A rusting Conex storage box at Parkdale Recreation Center in East Las Vegas has been transformed into a vivid public mural depicting an eagle, a condor, and a swirl of smoke rising into the shape of an axolotl. Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom and the Clark County Public Arts Office unveiled the piece, titled “Viva Comunidad: Healing Through Unity,” on October 7 at the rec center near Mountain Vista and Desert Inn.
The mural was designed and painted by local artist Juan Cuevas, who works under the name Quetzal Visions, as reported by FOX5 Las Vegas. Cuevas was chosen to design and paint the existing Conex box at Parkdale, and he facilitated an interactive session with community members and visitors to gather design feedback and inspiration before putting brush to metal. The official meeting minutes list an estimated project budget of $2,261.50, according to the Clark County Public Art Committee.
A Tribute Woven Into the Paint
The mural depicts Cuevas's friend Sochi, who died earlier in 2026. Cuevas described her as a firekeeper, someone who burns copal and sage as offerings to ancestors, and the mural shows smoke from that offering rising and forming the shape of an axolotl. In Cuevas's telling, per the station's report, the axolotl serves as a guide helping people transition to the spirit world, connecting the living with the spirit world beyond.
That symbolism runs deeper than Cuevas's personal account. In Mesoamerican and Aztec mythology, the axolotl is named after Xolotl, the dog god and canine companion of Quetzalcoatl; Xolotl's name was associated with the Nahuatl term for twin. Xolotl transformed into an axolotl while trying to escape sacrifice, but was ultimately caught and sacrificed. He is associated with fire and twilight and acts as a psychopomp guiding departed souls through Mictlán, the underworld, according to the World History Encyclopedia. The mural's imagery draws a direct line between that ancient myth and Cuevas's own grief.
Eagle, Condor, and a Prophecy of Unity
Alongside the axolotl, the mural includes an eagle and a condor, flowers, and stars in the background. Cuevas said the eagle and condor reference a story about unity between North America and South America and different Indigenous groups, and that the stars represent ancestors while the flowers represent the seeds of future generations. Cuevas told the station he wanted to pay homage to the original peoples of the land and honor both the past and future.
The Eagle and Condor imagery reflects a pan-Indigenous prophecy predicting that after 500 years of division, the Eagle of North America and the Condor of South America will fly together in the sky, symbolizing spiritual awakening, balance, and unity across Indigenous peoples, according to the University of Toronto Athletics. Cuevas holds Indigenous Tiwa Pueblo roots from New Mexico and Mexico and co-founded Malinalli Productions with his wife, Xochil Xitlalli, per Millennials in Motion Magazine. He is also a core collective member at the Nuwu Art + Activism Center, founded in early spring 2020 by Las Vegas Paiute tribal member and artist Fawn Douglas and A.B. Wilkinson, as noted by Devoid Magazine.
A Commissioner's Message and a Historic Site
Commissioner Segerblom said the mural creates a welcoming space celebrating cultural pride and community connection. He also said Las Vegas was once part of Mexico and that the communities are, in his words, one big family. Commissioner William McCurdy II kicked off this year's official events on September 28 with a ceremonial light-up at the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, according to Clark County.
Parkdale Recreation Center, at 3200 Ferndale Street, is in East Las Vegas. Its grounds include a storage container reimagined as a canvas for ancestral storytelling.
Part of a Countywide Pattern
“Viva Comunidad: Healing Through Unity” is the second piece created through Clark County's public art program that transformed a storage Conex box into a public art installation.
