Artwork Detail

In 1995 artist Christina Miguel Mullen designed and painted this mural with the help of 30 high school students. The students, who all attended Chinatown-area schools, spent several months learning about Chinese contributions to world society as well as interviewing their family members and other local residents about their immigrant experiences. Christina Miguel Mullen then organized the information they had gathered into a mural design. The acrylic on stucco mural wrapped around a curved wall, measured 25’ by 30’ and depicted the experience of Chinese American immigrants. Two figures, a traditional Chinese herbalist and a contemporary Chinese American female doctor, represented the link between past and present accomplishments. Funding for the project was provided by the East/West Community Partnership, a drug prevention program then located in the building where the mural was painted. In 2009 this building was demolished and the mural, as part of the building’s structure, was not able to be removed. Demolished and destroyed 2009.

Christina Miguel Mullen has worked for many years as a muralist and public artist. She has been a part of projects at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Orange County Museum of Art, and the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Among her many murals include those created for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Self Help Graphics, and the Homeland Cultural Center and Memorial Hospital. She has been a recipient of the Dean’s Scholar Award for Public Art in the Urban Landscape at Cal State Long Beach.