CalArts alum Eva Aguila (Theater BFA 05) is one of four artists reimagining the layered histories of the historic Rowland Mansion in the City of Industry, California, during this weekend’s (Nov. 8-9) Redrawing the Rancho event, which also features new performance, dance, and installation work by sculptor Nao Bustamante and choreographers Rosa Rodríguez-Frazier and Victoria Marks.
Aguila’s ceremonial performance installation The Land Holds Your Name is centered on a surviving grapevine on the mansion grounds. Formerly known as the John A. Rowland House, the landmark is located approximately 19 miles east of downtown LA and is Southern California’s oldest surviving brick structure, dating back to 1855.
In her installation, Aguila uses ritual and sound to explore the impact of colonization and the Spanish encomienda system through the lens of wine production. Her work honors Indigenous ancestors erased from the record, transforming the site into a space of collective remembrance and renewal. Her project continues through February 2026 and culminates with the pruning of the vine in a gesture toward future growth and prosperity.
The property known as Rancho La Puente was once part of a 50,000-acre Mexican land grant awarded in 1842 to settlers John Rowland and William Workman. The weekend’s programming reflects centuries of transformation, from the ancestral lands of the Kizh people, through Spanish and Mexican rule, to American expansion and industrial development.
Utilizing both the mansion’s interiors and its surrounding grounds, Redrawing the Rancho invites audiences to experience the site as a living archive, focusing on themes of displacement and dwelling, Indigenous land stewardship, Mexican American identity, labor and environmental change.
The event is presented by homeLA in partnership with the La Puente Valley Historical Society. Chloë Flores, the director of homeLA, curates.
Redrawing the Rancho is generously supported by the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts and the California Art Council. homeLA is sponsored by Fulcrum Arts.
