A new video produced by the Coastal Watershed Council in partnership with Inspira Studios features Latine members of the Beach Flats community sharing stories about their neighborhood, the nearby San Lorenzo River, and the Tlaloc storm drain mural in Beach Flats Park. The video will be linked to an interpretive sign about the mural that will be installed later this year as part of CWC’s river art storytelling project funded by the State Coastal Conservancy’s Coastal Stories program.
In the video, residents Ana Velazquez and Erasto Vleasco share how the Beach Flats community has evolved over the past two decades into a safer neighborhood where people feel comfortable being outdoors without fear of violence. For Ana, that transformation made it possible to take walks along the river levee. It’s an activity she finds calming and grounding, especially when she can experience her favorite scent of “petrichor,” the smell of the earth right after rain.
Beach Flats resident Erasto Velasco prepares for a video interview with Inspira Studios
The storytellers note how the Beach Flats neighborhood and the nearby river remind them of other places they have lived. Ana says that the mutual aid Beach Flats residents provide for each other recalls the tight-knit community her family comes from in the Mexican state of Michoacán, while Bertaldo (Beto) Loaeza shares that the San Lorenzo River mouth reminds him of the river running to the sea in Acapulco, Mexico, where he grew up.
Beto says that he sees the San Lorenzo River as a source of life, but it also causes concerns in the neighborhood, especially when the river level rises. His wife, Alifonia Martinez, shares how she has been given sandbags in the past to protect against neighborhood flooding, and Erasto notes the importance of residents identifying higher ground to evacuate if needed.
Artist Irene Juarez O’Connell at the Tlaloc storm drain mural.
The video also features artist Irene Juarez O’Connell, who the Coastal Watershed Council commissioned to paint the storm drain mural in Beach Flats Park with community involvement in 2019. Irene shares that she was inspired by many Beach Flats residents’ roots in Latin America, as well as her own Mexican heritage, to include a depiction of Tlaloc, the Indigenous god of rain, thunder, and storms from Mexico and Central America. Ana says that even today, people will still express thanks to Tlaloc when it rains. Beto shares that the mural is a chance to see one’s culture reflected in a painting, and a reminder of how historic civilizations like the Aztecs took care of the environment.
The mural draws attention to a storm drain, which is a direct connection between the neighborhood and the San Lorenzo River. During heavy rain, water flows untreated through the drain into the river and Monterey Bay to help prevent flooding in the neighborhood. People can help keep the river and ocean healthy by keeping the drain free of trash and pollution. Erasto and Beto talk about the importance of teaching younger generations to take care of the river and the environment by keeping them clean.
When people visit the Tlaloc mural, Irene says, “I hope that they feel a sense of joy, I hope that they feel a sense of play, and I hope that they feel a sense of belonging, that their history, their culture, their identity is reflected here in the place where they live.”
This is the second of three videos that CWC is producing to spotlight diverse community stories and history related to the San Lorenzo River and river artwork. Thank you to the State Coastal Conservancy’s Coastal Stories program for making this project possible.