Burbank resident Stella hopes that when people look at her portrait on the side of the Burbank YMCA, they see a place for themselves in the community.
Her face is among those featured in “Belonging Has No Borders,” a new mural by internationally acclaimed Los Angeles artist Robert Vargas. On Saturday, Oct. 3, community members gathered for the Belonging Block Party to celebrate the artwork’s public unveiling, honor Hispanic Heritage Month and recognize a partnership connecting YMCA communities in Los Angeles and Mexico.
Visitors also had the opportunity to watch the final stages of the creative process. Vargas was still working on the mural during the celebration, giving attendees a glimpse of the artist at work before he completed the piece shortly after the event.
The block party offered games, community booths, face painting and crafts, along with performances by Ballet Folklórico México Azteca. The Burbank dance school teaches traditional Mexican folk dance while helping its students develop confidence, cultural knowledge and pride in their heritage. For a celebration centered on belonging, the local performers brought another expression of cultural identity to the gathering.
U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman and Burbank City Councilmember Nikki Perez attended and presented the Y with certificates recognizing the occasion. While presenting a certificate from the City of Burbank, Perez shared her own connection to Hispanic Heritage Month through her Guatemalan and Salvadoran heritage. “I’m the proud daughter of two very hardworking immigrants,” Perez said. “And so I’m honored that the YMCA is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. I’m proud to stand with them.”
The mural honors the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles’s first-of-its-kind binational partnership with Y México. Announced in April, the collaboration includes youth sports exchanges, shared programs such as Girls Empowerment Day and reciprocal access to Y centers in Los Angeles and Mexico. It also calls for expanded mental health and workforce development support, including bilingual care.
Here in Burbank, the permanent public artwork gives that partnership a visible home, expressing the Y’s commitment to helping people feel connected to their neighbors and to communities across borders. That purpose also reflects the LA Y’s work as the Center for Community Well-Being. Its programs address food insecurity and educational equity, expand access to youth sports and provide safe spaces for children and teens. Health and wellness initiatives connect community members with medical and mental health resources.
Vargas brings his own Los Angeles roots to the project. A Mexican American artist raised in Boyle Heights, he studied at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and later at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Known for large-scale freehand murals and mixed-media portraits, his work appears on prominent buildings in downtown Los Angeles and in cities across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
For Stella, an Armenian American Burbank resident, becoming part of that work was an experience she described with excitement and gratitude. “It has been an honor of a lifetime to be painted free-hand by the legend, Robert Vargas!” she said. She hopes the mural’s representation of different backgrounds will resonate with people throughout the region.
“It’s an honor to join together and represent our Burbank and Los Angeles diversity,” Stella said. “Personally, I hope others in Burbank and across Los Angeles County see themselves in me and know that they belong here and now.” Seeing her finished portrait during the festivities left her in awe as she reflected on how well Vargas had captured her essence and the depth in her eyes.
Community members can see “Belonging Has No Borders” at the Burbank YMCA, 321 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91502. The mural is on the parking lot side of the building off Third Street, facing San Jose Avenue. For more information about the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles and its programs, visit ymcaLA.org.
