The city of Eastvale is approaching its 10 year anniversary on October, 1. In honor of the anniversary, the city council asked Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill to paint a mural representing the past, present, and future of Eastvale. On September 23, the city held an unveiling for the mural entitled, Eastvale: We Built This City.

The City of Eastvale wanted this mural to help launch Eastvale’s up and coming art and culture scene. Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill is a long time resident of Eastvale and daughter of famed Chicano artist, Emidgio Vasquez. She was the perfect person to recruit for this project. The city manager, Bryan Jones, told Marc Donohue, the communications director, “We are incredibly lucky to have Rosemary who is such an exceptionally talented artist right in our own backyard.”

Mrs. Vasquez grew up watching her father paint over 30 public murals in California and over 400 oil paintings. Her father painted a similar mural for the City of Anaheim. Mrs. Vasquez studied art in college, often painting with oils and acrylics. She also studied her father’s technique. However, she understood that a career in art would be difficult to accomplish. So, she started a 30-year career in aerospace as a research and development engineer using her creativity for design. After retirement, she returned to her passion of painting.

The mural itself took a year and a half to complete starting in January 2019. The mural is crafted on a 6′ x 14′ canvas.

Mrs. Vasquez said, “Originally the painting was going to be done in acrylics, but we decided instead that I would paint using oil paints because the mural required a high level of detail.” She worked for endless hours to make sure all the details were precise. The faces on the people themselves, have layers of paint to ensure the facial expressions are just right.

The mural entitled Eastvale: We Built This City, was unveiled at Eastvale’s City Hall on Limonite Avenue. The city council was there along with Rosemary Vasquez herself. Many people were in attendance, including  Eastvale community member, Candace. Candace shared “It was good to see the community come together as a whole to  experience the unveiling.” In addition, the mayor of Eastvale, Todd Rigby, presented Rosemary Vasquez with a key to the city. This is a very high honor.

The mural will be displayed in the City of Eastvale’s City Hall, until the future City Civic Center is built.