Nancy Tovar Murals of East L.A. collection

The Chicano Time Trip: A Depiction of Chicano Culture

Blakely P., Charlene D., Lily R., Ian Wells (Fall 2020)

This artifact is a photograph of the Chicano Time Trip, a 1977 mural located on the corner of Daly Street and North Broadway in Lincoln Heights. The mural was painted by the East Los Streetscapers, a group founded in 1975 by David Rivas Botello and Wayne Alaniz Healy, who were members of the Chicano Mural Movement. Their interest in art was sparked long before they established this group; Botello said the pair created their first mural in 1955 when they were in third grade. Healy and Botello’s artistic abilities were evident in their “Jurassic Park rendition with crayons and poster paints,” which their teacher put up on the walls of the classroom (Davalos, 3). As the pair grew older, their artistic ability only improved and their focus shifted towards telling the stories of the Chicano community. According to The Getty Center Los Angeles, Botello and Healy collaborated with other Chicano street artists “to create dramatic, colorful, site-specific, and multi-cultural artworks in two and three dimensions.” Through art like the Chicano Time Trip, the artists showcased scenes from the Los Angeles Chicano community to the public. The photograph was taken by Nancy Tovar, an activist who fought for Chicano rights and a community leader who organized classes for students to explore their Mexican heritage (Nancy Tovar Murals of East L.A. Collection); it is one of 300 photographs within her East Los Angeles Collection. The Chicano Time Trip depicts a Chicano family of four surrounded by scenes that represent different aspects of their culture, including family life, fiestas, agriculture, and mural painting.

By painting the family in the center of the mural, the artists emphasize its importance. At all social, religious, and artistic events, familial ties unite and strengthen the community (Baker, 73). Chicano families generally have intimate connections with their extended family members and live in close proximity to them. As depicted in the mural, spending time with family while playing sports or practicing Chicano music helps pass on traditions and values to future generations.

The mural also illustrates another important part of Chicano culture: fiestas. While dressed in traditional Mexican clothing, families enjoy essential elements of their culture like dance, music, and food. The largest fiesta, Cinco de Mayo, honors the Mexican victory against the French army at Puebla. Just as important, Dieciséis de Septiembre, commemorates Mexican Independence Day. Smaller events like weddings, quinceañeras, and baptisms allow more intimate connections between families to form. Community members come together to organize vibrant fiestas by performing, cooking, and volunteering throughout the event. This culmination of effort creates unity among Chicano families and strengthens ties within the community.

In another segment of the mural, three immigrant farmers stand on a field. Before it became East Los Angeles, this land was used by many American farmers for agricultural purposes. The city’s growing economy and need for workers incentivized immigration from Mexico. At the same time, American farmers in the region looked to expand agricultural production. To grow their farms, they hired Mexican migrants who were willing to work harder, longer, and for lower pay than other immigrant groups (Lewthwaite, 11). Following the Great Depression, agricultural businesses looked to rebound by increasing efficiency among workforces. Employer-sponsored housing, education, and health reform acts led to the creation of Mexican worker colonies (Lewthwaite, 11). These towns formed the basis of “barrios” or Chicano settlements throughout Los Angeles.

One of the oldest barrios, Lincoln Heights, is the home of the Chicano Time Trip. In the 1960s, this neighborhood became a center for the Chicano Movement. Students and young adults rallied together to combat “pervasive racial discrimination, … educational inequality, …and the harassment of youths by local law enforcement” within their community (Escobar, 182). In the Chicano Moratorium, an extension of this movement, activists — including Nancy Tovar — brought awareness to “Mexican American casualties in the Vietnam War” (Escobar, 182).

Starting in 1968, Los Angeles artists within the Chicano Movement formed the Chicano Mural Movement, transforming barren walls into colorful and inspiring pieces of art (Bloch, 112). Murals served as a way for these Chicano artists to express their community’s resentment, reclaim their cultural heritage, and empower themselves (qtd. in Donahue, 72). The bottom left corner of the Chicano Time Trip depicts three muralists, who seemingly represent this movement. Today, murals like this one illustrate the Chicano experience all throughout Los Angeles.

A family of four stands tall in the center of this mural. A ray of light shines from behind them and stretches out, dividing the mural into several sections. The scenes depict various aspects of Chicano culture. The top right section shows people farming. In the center on the right, some men are seen playing football in the park with large palm trees in the back. The bottom right shows three musicians playing guitars and maracas. The top left section shows a family in their garden. The center left shows a parade with a mariachi band playing behind the mayor. People on the sidelines watching the parade wave the flag of Mexico. On the bottom left, a team of three men paint a large mural while one of the men sits on a scaffolding.

Chicano Time Trip. Tovar, Nancy, 1977, Image courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library & Archive.

Works cited

  1. “About the East Los Streetscapers .” Making Art Together, The Getty Center Los Angeles , 13 Aug. 2006, www.getty.edu/visit/events/streetscapers.html.
  2. Baker, Richard. “MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURE AND DAILY LIFE.” Dos Mundos: Rural Mexican Americans, Another America, University Press of Colorado, 1995, pp. 57–92. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46nz7c.7. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020.
  3. Bloch, Stefano. “The Illegal Face of Wall Space: Graffiti-Murals on the Sunset Boulevard Retaining Walls.” Radical History Review, no. 113, Spring 2012, pp. 110–126[CD1] . EBSCOhost, doi:10.1215/01636545-1504930.
  4. “Chicano Time Trip .” Los Dos Streetscapers (Wayne Healy and David Botello), Chicano Time Trip, 1977, www.publicartinla.com/LA_murals/Silverlake/chicano_time_trip.html.
  5. Davalos, Karen Mary. “David Botello Interviewed By Karen Mary Davalos.” Chicano Studies Research Center - Oral Histories Series, 21 May 2009, www.chicano.ucla.edu/files/12Botello.pdf.
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  7. Donahue, David M. “Connecting Classrooms and Communities Through Chicano Mural Art.” Multicultural Perspectives, vol. 13, no. 2, Apr. 2011, pp. 70–78. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/15210960.2011.571548.
  8. Escobar, Edward J. “The Unintended Consequences of the Carceral State: Chicana/o Political Mobilization in Post-World War II America.” Journal of American History, vol. 102, no. 1, June 2015, pp. 174–184. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/jahist/jav312.
  9. Lewthwaite, Stephanie. “Race, Paternalism, and “California Pastoral”: Rural Rehabilitation and Mexican Labor in Greater Los Angeles.” Agricultural History, vol. 81, no. 1, 2007, pp. 1-35. “Nancy Tovar Murals of East LA Collection.” UCLA Library Digital Collections, digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198%2Fzz001ndq5p.

Cite this article

Blakely P., Charlene D., Lily R., Ian Wells. "The Chicano Time Trip: A Depiction of Chicano Culture." Los Angeles: The City and the Library. Colleen Jauretche, Editor. Fall 2020. /article/2020-12-10-f20-lecture10-05