Echo Park ‘Quinceañera’ mural to be saved, again

In 1996, artist Theresa Powers immortalized the iconic pink dress in her quinceañera mural at the corner of Logan Street and Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park. 

The painting symbolizes the rite of passage in celebrating a Latina’s 15th birthday, a quinceañera. The mural features Powers' former student, Carolina Peterson, and her parents in the background, watching their daughter in a beautiful white and pink dress. This scene is prevalent in Latin American culture, and the Echo Park district is fifty-two percent Latinx.   

“I featured my student Carolina Flores, who worked on the mural. Carolina is now Carolina Peterson and has grown up sons!” Theresa reminisced, reflecting on her motivation for crafting the quinceañera mural many years ago.

In 2012, after Pescado Mojado closed, the new owners of Señor Fish contacted Powers to find out the status of the mural. They had been unable to reach her, so they started painting over the mural. “Powers had a change of heart and left a voicemail Friday morning, asking the mural to stay intact,” reported the late Ed Fuentes, a Chicano journalist with PBS SoCal in 2012 during the mural’s initial fight for survival.

"I was a single parent and pretty consumed with that and working full-time as a school administrator," said Powers. A few days later, the two parties got in touch, and she told them to stop immediately. 

Powers then teamed up with Kiki Giet to facilitate the mural’s restoration.

Today, the building is once again available for lease, and Powers harbors concerns that a new owner may choose to paint over her creation. She has contacted the newly elected councilperson, Hugo Soto-Martínez, with a plea for the mural's protection when the new owner takes charge. 

Soto-Martínez’s office has not responded to Powers' email. The mural is fighting to stay alive for the second time in its lifeline. 

“The leasing company has been maintaining it,” said Claudia Vazquez, an Echo Park local at the forefront of saving murals in her community. Despite the building being inundated with graffiti, the leasing agents attentively preserve Power’s artwork, keeping it pristine until a new business takes over. They are committed to their responsibility under the Mural Conservancy Act and the federal Visual Artists Rights Act. When new owners rent the space, they will notify the artist about the mural’s impending transformation. 

The mural is a byproduct of the community. It was sponsored by then-District 13 Councilperson Jackie Goldberg’s office in 1996. The newly elected councilperson Hugo Soto-Martínez has remained silent on Powers’ and Vazquez’s plea to save the mural, leaving them worried that its days might be numbered.