Altadena mural holds special place for two generations of Trojans

Near the corner of Ventura Street and Lincoln Avenue in Altadena stands a 100-foot-long beacon of color and poetry. Adjacent to the recently renovated Bob Lucas Memorial Library and Literacy Center, the mural highlights the wonders of childhood literacy. In it, a girl is reading to deer and squirrels against a backdrop of mountains, a bright blue sky and a red-and-yellow sun.

For local artist and USC Roski School of Art and Design Associate Professor Edgar Arceneaux, the work is more than a line on his impressive résumé. It’s a connection to his past and his family.

“Murals reflect the reality of the people who are in that place,” says Arceneaux, who is also chair of art at USC Roski.

Roughly 25 years ago, at the library’s request, Arceneaux took on the project to transform the space into a vibrant mural promoting childhood literacy. The project is also where Arceneaux met his future wife. A few years later, the couple had a daughter, whom they raised in Altadena.

When the mural needed updates earlier this year, Arceneaux answered the call again and brought in help from his USC Roski students. The library also put out a public notice inviting the community to submit art concepts and poetry for inclusion in the mural, as well as to help with the actual painting. Arceneaux’s daughter, Zora, a sophomore in the USC School of Cinematic Arts, returned to the library to help her father and reconnect with the space where her family began.

“I always enjoy being able to bring in a different perspective when I work with my dad, and I feel like we create a really interesting balance,” Zora Arceneaux says. “We’re both focusing on how the art will look, how the space will feel and how it represents the community.”

Art for the community

What is now a mainstay of the Altadena community started as an early-career job for Edgar Arceneaux, who, as a fresh-out-of-school artist, worked with the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. He came to Altadena to work with elementary school students to create a literacy-centered mural through a program that brought artists into local communities.

“I wanted to create something that reflected the community, but also the shared values of knowledge, literacy and learning,” Edgar Arceneaux says.

More than two decades later, the mural had begun to deteriorate from age and exposure, just as the library itself was undergoing renovation. The situation became more urgent — and more meaningful — in early 2025, after the Eaton Fire devastated the Altadena community, displacing residents and reshaping the neighborhood.

In response, Edgar Arceneaux chose not only to preserve the original mural but also to expand it. He recreated the collaborative process with a new generation, inviting his students and community members — many directly affected by the fires — to contribute poetry and illustrations that would be transformed into a new section of the mural.

“It’s really a testament to what used to be there, but also to what the community is now and how people are coming back and rebuilding,” he says.

Altadena roots

Having grown up in Altadena, Zora Arceneaux takes immense pride in the place she calls home. She credits the community with shaping both her identity and her perspective as an artist. That personal history made the opportunity to work on the mural particularly meaningful, especially in the wake of the fires. She recalled that community members of all ages returned to contribute — some hadn’t been back to Altadena in years — making the mural a mini-reunion.

“It just kind of felt like everyone was able to come back home,” Zora Arceneaux says.

Zora Arceneaux has been involved in her father’s work for years, often assisting in his studio and contributing ideas; working together on the mural felt like a natural extension of that relationship. “This one felt like a more official version of something we’ve always done,” she says.

In the project itself, Zora Arceneaux worked alongside her father to review poetry and drawings created by residents, helping decide how to incorporate those elements into the final piece. As a cinematic arts student, she brought a perspective focused on both how the mural looks and how it feels as a space that represents Altadena’s identity.

“My favorite part was reading everyone’s different stories through the poetry and seeing all these little kids’ drawings of their memories about Altadena,” she says. “There are a lot of things there I can relate to, and I just really enjoyed knowing that there’s people that love the same things I love about back home.”