Muralist Levi Ponce puts the finishing touches on a mural featuring United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta at the César Chávez Learning Academies in San Fernando. (Photo courtesy of Zane Meyer)
Levi Ponce has painted the image of labor leader César Chávez in so many places: Ohio, and Fresno, Sylmar and Pacoima. Most recently, he completed a mural for the César Chávez Foundation that will be unveiled in East Los Angeles on April 6. This work honors the late Rep. Esteban Torres, but the much-admired labor leader is featured in the scene.
“I’m not sure where we’re going to go from here, but the spirit of what Chávez represented is still there,” Ponce said. “Not just artists, but Latinos across the nation are caught off-guard.”
Reports that the late icon of American civil rights is accused of raping young girls and his co-founder of the United Farm Workers, Dolores Huerta, has knocked Ponce to his heels, he said.
“It just hurts,” he said. “It’s heart-breaking. We paint him, we sculpt him, we use his image to represent our fight and our struggle. We put our very best artists to represent what civil rights look like, and for so long, we stood behind one man. When we talk about the spirit of the Latino people, we often use him as our muse.”
Artist Levi Ponce’s latest mural is set to be unveiled on April 6. It was commissioned by the CÈsar Ch·vez Foundation to honor Rep. Esteban Torres. The Pacoima artist spoke about the impact reports of abuse leveled on Ch·vez could have on the myriad artwork that features his image on March 19. (Photo courtesy of Levi Ponce)
From concept to unveiling, it took artists Lalo Alcaraz, left, and Levi Ponce, right, three months to complete the mural design emphasizing clean transportation initiatives. (Photo Courtesy El Monte Union High School District)
Juan Hector Ponce and muralist Levi Ponce, celebrate restoring the iconic Danny Trejo mural in Pacoima on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Artist Levi Ponce talks about “Faces of NoHo” he created on the Lonny Chapman Theatre now finished for people to see, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023 in North Hollywood. (photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Muralist Levi Ponce works on restoring his iconic Danny Trejo mural in Pacoima on Monday, March 29, 2021. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Muralist Levi Ponce works on restoring his iconic Danny Trejo mural in Pacoima on Monday, March 29, 2021. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
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Artist Levi Ponce’s latest mural is set to be unveiled on April 6. It was commissioned by the CÈsar Ch·vez Foundation to honor Rep. Esteban Torres. The Pacoima artist spoke about the impact reports of abuse leveled on Ch·vez could have on the myriad artwork that features his image on March 19. (Photo courtesy of Levi Ponce)
Ponce said he feels especially for the victims and their families, as well as people who have dedicated whole careers working for the United Farm Workers and those who work at places that bear César Chávez’s name.
“My art is just brush strokes, I can’t imagine what they must be feeling,” he said.
But as cities and schools scramble to reconcile César Chávez’s legacy, Ponce said he is afraid he will witness the largest erasure of public art in one fell sweep.
“I never could have imagined it,” he said. “Our best Latino artists are often reserved for these projects, and their work will be taken from communities across the country. Artists like Ignacio Gomez are treasures in our city.”
In San Fernando, where Gomez’s epic Chávez installation stands, and where a statue Gomez created was dismantled by city crews in a matter of 25 minutes after an OK from the City Council, city leaders want the revered artist to retouch his work, a daunting task for anyone, let alone the artist, who is in his 80s.
City of San Fernando crews dismantle and remove a statue of Cesar E. Chavez on March 19, 2025, after a city council voted for the removal. (Photo by Julianna Lozada)
Ponce himself said he is willing to adjust his own work to better reflect the Latino community.
“My hope is that we can salvage some of these public spaces and leverage our anger, disappointment, and renewed energy to reclaim these spaces in the spirit of the movement. ‘Si, se puede!’ is a spirit cultivated by the countless who contributed to the advancement of civil rights.”
“It’s heart-breaking. We paint him, we sculpt him, we use his image to represent our fight and our struggle … . When we talk about the spirit of the Latino people, we often use him as our muse.” – Levi Ponce
For Ponce, whose extensive portfolio includes public portraits, murals and other large-scale graphics, and whose father is artist Hector Ponce, what follows the revelations of assaults could center one question: “What does our collective image look like now?”
“Explore that,” Ponce said.
In the meantime, he is quick to assert that the reports do not reflect on the United Farm Workers or the foundation that bears Chávez’s name.
“The work and the mission still stands,” to defend and uplift farmworkers, and to represent a community that can still claim so many good things for their own.
His latest mural in East Los Angeles, and its message of community and pride, still stands. And as artists will, the damning revelations will be used to fuel communal creations to process and heal, to elevate whatever message artists produce with their brushes, pencils and instruments. Whatever is real.
“The work is real, the love is real, and the heartbreak of Latinos across the nation is real,” Ponce said. “I hope we can find a way to move forward with grace and not fight each other.”