02/16/2026
One of our all-time favorite fabrication + install projects. Artist đđ˝ â¨â¨
The cactus has always been more than a plant.đľâ¨ď¸
For Indigenous communities across the Americas, it has been medicine, sustenance, protection, and survival, thriving where others could not.
Born from harsh terrain, pressure, and scarcity, the cactus doesnât just endure hardship, it adapts, transforms, and blooms. From those same conditions, our community grew.
This 14ft cactus sculpture, now installed at Pecos Park, stands as a symbol of resilience through generations of challenge. Armored with 21 thorn bundles, each representing a Spanish-speaking country, it reflects both protection and unity, because when youâve been tested, you learn how to defend what you love.
Finished in a candy chameleon paint, the cactus becomes a kind of lowrider spaceship that has landed declaring that we are not temporary, not invisible, and not going anywhere. We are rooted. We are adaptive. We are here to stay.
Wrapped around the sculpture are four airbrushed murals tracing the path of mestizo Indigenous transcendence: past, present, and future. It begins with a Mexica elder, carrying ancestral wisdom and memory, grounding the piece in where we come from. It moves to a farmerâs hands, honoring history, labor, land, and the backbone of the Hispanic community in Thornton. From there, a Catrina mariachi violinist celebrates the strength, artistry, and cultural leadership of Hispanic women. The story culminates in hands holding future technology: the stainless thorn.
The kinetic glowing acrylic fruits and flowers symbolize movement, progress, and what continues to grow even under pressure.
In a time when Hispanic and immigrant communities are being questioned, targeted, and pushed to the margins, this cactus stands tall as a reminder: We have survived worse, and we are still blooming.
This sculpture captures the resilience in bloom of the Hispanic community in Thornton, armored by history, nourished by culture, and reaching toward the future.
Honored to share, this work was commissioned by the City of Thornton. đ¸