{"id":250800,"date":"2026-04-04T00:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250800\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T00:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:26:25","slug":"little-arabias-new-mural-says-welcome-the-invitation-is-hard-to-miss-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250800\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Arabia\u2019s new mural says \u2018welcome.\u2019 The invitation is hard to miss \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWelcome to Little Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bursts of blue, green and orange splashed across the exterior face of a meat market announce the destination and, for those who slow down to appreciate, something more.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a distance, it just says \u2018Little Arabia.\u2019 It looks ordinary,\u201d said Amin Nash, policy and advocacy coordinator for the Anaheim-based Arab American Civic Council<\/a>. \u201cBut then the idea was to invite people to park and look at the different designs and they\u2019ll pick out little things throughout the whole mural.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reflects how Little Arabia is,\u201d Nash said.<\/p>\n

Nash, along with city leaders and community members, gathered in West Anaheim\u2019s Little Arabia on Friday, April 3, to celebrate the recently finished mural at Brookhurst Street and West Orange Avenue and to kick off the start of Arab American Heritage Month.<\/p>\n

\"Magnolia<\/p>\n

Magnolia High School art students and their teacher, left, are recognized for their work bringing the new Little Arabia mural to life during a special event in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A detail of the new mural celebrating Little Arabia in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Magnolia<\/p>\n

Magnolia High School art teacher Vanessa Fogelquist listens during a special event recognizing her students contribution to the new mural celebrating Little Arabia in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Anaheim<\/p>\n

Anaheim City Council Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Leon shares some words during a special dedication of a new mural celebrating Little Arabia in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Muntadhar<\/p>\n

Muntadhar Aljadeed of the Arab American Civic Council addresses those attending the special dedication event for a new mural celebrating Little Arabia in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"During<\/p>\n

During a special dedication event, Amin Nash walks by the new mural celebrating Little Arabia painted by student artists from Magnolia High School in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Gabriel<\/p>\n

Gabriel Macias-Islas, right, is congratulated by Carlos Leon, Anaheim City Council Mayor pro tem, during an event recognizing Magnolia High School art students who contributed their talents to bring the new Little Arabia mural to life in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Art<\/p>\n

Art student Nathan Alva of Magnolia High School stands near the new mural celebrating Little Arabia during a special dedication event in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. Alva and his fellow art students from Magnolia contributed their talents to bring the mural to life on the side of the Al-Karmel Meat Market on Brookhurst St.(Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Mirvette<\/p>\n

Mirvette Judeh takes a photo during a dedication event for a new mural celebrating Little Arabia in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. Judeh is chair of the Arab American Cuacus. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 9<\/p>\n

Magnolia High School art students and their teacher, left, are recognized for their work bringing the new Little Arabia mural to life during a special event in Anaheim on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

After more than a decade of grassroots organizing, including by the civic council, the Anaheim City Council officially recognized in 2022 the Little Arabia district,<\/a> which follows Brookhurst Street from Broadway to Ball Road, west of the 5 Freeway. The district is the first of its kind in the country, home to the densest enclave of Arab Americans in Orange County and more than 100 Arab and Middle East\/North African businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many individuals that have fought for this area for years,\u201d Councilmember Carlos Leon said, whose district includes Little Arabia. \u201cAnd this is just another step in the progress here on Brookhurst,<\/a> another step in the continued representation of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018It reflects how Little Arabia is\u2019<\/p>\n

The mural is the product of many collaborations: the civic council, local business owners and artists and more than 30 Magnolia High School students. It was also supported by a California Humanities grant.<\/p>\n

Over several months, the students, led by art teacher Vanessa Fogelquist, spray-painted the artwork onto Al-Karmel Meat & Bakery. But the most rewarding part of the project, high school senior Angela Nguyen said, was getting to know Little Arabia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a community that goes under the radar for some people. Although I live around the area, I wasn\u2019t too familiar with it,\u201d Nguyen said.<\/p>\n

Inside the classroom, students learned about Little Arabia and Arab American history. Outside of the classroom, they went on walking tours of the area, also visiting other cultural enclaves nearby, including Little Saigon<\/a> and Los Angeles\u2019s Little Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI drive by these stores every single day and for me,\u201d Nguyen said, \u201cgoing on that tour was one of the first times that I really immersed myself in this community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students fed what they learned into the mural\u2019s draft concepts. Artists Joshua Flores and Giesi Amaya integrated those ideas into the final product.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I put in my design was the highways and roads,\u201d Nguyen said, paying homage to Little Arabia signs installed in 2024 on the 5 and 91 freeway<\/a> to recognize and point drivers to the area. Nguyen was also the mind behind the mural\u2019s postcard style, and its setting against the Santa Ana Mountains and a California sunset.<\/p>\n

And there are countless clues hidden in the artwork that tell a story about the people who\u2019ve inspired it.<\/p>\n

Within the \u201cR,\u201d there\u2019s a woman leaning on a stack of books, a collection inspired by a local bookstore in Little Arabia that sells Arabic language titles.<\/p>\n

The steam rising from the poured Arab coffee in the middle \u201cA\u201d spells out \u201ckaram\u201d or generosity. It\u2019s a message also reflected in the following letter, where scenes of food preparation (in a traditional oven) give a nod to \u201ccommunity labor, care and nourishment,\u201d Nash said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty more. But that\u2019s for Little Arabia\u2019s visitors to discern.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome to eat new food, meet new people, learn the language and learn about the community,\u201d Nash said. \u201cWelcome to Little Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWelcome to Little Arabia.\u201d Bursts of blue, green and orange splashed across the exterior face of a meat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,2308,7,179,23,611,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-250800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-art","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-community","14":"tag-local-news","15":"tag-orange-county","16":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}