What is Pura Avenida?
PURA AVENIDA is a means to celebrate and preserve the authenticity and genuine nature of The Avenue while bringing about a broader scope of experiences and life paths to its young people. Pura Avenida offers skill based learning opportunities, career technical training, and mentorships. It is a safe space to create and be creative, to ask questions and to learn entrepreneurship. Pura Avenida recycles leaders, using students and residents who have been trained in high-tech manufacturing equipment to teach others.
Join the Pura Avenida journey!
It directs young people to local resources, provides access to mentors, and carves out paths (avenues) to pursue higher education and career training all while maintaining place and purpose in the community for its participants.
Where is the Pura Avenida Mural Project?
You can find the 600ft project along 267- 155 of Wall St.
It celebrates that each individual of the community is a valued and contributing member of the community who possesses unique and authentic abilities. It is training the young people of today for future opportunities and avenues.
It is Pura Avenida!
Conceived by WCDC’s director Jackie Pearce and artists Cynthia Polk, Vince Felix, Onofre Banderas, Juan Martinez, and Dain Acevedo, the Pura Avenida Mural Project was developed as a means to engage marginalized and disenfranchised youth. A handful of local at-risk youth have been selected to participate in the project. Being led and instructed by the Pura Avenida team of artists, they will not only learn new skills, they will be contributing to a community project that will, hopefully, produce something far more than they expected. These young artists are working alongside established artists and mural makers in bringing the project to life. In total, more than 50 artists and over a dozen community members are involved in realizing the project.
From priming, sketching, painting and sealing the mural to distributing notification announcements, setting up and cleanup, community members are involved in all aspects of the project.
Support Your Local Artists!
Follow along Wall Street to see Pura Avenida come to life through our 600ft community mural.
The Pura Avenida Mural Team
The team that helped make this possible!
Cynthia Polk
Lead Artist,
Designer of Rendering
Juan Martinez
Graffiti Artist Specialist,
Backdrop of Mural
Patzy Salazar
Pura Avenida Mural Team
Onofre Banderas
Pura Avenida Mural Team Manager,
Instagram host
Dain Acevedo
Pura Avenida Mural Team
Vince Felix
Site Manager, Foreman, Mural Composition
The Artists
Photography by Onofre Banderas
Blazer Martinez (pictured above, working on Avenue Street Signs #18) is one of the many talented local artists working on the Pura Avenida Mural Project.
Bubble #11 (Ventura Surfboards)
Josh Burns
Background Specialist
The List
| Name | Role | Mural Bubble | Follow! |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cynthia Polk | lead artist, designer of rendering | Main girl, hawk and landscape going east, Surfer #22a, Chumash villagers #38 | @veganpolk1 |
| Juan Martinez | graffiti artist specialist, backdrop of mural | Chumash man #1 , Chumash Village #38, all backdrop, Coyote #6 | @kontramantis |
| Destini Mejia | Local Artist | Ballet Folklórico #2 | @_kookez_ |
| Patzy Salazar | Local Artist | Mariachi #3 | |
| Arin Joy Suarez | Local Artist | Surfboards #11 Motorcycle #4 | @alovejoy.art |
| Amanda Loretto | Local Artist | Train Trestle #4a | |
| Children of the community | Local Artists | Handprints done by local children | |
| Juan Martinez | Pura Avenida Mural Team | Coyote #6 | @kontramantis |
| Paula Tumamait- Stenslie | Local Artist | Chumash Sun #6a | |
| Uncle Sade | Local Artist | Westpark Skateboarder #7 | @uncle_sade |
| Gabriel Cueva | Local Artist | Avenue Library #8 | |
| Christine Michelle Verduzco | Local Artist | Angel #8a | @ChristineMichV |
| Lynne Okun | Local Artist | Avenue Ferral Cats near #10 | lynneokun.com |
