When artist Cristina Martinez came to CSUDH in 2023, she saw a campus population unlike any other. As Presidential Artist-in-Residence, Martinez had brought her work to the Leo F. Cain Library for an exhibit where the entire community could experience her art. But the exhibit would not be her only contribution.

Visit campus now, and you’ll see a striking new addition to the side of the library building: a huge mural Martinez created, titled “Women in Bloom.” Its colorful depiction of a panoply of women stretches across the library’s exterior wall, peering down at passing Toros with wonder and appreciation.

“I like to have as many people as possible see themselves in my work, especially when it’s going to be on the side of a building like this,” said Martinez. “In thinking about the students, I wanted to incorporate many different skin tones. Specifically, I wanted to create something that would let the women of CSUDH feel empowered, seen, and heard.”

It was President Thomas A. Parham who brought Martinez to campus as artist-in-residence. At the unveiling ceremony for the mural, Parham lauded its bold expression of women of all colors, shapes, and sizes.

“CSUDH is a campus with 61 percent women students, so to be able to see that reflected here, showing women in bloom, aligns perfectly with our campus mission of helping students reach the fullest expression of all they’re meant to become,” he said.

---