𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗙𝗢𝗖𝗨𝗦: Artist Daniel Alonzo Donates Five-Generation Portrait to Santa Monica’s Mexican Presence Project

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — September 20, 2025 — The Santa Monica Public Library marked the city’s 150th anniversary on Saturday with the debut of the Mexican Presence in Santa Monica Project, a community initiative documenting the history and influence of Mexican American families in the seaside city. The afternoon program, held in the Main Library’s Multipurpose Room at 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, introduced a team of local residents working to preserve family stories through historic images, oral histories, and other primary resources. Attendees viewed highlights from the Library’s Imagine Santa Monica local-history database, explored vintage photographs, and met families contributing to the growing archive. Among the most talked-about displays was a striking family portrait donated by artist and panelist Daniel Alonzo. The oversized image captured a 1980 family reunion picnic at Marine Park, where at least five generations of Alonzo’s relatives gathered for a group photo that resembles a giant class portrait. “It’s not a high school picture—it’s a reunion photo,” Alonzo explained, pointing out his grandmother, great-aunt, mother, sisters, and nieces within the crowd. He recalled organizing similar photos over three consecutive years and tracking down the same Glendale photography studio that once shot his ninth-grade class picture to capture the massive scene. Alonzo described the portrait as a testament to a once-thriving Mexican American community centered around St. Anne’s Church and deeply rooted in Santa Monica’s neighborhoods and canyons. “We always knew our place in Santa Monica, where we were at, but it was a thriving community that was well connected,” he said. The reunion photograph joins more than 2,000 historic images and documents—some dating back to the 1800s—now preserved in the Library’s online Imagine Santa Monica collection. Organizers encouraged residents to explore the digital archive and contribute their own family narratives to help tell the broader story of Santa Monica’s Mexican American heritage. For more information or to share materials, contact the Santa Monica Public Library at (310) 458-8600.