Alicia María Siu: Interconnected

The mural’s narrative began through a collaborative process facilitated by artist Alicia María Siu, who invited Prebys Foundation staff to share their values, aspirations, and visions for the space through a guided survey. Prebys staff reflected on the Foundation’s mission. Together they envisioned the creation of a welcoming and inclusive environment, the importance of ecology as sources of healing, the role of arts in building community, and the intersections of health, science, research, and equitable access.

Drawing from these collective reflections, Alicia María Siu developed the mural’s full conceptual design, translating the shared themes and aspirations into a visual story. The detailed design served as a guide for understanding the symbolism, composition, and narrative journey before the mural’s creation.

This collaborative approach reflects over 25 years of Alicia’s artistic practice, in which she engages communities to uncover meaningful stories, histories, and perspectives. Through this process, each mural becomes an act of collective storytelling — where community voices, cultural knowledge, and the artist’s vision come together to create a work that reflects shared values and experiences.

As you begin at the left edge of the mural, you travel westward across San Diego County, following the path of Interstate 8 beneath the sun’s daily journey. The landscape unfolds through the region’s interconnected ecosystems — from deserts and mountains to lakes, grasslands, coastal estuaries, and the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, landmarks including Lake Cuyamaca, the Tijuana River Estuary, and the Coronado Bridge root the mural in place, celebrating the relationship between people, culture, and the living world.

Throughout the journey, symbolic hands weave the composition together. They cradle precious water, create art, build collectively, point toward the horizon, and hold a traditional Kumeyaay bird singing gourd. These gestures express collaboration, resilience, and our shared responsibility to one another and future generations. The mural can also be experienced in reverse, like a Kumeyaay Bird Song across the landscape. Traditionally, Bird Songs carry ancestral memory, place, migration, and the movement of people through the land. Here, that journey is reflected in the mural’s cycle of life through children, youth, adults, and elders.

Near the heart of the people, a hummingbird hovers between an agave and a coastal aloe flower, suggesting that the story has no true beginning or end, but unfolds in continuous cycles of renewal. The agave, long valued by the Kumeyaay for nourishment, fiber, and medicine, grows from the heart of a diverse community, symbolizing vitality, unity, and the Kumeyaay greeting hawka — ​“May the fire in your heart shine bright.” Beside it, the coastal aloe reflects the meeting of ecosystems and cultures, while a woman gently holds water as a reminder that caring for this essential resource is a shared responsibility.

Above, hummingbirds weave strands of colorful DNA. Their flight celebrates resilience, healing, cultural diversity, and the shared humanity reflected in the more than 99 percent of DNA all people have in common. By bringing together science and spirit, the mural celebrates scientific discovery — from biotechnology and immunology to environmental innovation — as working in harmony with nature in service of human and planetary well-being.

As the journey continues across the mural, San Diego’s remarkable biodiversity comes into view. A hawk symbolizes labor, responsibility, and providing for family and community. Children gather around a book as dancers leap from its pages, celebrating education, imagination, and the transformative power of the arts. A whale breaches the ocean, while a bobcat, gray fox, woodpecker, and roadrunner remind us of the many species that share this region and our responsibility to protect them.

The mural then turns toward our shared future. A beehive symbolizes both the essential role of pollinators and humanity’s ability to work together toward common solutions. Youth install solar panels while hands emerge together through underwater algae, reaching toward the light to represent renewable energy, innovation, and the exploration of algae-based biofuels. Nearby, an adult plants native black sage — a carbon-sequestering plant that helps restore soil health — affirming ecological renewal and care for future generations.

The western end of the mural honors cultural continuity and the enduring human spirit. Mexica dancers face the four directions on both sides of the border, carrying forward traditions of cultural revitalization, while the Coronado Bridge becomes a symbol of connection between cultures, communities, and ideas. A Kumeyaay child rides the ocean waves in a traditional tule canoe of his own making, while a refugee child reads peacefully atop a harbor seal, representing belonging and every child’s right to learn, grow, play, and dream in safety. Alongside the international border grows the healing sage plant relative, symbolizing healing, reciprocity, and our enduring relationship with the land. Rather than a division, the border becomes a reminder of San Diego’s trinational identity and the resilience of communities that continue to thrive despite imposed boundaries.

The mural concludes with respected Kumeyaay elder Stan Rodriguez gazing upon his newest grandchild, celebrating joy, continuity, and the passing of knowledge between generations. Above the ocean, the Strawberry Moon marks the summer solstice, illuminating timeless cycles of renewal and hope. By a remarkable coincidence, the Strawberry Moon was painted on the very day of this year’s Strawberry Moon. It had been part of the design from the beginning, and only after the sky, the boy, and the tule canoe were complete was it ready to be painted. The unexpected alignment between the painting process and the lunar calendar became one of those rare moments when art and time seemed to quietly converge.

Although the mural reaches its western edge, its story does not end. Like the hummingbird returning to the agave, the composition forms a continuous circle, reminding us that the well-being of people, culture, and the environment is inseparable, and that our future depends upon the care we extend to one another and to the living world we share.

Artist Acknowledgment

With heartfelt gratitude to The Conrad Prebys Foundation for its vision and partnerships. May Interconnected stand as a lasting testament to the Foundation’s enduring commitment to fostering healthier, more connected, and thriving communities throughout San Diego.