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The other community groups that participated were The Yorba Linda Arts Alliance Foundation, The Placentia Collaborative, Lot 318 and Cultivating Growth.  In addition to organizing 13 artists, 150 community members to faithfully paint this mural, these community groups helped to put on community meetings, a resource fair, soft ball tournament and a community celebration & dedication.    

The restoration of the mural is coming to completion, but the purpose of bringing the community together imitating that earlier group has just begun. They did a work collaboratively to build each other's homes, create a park, paint a mural and all the other efforts to ensure the infrastructure of their community.  As a matter of fact, HIS House OC and Lot 318 are bringing resources to the Gomez center, but it will require the community to invest once more for our neighbors to see that kind of transformation again.  If we can learn anything from Manuel's mural it’s; there is a time for every season and if this community works comes together, they will prosper again.  

 This type of sacrifice was Aztec in origin and now used under a new Christian banner.  The figure with the eye opened can be referenced in a woodcut titled oppression on page12 figure10,  the cross throughout the length of the mural represents oppression and struggle.  The only place that is an exception to this rule comes right before the doves, where the Aztec inspired cross shaped figure glows and ushers in a new season of fruitfulness and prosperity coming after the struggle for workers rights. (Yarn Painting Page 40 figure 42)

Originally the lines of the second skull were thought to be a serpent.  Since it was not clear and the line work may actually be early tagging, the skull figure from page 22 figure 20 was put in its place.  This was the only image added to the mural. The other additions of elements include the stylized waves behind the three drowning children and the stripes of the serape were added upon referencing Manuel's yarn painting on page 70 figure 90 & UCI Cross Cultural mural on pages 44-45 figure 46. 

The skull figure balances out the mural  by book-ending the earlier conquistador skeleton and creates a connection to the earlier conflict.  The message found on this woodcut poster references that the earlier generation has already sacrificed “Los Viejos Ya Hicieron Penitencia.”  Below we found line work for a box-like image that was a mystery until we found Manuel’s silk screen protest poster on page 83, which shows soldiers in a similar style with caskets returning home.  This idea of sending our young men to war only to receive them back in coffins is a notion that Manuel  held according to his family and friends.  So the message we can derive from this section would read; as a culture we have prospered and contributed through many vocations as productive citizens, but after a time of prosperity the challenge of war sent our soldiers out only to return in coffins and before entering a more prosperous season they would have to leave the fighting and be transformed.

The last 75 feet of the mural was never fully completed.  The City had asked Manuel to stop and eventually boarded up the mural because Manuel's assistant continued to paint.  We believe the "laugh now cry later" masks were added by his assistant.  She is also thought to have painted the butterfly, or Moth (Arsenura Armida) at the end of the serape.

The laugh now cry later was removed to simplify the design and to make room for the female figure from page.... that perfectly fit over the unfinished painting tastefully. The Arsenura Armida Moth or Condalia Silk Moth was first adjusted to be more symmetrical and then simplified to better fit with Manuel's style (at the time a Sonoran Moth was referenced).  We do believe the moth and female figure were part of the original design.  

The silk moth and serape weaves together the contributions of the workers who transformed from early farm labor to a prosperous workforce before being caught up in the war.  Between the war, female figure and supportive union imagery, we can infer at minimum there were political reasons why the city leaders did not want to see the mural completed during the 70’s.  The moth represents a return to nature and its silk forms the serape.  This is a visual representation of the many cultural and economic contributions from the community.   

The loop represents a transition from a time of struggle and sorrow to a time of peace and prosperity as the war ends.  This is the main theme of the mural and can be seen with the sun representing the highs and the cross representing the valleys seen in the murals border painted in black, red and tan.  Manuel is telling us there is a time for every season and even though the struggle is cyclical our people will see a prosperous time once more. * Manuel references the moth as a Mariposa in his notes and to his family.  We believe it to be a giant silk moth due to the serape following behind it and the Arsenura Armida is found in central America, whose pattern is strikingly similar to the patterns painted. Regardless of the exact classification the connection to cultural significance and transformation is apparent.