By Eddie Cota

A gray retaining wall behind the basketball courts at Guirado Park has been waiting for a makeover. Now three artists are competing for the chance to transform it.

The City of Whittier's Art in Public Places Committee is reviewing final proposals for a $70,000 mural project at the park, located at 5760 Pioneer Boulevard. The wall wraps around the park's double basketball court with surfaces facing the courts, the softball field, the parking lot, and the park interior. Its varying slopes and angles made it a tricky canvas to design around.

The committee will recommend one or more finalists to the Cultural Arts Commission, which will then send a final recommendation to City Council for approval.

Guirado Park was dedicated on March 18, 1980, after the 605 freeway was completed through Whittier, and named after retired Judge Edward Guirado. The city wanted something youthful and family-friendly, built to last.

Each finalist received a $1,500 stipend to sharpen their designs after the committee asked for more clarity on inclusivity, 3D renderings, and overall vision back in March. Here is what they came back with.

Key Detail (Andrey and Julia Kravtsov)

The Kravtsovs are proposing a bright, illustration-heavy design that wraps the entire structure. The main wall facing the basketball court centers on a basketball-inspired smiley face surrounded by players in motion, local squirrels, oak trees, and jacaranda blooms. The parking lot side depicts a family together in the park. The softball field side pairs a glove and ball with a sparrow. The rear wall shifts into bold abstract shapes and color blocking. The team built a physical scale maquette to show how the design reads from all angles. Andrey would handle all painting, with Julia managing logistics, using spray paint sealed with UV-protective and anti-graffiti coatings.

Rosie Tos

Santa Monica-based muralist Rosie Tos has spent more than 20 years painting walls across Southern California, with over 90 murals for the Los Angeles Fire Department and a commission at LA City Hall. Her proposal uses a continuous line drawing style to connect 11 figures rendered as flat, colorful silhouettes against geometric backgrounds, with the connecting line symbolizing a shared love of sports, nature, and community. The court-facing wall features basketball players of all ages. The opposite side shows a cyclist, a parent and child, a fitness enthusiast, a skateboarder, and a couple on a bench. The exterior walls depict joggers and kids playing soccer.

Where We Grow (Jacqueline Valenzuela, Mister Toledo, and Cheyne Ellett)

The three-artist team built their design around the park's existing mosaic tilework, extending its geometric patterns and color blocking across the mural walls. The court-facing side centers a bold "WHITTIER" letterform woven through scenes of kids playing sports, backed by poppies and Whittier's official flower, the friendship rose. The exterior wall traces the city's agricultural past through citrus groves, walnut trees, avocado fields, and oil derricks, connecting that history to present-day park life through images of street vendors and paleteros. A generational arc depicts life milestones from childhood to adulthood, with Guirado Park as the backdrop throughout. The team also plans to invite neighbors to add brushstrokes during the early stages of painting.

Valenzuela is a Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary artist and UCLA MFA candidate whose work centers on Chicano culture and memory, and a lifelong Whittier resident who grew up near the park. Daniel Toledo, known as Mister Toledo, is a Los Angeles-based muralist whose credits include a Grammy Museum commission honoring Selena Quintanilla. Cheyne Ellett is a Pomona-based artist on the LA County Department of Cultural Affairs pre-qualified muralist roster who led a five-building mural series at Palomares Park for the City of Pomona.