academy, Academy of Scientific Exploration and Technology Preparatory Academy – received a mural reflecting the ethos of their school, like the 50-foot astronaut representing science and exploration.
“Whatever they’re dealing with, I hope that when they come here, they’ll have a reprieve and they’ll be surrounded by hope and positivity and inspiration,” said Warren Brand, founder and president of Branded Arts.
“Immersing students in an artful environment is so special. I wish my school could have had that.”
This is the fourth school Branded Arts has worked with, in an effort that took over a year to produce. The team of artists, hailing locally from Pacoima to as far as Spain, spent three weeks working with CCLA staff and students.
MURO (Courtesy of Chop’em Down Films and Branded Arts) 
Sofia Enriquez (SFVS/el Sol Photo/Semantha Raquel Norris) 
JP Murals (SFVS/el Sol Photo/Semantha Raquel Norris) 
Ozzie Juarez (Courtesy of CCLA and Branded Arts) 
Kenny Scharf (Courtesy of Chop’em Down Films and Branded Arts) 
Levi Ponce (Courtesy of Chop’em Down Films and Branded Arts) 
Desiboo Creation (SFVS/el Sol Photo/Semantha Raquel Norris) 
Kristy Sandoval (SFVS/el Sol Photo/Semantha Raquel Norris)
The artists who’ve created the murals are: Carlo Valentino, Christian Garcia Perez, DesiBoo Creations, Erica Friend aka Insomniart, Jesica Burlaza, Josh Everhorn, JP Murals, Kenny Scharf, Kristy Sandoval, Levi Ponce, MURO, Ozzie Juarez, RAH Azul, Shantell Martin and Sofia Enriquez.
Stacy Sanchez, a senior at the Academy of Scientific Exploration, said that before she felt like the campus “was missing something,” but now she finds the campus captivating.
“We actually get to stop and look at our walls and see something meaningful,” said Sanchez.
More Than Murals
The Branded Arts Festival is more than a beautification project, students are involved throughout the process.
“It’s a fully immersive project, where we touch on different parts of the umbrella of the arts,” said Brand. “The goal of this project is to give students exposure to multiple aspects of the creative economy.”
Involved students were separated into two groups: the media journalism committee, which documents, interviews artists and creates media surrounding the project, and the YAAS committee (Young Arts Ambassador Students).
YAAS were involved in meetings leading up to the project, reviewed designs and provided feedback, constructed artist biographies and generated QR codes. They also helped paint some of the ground-level murals.
“It’s cool to know that … there’s a little piece of me somehow, here in César Chávez,” said Sanchez who helped paint Erica Friend’s piece. “Hopefully other little siblings come, [and] they get to see this mural and know that they have a sibling that actually worked on it.”
Students also participated in an arts symposium field trip to Quixote Studios, where they received presentations from industry professionals, and finished the week with a Grand Reception that included performances and a gallery exhibition.
Anne Maschler, principal of the ArTES Magnet, said the murals give “character to the campus,” help students “feel like they really belong here” and help create a “cohesive community.”
Maschler hopes that the artists help inspire her students and show them that they can have careers working in the arts. Most importantly, she hopes that her students see that having high-profile artists dedicate time to making their “learning space, more vibrant, more exciting, more beautiful” reassures them “that they’re worth it.”
A Reflection of Themselves
“The impact of me or other artists being here, there’s going to be a ripple effect for the students that are interested in art,” said Azul, who painted a mural on the side of the Technology Preparatory Academy.
His mural depicts symbols and images of technology laid out in the circular form of an Aztec calendar. He said that it represents time and a “connection to the past, and present,” depicting technology throughout the ages and how “technology has advanced a lot, but the human mind is still what it was then. [With] its need for connection.”
Azul grew up and still resides in the San Fernando Valley. He hopes that the murals provoke dialogue and inspire kids to create their own works of art – something that he was not provided at their age.
“I think the impact is probably more when they see someone like myself, or Levi, or JP murals, or Erica Friend,” said Azul. “We’re all from the San Fernando Valley. We all work here. We all have artwork here. We’ve made our names here.”
“They’re able to resonate with the artists a lot more. They’re able to see themselves, are able to see the reflection of themselves, through that person.”
Additional Funding for the Project is Still Needed
Funding for this mural project was provided by CCLA, Branded Arts and the local Los Angeles Unified School District.
Over several weeks, CCLA students and teachers have made presentations and pleas requesting an additional $25,000 from the city of San Fernando to fund the protective coating for the murals and the installation of informational plaques.
“The best part about this whole experience is just getting to work with my community,” said Friend, who in addition to being a locally based artist creating a mural for the project, is also a City of San Fernando Parks, Wellness and Recreation commissioner.
Previously, she painted a mural very close to the school at the San Fernando Swap Meet, that was approved by the city, and so she said it was “hard to hear that they were not up for this project.”
At the City Council meeting held on Monday, May 20, three councilmembers, Joel Fajardo, Victoria Garcia and Vice Mayor Mary Mendoza, blocked the request for funding, suggesting that the money could be better spent on other projects.
“That’s the reason why we had this mural fund, was to put it back into the community and to make beautiful paintings,” said Friend.
Mayor Celeste Rodriguez pointed out during the meeting that the money being requested for use would have come from a fund already set aside for murals, and would not have pulled money away from other projects in the city.
“All they had to do was say ‘yes.’ And they said ‘no,’” said Friend.
“It broke my heart and I’m going to find some way to keep pushing and help them [CCLA] to keep getting the money that they deserve from the city,” she added.
