From Concrete to Culture: Local Artists Transform Imperial Avenue Underpasses Into Murals of History and Heritage

A colorful mural stretches across an Imperial Avenue underpass in San Diego, depicting the rich history, cultural heritage and evolving identity of the surrounding communities. The artwork is part of a $270,000 public art initiative featuring 12 local artists and celebrating the stories of Logan Heights and Sherman Heights. Photo by Kim Phillips Pea.

By J.W. August

The work of a dozen artists, Black, White, Hispanic, can now be seen on large murals painted on underpasses along Imperial Avenue.

The paintings speak to the history and the culture of the neighborhoods that surround them.

The new artwork is visible to anyone driving on the Imperial Avenue underpass at Interstate 15, or on the same street at the 19th Street underpass at Interstate 5.

Some 280,000 vehicles a week pass these two sections of Imperial, according to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Census Program.

A ribbon-cutting commemorating the murals will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at 37 20th St. The event will include live music and refreshments. Organizers are asking attendees to go to info@loganheightscdc.org and confirm you want to attend.

Four years in the making, the project was made possible when Caltrans approved $270,000 in funding that would go toward paying artists from the local community to create colorful and vibrant impressions of their communities. 

Kim Pea, the only full time Black woman muralist in the region, was chosen to oversee the project. Her role evolved, she said, after she began some volunteer work with Caltrans "to demonstrate that there could be a relationship between local artists and state organizations because typically it's not something they do."

Her effort persuaded the state agency to come on board, but first a nonprofit had to be identified to be a part of the process.

The Logan Heights Community Development Corporation helped jumpstart the project, Pea said, by putting out the word that it was looking for local artists interested to participate, and initially about 30 artists showed up, Pea said.

 As the process dragged on, the artist pool shrunk, and a dozen artists remained who "committed to remain part of the project," she said. The agreement to provide contracts for the artists required the collaboration of the city of San Diego Arts and Culture Department, San Diego Association of Governments, the Logan Heights CDC and Caltrans.

It was a long process, says Pea, “but thankfully we worked our way through it and about 75 days ago we got the green light to start ordering paint, materials and supplies and approve the compensation for the artists.”

There were some restrictions on what could be painted, Pea explained, to ensure safety in the heavily trafficked area. 

"They gave the artists a list of colors, words, and images that we could not use in order to keep traffic flowing,” she said. “We couldn't use any colors that resemble a stoplight. And we couldn't use any wording that would cause a person to stop to try to read it and then, we couldn't include anything that looked like traffic.

“But we had the freedom to represent our culture through music on the I-15  underpass. It includes musical murals that represent each artist's cultural background."

At the I-5  underpass, the murals on both sides tell the story of the local community. One side brings to life the past, present, future of Logan Heights, the other side does the same for Sherman Heights. Part of the mural on the north side of the Sherman Heights wall illustrates the role the Black Panther Party played in that community from its birth forward to current times.

“The backstory on this is that local artists are not receiving these types of opportunities,” Pea said. “So, it just sheds light on how beneficial this is to local artists who are full-time artists, who don't receive any other income besides the projects that they work on.”