Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 16, 2020
Mural painted by daughter of famed Chicano artist to be unveiled in Eastvale, CA
On September 23, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. at Eastvale City Hall
The mural themed Past, Present, and Future entitled Eastvale: We Built This City
depicts the visual history of our region in Western Riverside County
Eastvale, CA–In honor of its 10th Anniversary of incorporation as the second youngest City in California and to help launch the City of Eastvale’s’ up and coming art and culture scene, City leadership commissioned a mural themed, Past, Present, and Future entitled Eastvale: We Built This City, to tell the story about the City’s rich history and bright future. This dynamic piece of public art was painted by long-time Eastvale resident, Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill.
“Our City continues to flourish and is home to a diverse group of residents, and we wanted to honor our roots through public-art that would be part of the fabric of our community for years to come,” said City Manager Bryan Jones. “We were incredibly lucky to have Rosemary who is such an exceptionally talented artist right in our backyard. We are also excited to make this the forefront of our arts & culture scene in Eastvale, which has been highlighted as a top priority for our community by the City Council.
”Tuthill, a 2ndgeneration muralist from Santa Ana, CA and the daughter of famed Chicano artist Emigdio Vasquez, took her inspiration from her father who had created a similar mural for the City of Anaheim, entitled “125 Years of Progress”, as well as over 30 public murals throughout the state, and 400 oil paintings. Rosemary grew up watching her father paint and learned mural and oil painting techniques. She studied art in school and painted in acrylics and oils, but she understood a career in art would be difficult way to make a living so she used her creativity for design in a 30-year career in aerospace as a research and development engineer. After, retiring from aerospace and with some encouragement from her husband Steve, she returned to her true passion of painting.
Rosemary is probably best known for her “Portraits of Influence” painting series, featuring paintings of notable individuals who have made contributions that have influenced culture and affected society in areas including politics, science, music, art, technology, sports, social justice, and other areas. Each painting contains focused efforts to ensure detail, vibrant colors to reflect hyper-realism. Through these series of portraits, Rosemary is hoping to foster discussion about their contributions to society. These portraits are currently on display in public and private buildings, museums, airports, and Presidential Libraries. More information about Rosemary and her art can be found at www.vasquezart.com.
“This mural is beyond amazing, said Francesca Rife, Rosa Parks Elementary School Teacher and coordinator of the annual Art Walk at Rosa Parks Elementary School. “The story in the mural teaches lessons about history, art, community helpers, government, sports, and variety of other topics that the youth in our community should learn about”
Following the similar photo-realism style to her father’s work, the mural themed Past, Present, and Future entitled Eastvale: We Built This City, began to evolve as Rosemary meticulously crafted the 6’ x 14’ canvas work of art in her garage. The mural was painted on a portable canvas so it could be transported if needed and as we ultimately design and construct our future City Hall and Public Library, it will have a new home to go to in the future. The mural was originally commissioned in January 2019 and took a year and half to complete, which included countless hours of research about the City, attention to detail, and of course, hundreds of days and hours painting the mural.
“Originally, the painting was going to be done in acrylics,” shared Rosemary. “But we decided instead that I would paint using oil paints because the mural required a high level of detail. My husband even had to buy me a pair of magnifying glasses,” she joked. “If you look closely into the faces of the people in the mural the details are meticulous. It takes layer after layer of paint to achieve the facial expressions on each person shown.”
As the City was seeking a visually and publicly create an art piece to tell the story of the region and the evolution towards incorporation, Rosemary was selected to bring the visual history to life.
Currently, the mural will be displayed in the City of Eastvale’s City Hall and will be moved into the City’s future Civic Center. The City will also be sharing a behind-the-scenes video about the mural during the unveiling and eventually on our social media platforms.
We also want to take this time to thank the many individuals who assisted in the creation of this mural. The community leaders and City Council Art Mural Ad-Hoc Committee were vital in this process. We also want to give a special thank you to Riverside County Supervisor Karen Spiegel, who generously donated funds to assist with the completion of the mural through her use of community improvement designation funds.
The mural themed Past, Present, and Future entitled Eastvale: We Built This City, will be unveiled on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 6:00p.m. during a Special City Council meeting located at Eastvale City Hall, 12363 Limonite Ave. Suite 910, Eastvale, CA 91752.
About the City of Eastvale
The City of Eastvale was founded on October 1, 2010 as an independent local government agency, governed by a five-member, elected City Council. The City of Eastvale serves over 73,700 residents and encompasses 13.1 square-miles in western Riverside County. Eastvale is a young and dynamic community filled with economic opportunity, tremendous growth, and strong values.
In Eastvale, we champion experiences that engage, excite, and elevate our commUNITY! With our..
Kindness –selfless concern for all
Grit–passion and resilience in everything we do
Solutions Driven –courageous, creative, and collaborative results
Media Contact:MarcA.Donohue | City Clerk/Communication Director
951.703.4421 | mdonohue@eastvaleca.gov
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