Diatomaceous Mining

Title: Diatomaceous Mining
Year: 1990
Artist: Roberto Delgado, Los Angeles, CA
Location: 111 South I Street on the north side of the Chamber of Commerce Building.

Description: This mural depicts the era when the Lompoc Valley was beneath the sea and diatoms settled at the bottom in great masses. Today, these diatoms have created the diatomaceous mining industry which has been in existence in Lompoc for more than 100 years. In the mural the reds signify the individual diatoms. The blues represent aquatic forms taken from Chumash cave paintings found in the area. The two elements combine to create figures of turn-of-the-century miners.