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“He had his camera with him all the time,” said Ron Arias, one of Taboada’s friends and a founder of Centro de la Raza. “The murals were actually done by students that were part of the Centro,” said Bianca Moreno, the exhibit’s designer.“You have this big, beautiful photo so you know what it's like to walk into thi s… cool place to visit that attracts your eye and highlights Mexican American culture,” she said.The Centro de la Raza, Arias said, lost critical funding in the 1980s as the Reagan administration eliminated funding created in the 1960s to help social service organizations like his.
“It just shows that we have been involved, that we have been paying our dues, that we have tried to create betterment, not just for our people … we always tried to make improvements that benefited everyone,” Arias said.Known for its elaborate light displays, this year, the neighborhood is expecting a bigger crowd tied to the release of “Candy Cane Lane” on Amazon Prime Video.