| Christine Michelle Verduzco | Local Artist | La Virgin de Guadalupe con Diego, Angeles y Luna #10, Diego #10 | @ChristineMichV |
| Onofre Banderas | Instagram Host | La Virgen de Guadalupe con Juan Diego, Ángel y Luna #10 | @puraavenida |
| Christine Michelle Verduzco | Local Artist | Diego #10 | @ChristineMichV |
| Uncle Sade | Local Artist | Child Innocence #10 | @uncle_sade |
| Arin Joy Suarez | Local Artist | Surfboards #11 Motorcycle #4 | @alovejoy.art |
| Liz Franco | Local Artist | Elotero #12 | @free.flower.child |
| Betsie Rexius | Local Artist | Working Hands #13 | @betsielouise |
| Kiki May | Local Artist | Lemon Tree #14 | @kikimayart |
| Tomás Hernandez | Local Artist | Chinese dragon #15 original mural proposed in 2012 | |
| Victor Ramos | Local Artist | Steelhead Trout #16 | @victum140 |
| Dain Acevedo | Local Artist | Skateboarder #17 | @d_a_i_n |
| Blazer Martinez | Local Artist | Avenue Street Sign #18 | |
| Gabriel Cárdenas | Local Artist | Danzantes #19 | @gxbcxr |
| Miguel Rodriguez | Local Artist | Pachuco #20 | @omepache |
| Tracy Hudak | Local Artist | Avenue Hardware Store #21 | |
| Frank Benevidez | Local Artist | Lowrider #22 | |
| Cynthia Polk | Local Artist | Longboarder #22a | @veganpolk |
| Amber Verdries | Local Artist | Kellogg Park #23 | @ambervcreations |
| Local Children | Local Artist | local children handprints | |
| Nicolette Walker-Itza | Local Artist | Child in Swing #25 | @don.tcallmenikki |
| Qori Moorehaul | Local Artist | Sun and Moon #26 | @qorimoorehaul |
| MB Hanrahan | Local Artist | Paul Lindhardt of Art City #28, Oil Derek #27, Westpark Historical Murals #30 | @mbhuniverse |
| MB Hanrahan | Local Artist | Paul Lindhardt of Art City #28, Oil Derek #27, Westpark Historical Murals #30 | @mbhuniverse |
| Ben Pace | Local Artist | Pelican #29 | @benpaceart |
| MB Hanrahan | Local Artist | Westpark Historical Murals #30 | @mbhuniverse |
| Xochitl Stoke | Local Artist | Una Taza #30a | @minkam00n, @_sake_bomb |
| Xochitl Stoke | Local Artist | ||
| Melissa Olague Loera | Local Artist | Bicyclist #32 | @molagueloera |
| Morgan Mascorro | Local Artist | Music Notes #33 | |
| Imelda Chavira | Local Artist | Bobcat | @imeldazheART |
| Dain Acevedo | Local Artist | Paletero #34 | @d_a_i_n |
| Uncle Sade | Local Artist | Boxer #35 | |
| Aimee Denzel | Local Artist | C-street #36 | amorisa.com |
| Lola Dunn | Local Artist | Ferris Wheel #37, Fireworks #37a | @m00nsmother |
| Lola Dunn | Local Artist | Ferris Wheel #37, Fireworks #37a | @m00nsmother |
| Robyne Redwater | Local Artist | Chumash Village #38 | |
| Eva Ryan-Covarrubias | Local Artist | Chumash Woman #38 | evaryanart.gallery |
| Amber Verdries | Local Artist | Lady Surfer #39 | @ambervcreations |
| Open Door Studio by Tess Zufolo | Local Artist | EP Foster #40 | @opendoorstudio805 |
| Aimee Denzel | Local Artist | Avenue Days #41 | amorisa.com |
| Josh Burns | Local Artist | Background specialist | FB jb_studios805 |
| Jeffrey Ault | Local Artist | Landscape and base of mural | @ballenadesigninc |
| Jessica Rodriguez | Local Artist | Cactus, Poinsettias and other plants | |
| Billy Mitchell | Local Artist | Landscape and base of mural | |
| Shane Morrell | Local Artist | Landscape and base of mural | |
| Adam Cwiok | Local Artist | Landscape and base of mural | @adamcwiokah |
| Thomas Mulane | Hollywood Artist | Blue heron and base of the mural | |
| Naomi Wyatt | Local Artist | Coyotes in the landscape | |
| Klay Kidd and Avery | Local Artist | Barn owl, roadrunner and insects | |
| Maria Muotka | Local Artist | Raccoon | @mariamuotka |
| Lisa Son | Local Artist | Landscape and base of mural | |
| Nova Clite | Local Artist | Squirrels and king snake and other | @novaclite, novaclite.com |
| Danni Ault | Local Artist | Gopher and succulents | @dha_clay |
| Maria Robles | Local Artist | Butterflies and bluejays | @maria.l.robles |
| Lauren Zaragoza | Local Artist | ||
| Chris Thomas | Local Artist | ||
| Dylan Czoschke | Local Artist | Rattlesnake | |
| Holly Thomson and Nathan Lingle | Local Artist |
Join the Pura Avenida Journey!
