City Yards Public Art

Our City Yards

The Our City Yards project was inspired by the success of artist Deborah Aschheim's self-directed embedded residency with the Santa Monica Fire Department that resulted in the installation of Back Story in 2021. Made possible by Percent for Art funds generated by the modernization project at City Yards, Our City Yards was conceived as a celebration of the repair and upkeep, fleet and street, fire safety, and waste and resource management work at City Yards, exploring themes of ecological sustainability and justice, the cycle of municipal maintenance activity and its connections to the community, and the labor of essential workers at this site. The project began in 2023 and continues through 2025.

The Artists

Two artists were chosen for this work: Debra Scacco was selected to execute a two-year residency project, "Laboratory for the Future," embedded with the Resource Recovery and Recycling and Water Divisions of Public Works, and Tanya Aguiñiga was selected for "Poetic Sounds of Labor," a one-year multifaceted project that includes the commission of a permanent ceramic mural for the new Operations Building.

The Site

The City Yards campus is a 14.7-acre site located at 2500 Michigan Avenue. In 2019, the City embarked on a long-term renovation project, with the first phase completed in 2023. This added three new buildings: an Operations Center with a public lobby, a Fire Training facility, and a Fleet Maintenance building. The following divisions and services of the Public Works Department are based at City Yards: Fleet and Street Services; Facilities Maintenance, including Carpentry, Electrical, Graffiti Removal, HVAC, and Plumbing; Resource Recovery & Recycling; and Water Resources. Other services at the site include the Fire Department’s training program and the Clerk’s Office printing division.

Themes

The City of Santa Monica is internationally recognized for its commitment to sustainability, and its current priorities include water self-sufficiency, zero waste, and carbon neutrality. The Water Division's goals for Santa Monica are aided by the communication of the importance and unique path of water systems in this City. The Resource Recovery and Recycling division is in the midst of a drive to promote the practice of organics recycling throughout the City, a program that has been given greater urgency by the passing of Senate Bill 1383 requiring all Californians and California businesses to recycle their food waste, green waste, and food soiled papers (collectively known as “organics”) and establishing methane reduction targets for California. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City has relied on an essential workforce to keep the City moving, and acknowledgement and celebration of the enormous amount of invisible work and overlooked systems of care that make this possible, is an important theme of this project.

Links, Events and Resources

3/27/24, 2:30-3:30pm: Tour: SWIP (video)
Water Division Manager Sunny Wang led a tour of the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project (SWIP) with Debra Scacco. Videos to check out: Water recycling in Santa Monica: SWIP grand opening and SMURRF tour.

5/1/24, 6-7:30pm Talk: Ways of Water (video) at the Main Library
Debra Scacco moderates a talk with Kuruvungna Springs Foundation president Bob Ramirez and Santa Monica's Water Division manager Sunny Wang, on Indigenous water knowledge and water strategies that the city is pursuing for greater sustainability. Followed by a Q&A.

5/2/24: Exhibit: Clay artwork by essential workers and Tanya Aguiñiga at the City Yards Operations Building Lobby

5/19/24, 11am - 2pm: Picnic: We Are Essential (video) at Gandara Park

11/15/24: Exhibit: Contact sheet portraits of City Yards workers by Debra Scacco and photographer Monica Orozco at the City Yards Operations Building Lobby

12/2/24: Exhibit: Banner portraits of City Yards workers by Debra Scacco and photographer Monica Orozco along the Gandara Park fence

5/20/25: Unveiling of Tanya Aguiñiga's tile mural, Manos Unidas at City Yards Building A. Instagram short of Tanya Aguiñiga speaking about the mural (video)

10/6/25: unveiling of Debra Scacco and City of Santa Monica Water Division & GIS team's Water Storymap

10/11/25 to 1/4/26: Exhibit: Laboratory for the Future, residency work by Debra Scacco at the Propeller Gallery, Airport Arts Center, 3026 Airport Ave, on view 10/11/25 to 1/4/26. The gallery is open Thursday - Sunday, 12-5pm. Media Alert for the exhibit and culminating series.

10/11/25, 12-3pm: Opening reception
10/18/25, 11am-12:30pm: Laboratory for the Future: Composting session offsite at Ishihara Park Learning Garden, 2909 Exposition Blvd.
10/25/25, 12-2pm: Flow and Form: The Invisible Systems of Santa Monica, artist talk and exhibit walkthrough with Debra Scacco
11/1/25, 12-1:30pm: Woven Waters: Protection, Resistance, Renewal, a conversation with Emma Robbins, Diné Water Activist & Artist (video)
11/22/25, 12-2pm: Drop-in conversation around censorship with Debra Scacco
1/3/26, 12-2pm: Exhibit closing event with Deville Cohen of Artists Commit & Debra Scacco (video)

Both Tanya Aguiñiga's Manos Unidas commission and Debra Scacco's Laboratory for the Future project were made possible by the city of Santa Monica Recreation and Arts Department Cultural Affairs Division, Public Works Department, and Percent for Art program.

FAQ

More about Debra Scacco's project

Scacco's multiyear residency balanced several goals, chiefly; celebrating the essential workers of the Resource Recovery and Recycling and Water Divisions, raising awareness of SB1383, the statewide Organics Recycling mandate, investigating the possibilities of new recycled materials, and researching the paths of water, waste, and resources into and out of Santa Monica.

More about Tanya Aguiñiga's project

Tanya Aguiñiga proposed to undertake a deep listening project to work, eat, and ride with workers at City Yards, then create artwork that celebrated the innate energy, dignity and fascination of the manual labor that keeps our city moving. Her final project combined a large-scale handmade tile mural, a set of ceramic tile "touchstones" that focus on the work of the various workshops onsite, and a series of one-to-one workshops in creative expression, reflecting not only the professional roles that workers take on in the workplace but also their sense of home.

The mural, titled Manos Unidas, was installed in February 2025 at City Yards Building A. After a year spent connecting with Public Works, Transportation and Fire Safety staff, Aguiñiga made sure these workers left their mark on the project – literally – with a record of the tools of their respective trades embedded in each clay tile.

The mural spans approximately 17 feet in width and 9 feet in height. Created using four distinct clay bodies and surrounded by a border of matte black tile and a metal frame, the artwork’s interlocking hands honor the expertise of the essential workers at this site and the care that binds the community.

Visit the Public Art Collection page for Manos Unidas to learn more about the mural and touchstones.