District 10 celebrates equity, diversity and inclusion through art

By Bob Highfill
District 10 homeless encampment coordinator

District 10’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force came up with a brilliant idea to engage the community by creating the first Celebrate Diversity in Stockton mural contest.

Task force members Jose Alicea, office chief, Maintenance Engineering; Silvia Dayak, senior transportation planner; and Navraj Jammu, branch chief, Program Management, began working on the contest in May 2022. They reached out to local schools and asked students to submit artwork that captures what diversity in Stockton means to them.

The task force’s perseverance and commitment paid off on July 19 when the contest’s winners, 19-year-old Natalie Liana Ochoa and 18-year-old Alexander Escalante, both St. Mary’s High School graduates, were honored beside their murals, which now adorn the northeast corner of District 10’s main office in Stockton.

“Art has been in my family for generations,” said Ochoa, a junior studying biological sciences at Sacramento State. “With this piece specifically, I wanted to do something super simple but also very colorful. Everything I do is very colorful and fun.”

Ochoa’s mural depicts toddlers of different ethnicities sitting innocently in front of block letters that spell Stockton. The children appear beneath wispy clouds suspended in the blue sky. The mural pops with color and evokes the sweet, gentle innocence of youth. In script, Ochoa has written “Little Differences,” undoubtedly the title of her magnificent piece.

Escalante’s mural is starker in color – a wash of black, gray, and white – yet depicts a powerful sense of youthful energy and optimism with “CITY OF STOCKTON” boldly capturing the eye atop the frame. Inspired by one of his favorite Japanese manga artists, Inio Asano, Escalante shows us four boys and girls holding hands, eagerly heading toward their future. Subtle touches, like the numeral 10 on one of the backpacks, a significant number in his family, and a stuffed toy – his favorite as a child growing up in San Carlos – convey his personal attachment to the mural.

“Stockton gave me a lot of new experiences and exposure to new cultures, people and ideologies,” said Escalante, a sophomore studying neuroscience and studio art at Connecticut College in New London, Conn. “Coming to Stockton for high school, I got a lot of formative experiences that really developed me as a person. I really wanted to show that in my piece.”

For more than two years, the EDI task force showed tremendous dedication and perseverance to see the contest through. Many in the District 10 family contributed, including James Serpa in Maintenance, who hung the murals in 100-plus-degree heat; former District 10 EDI Task Force Lead Kimberly Vaye; and Creative Services Manager Bill Lavelle and his team: Ruby Islas, Anup Giri and Nhut Nguyen.

The mural contest was yet another example of how Caltrans is committed to being a people-first organization by reaching out to the community.

“Through this project we were able to develop great relationships with our locals, our schools, with the art teachers, and their programs,” said Alicea, an art appreciator in his own right. “This is a true testament of Caltrans working closely together as a family to make this day happen.”