As Altadena rises from the ashes, a new mural speaks to those longing for home

Dañiel Andres Martinez is an on-call associate producer for LAist.

Published Jun 7, 2025 2:13 PM

A Black girl picks a flower in a large-scale mural on the side of a building. People are on the roof and observing from the ground.

Excitement was in the air Saturday morning as people from around Los Angeles gathered at Fair Oaks Burger in Altadena to witness the unveiling of a new Robert Vargas mural dedicated to the community several months after the Eaton Fire.

Vargas, known for his murals of Fernando Valenzuela and Shohei Ohtani, was on site to present the new work he'd been working on up until Saturday morning. The mural depicts a young Black girl picking a California poppy, holding a teddy bear, and wearing a shirt adorned with scenes and faces from Altadena.

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"The teddy bear, which is a nod to the bears of the community that come down from the foothills. That is the security... what the little girl feels secure with [and] calls home," Vargas said.

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Her action of picking a California poppy, he said, represents the community "rising from the ashes."

The hand from a girl depicted in Robert Vargas' new mural picks a California Poppy.

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Dañiel Martinez

LAist

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Robert Vargas stands in front of his new mural in Altadena, a girl holding a teddy bear is depicted in part of the artwork behind him.

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Dañiel Martinez

LAist

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Fans and community members were there to see the new painting. Dottie Burkhart is from north Pasadena. She went to high school with Vargas at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and says the mural helps her reimagine what home is to people in Altadena.

" It's beautiful. And for me, what brings tears to my eyes, is the look on her face. There's happiness even in all of this destruction. So to me that's what's really beautiful about it," she said.

The face of a girl seen in "From The Ashes" at Fair Oaks Burger in Altadena, the new mural from Los Angeles artist Robert Vargas.

Robert de Leon is from Altadena, but lost his home in the Eaton Fire and currently lives in Pasadena. He came out to see the mural and says he appreciates all the symbols in the picture.

"The thing that connects with me most is the girl carrying the bear and it's like she's longing for home, or grasping onto that teddy bear, that's comforting," he said. "My initial inspiration is just sort of like the desire of Altadena to return to what it was."

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Robert Vargas takes a picture with other Altadenans and local supporters in front of his new mural "From The Ashes" at Fair Oaks Burger.

Temple City resident Georganna Cordova was there to support her husband, who worked at the local school Odyssey Charter, which burned down in the fires. She's a huge fan of Vargas and this was the first time she experienced one of his pieces in person.

" I like that he captured really everything in a nutshell, even the horses that during the fire were being led out of the fire. Everything's in there," she said.

Two horses and various other faces and scenes are depicted in the shirt a Black girl is wearing within Robert Vargas' new mural "From The Ashes" at Fair Oaks Burger.

After the banner covering the mural dropped Vargas named and signed the piece, dedicating it to Altadena and its continued resilience as it rebuilds nearly half a year after the Eaton Fire.

"This mural at Fair Oaks Burger is truly a reflection of the resilient community that's persevered through so much devastation and they really inspired me to create this mural," Vargas told LAist.