Santa Ana Street Art

Street Photography

When I first moved to California, in 1990, downtown Santa Ana was not considered to be a very safe place. Its historical roots run deep though. And the architecture, especially in the Floral Park Neighborhood, is quite beautiful, a living memory of California from the early days. Some of the buildings date back to the 1870s. In 1889, it was selected as the County Seat.

The “Artists’ Village,” conceived of in the 1980s, was a conscious intent to revitalize this area, which had fallen into decay and was overrun with violence and drugs.

The result has been a thriving community of artists of all types, from large-scale metal workers to painters, to a craft bourbon distillery, The Blinking Owl, and an assortment of really avant-guard restaurants, like Playground and Playground 2.0, known for new and interesting cuisine crafted from local organic markets.

The area now explodes with colorful murals adorning the stuccoed walls.

And, what I like, perhaps the best, is that it is “home” to several varieties of wild parrots and parakeets, many of whom fly over my house each day on their way to roost in the Eucalyptus trees of Peter’s Canyon. They squawk and talk as they fly, chattering about their day and wobbling all over the sky because they cannot seem to fly in a straight line.

We have so enjoyed watching this district blossom into something new and old, beautiful murals on walls from another era, restaurants and bars inside of what were once run-down warehouses. I can’t wait to see where it goes next…

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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.