Moises Camacho
Moises Camacho is a native Santa Ana artist with a focus on cultural art and murals, and is the art director and co-founder of the Santa Ana Community Artist(a) Coalition, which works to promote and preserve art within Santa Ana. Camacho was also the owner and co-founder of MC Gallery & Studio, but the studio closed in 2010 due to rising rent prices. Camacho attributed this to the ongoing gentrification in the area, and both he and the Coalition have actively fought against gentrification in Santa Ana.
With close ties to the city and a passion for the community, Camacho has used public art to take a stance, representing the people of Santa Ana throughout his artworks. Working on many different murals across Southern California, his work as an artist, as well as an artistic community leader, continues to place a strong emphasis on the needs of the people.
2017
Mission to Mars the Red Planet
Mission to Mars the Red Planet: STEAM and Mars Education - The Future of our Children, painted by Moises Camacho, contains realistic depictions of the multiple NASA spacecraft missions (from right to left in appearance: Cassini and Saturn, Mars Village, ExoMars, Curiosity, Opportunity, Sojourner, and Odyssey). The mural was commissioned by Urban Tech Santa Ana as part of their outreach program to encourage children and students in Santa Ana to pursue an education in "STEAM" (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics). Completed in February of 2017, the mural received a small addition in August 2018.
The main colors used throughout the mural, red-orange and navy blue, contrast each other to create depth and realism. All of the NASA projects shown are painted with a lifelike background, with the rovers on the rough terrain of Mars and satellites in orbit with Mars in the background. The paintings are divided into four sections on French Street and two on East Third Street. In-between each of the six sections is a plain black background with a short statement by Urban Tech, explaining how Urban Tech is looking to build up the community through promoting STEAM education.
