I cringe every time I drive past Anaheim's GardenWalk and its
fortress of chains. This isn't my Anaheim of immigrant shops mixing with
longtime businesses in cheap strip malls, nor does it have the Googie charm of the original hotels
and stores that sprung around Disneyland with free-market glee before Anaheim
officials passed some type of code or other that makes every damn property in the so-called Resort area have
the same Mission-esque marquee outside…where was I? Yes: the reason to visit
GardenWalk.
The always happenin' Anaheim Historical Society and other organizations (including the Mouse) commissioned a bunch of artists and kiddies to
paint murals of historical Anaheim to display at GardenWalk, and they even allotted one for Mexis! Since
city fathers wouldn't take too kindly to images of striking citrus workers or
protesting parents against school or pool segregation, artist Christina
Guerrero (full disclosure: probably related to me since we're from the same incestuous
village of El Cargadero, Jerez, Zacatecas that has dominated Anaheim Latino life since, oh, the 1900s) instead drew a beautiful visage of a dancing baile folkorico couple and an Aztec serpent. But where's the tamborazo? Kidding, Christina! Good job. The artists will exhibit their murals for about six months, at which time these movable feasts for the eyes will go elsewhere. But isn't this a great idea for the rest of our soulless open-air
malls like Bella Terra in Surf City, or Mission Viejo's Kadeiloscope? Hell, you
could spill a bucket a paint on Kadeiloscope's walkways, and it could liven things up by a billion.
