The Los Angeles River is as diverse as the 17 cities it runs through. And this diversity is across all categories: communities, environment, demographics, culture, all of it. Celebrating and highlighting the diversity that makes this river so great is the best part of our work. Today, we’d like to highlight one of our favorite Los Angeles River Artists: léo Limón.

When you meet léo Limón his passion for the LA River is contagious. A lifelong resident of LA, léo is a professional artist whose work has been acquired and displayed by prestigious museums and private collections across the world. 

In addition to public art murals, he is the creative force behind the famous L.A. River CatZ or GatitaZ on storm-drain covers that channel into the Los Angeles River since 1970.

We were so excited to partner with léo at our recent Urban Garden Party Event. For this fundraiser, léo created three giant LA River CatZ, which were displayed at the event. Each of these three cats represented one of the core aspects of the LA River that we work to celebrate: Blue for Water, Green for Open Space, and Orange for People.

‘I got involved with the LA River many years ago because I wanted to turn the concrete river channel into something to celebrate and enjoy. I was excited to participate in River LA’s Urban Garden Party event because it was an opportunity to make my art interactive with art about the river. The paintings are now a symbol of how we all contribute to the LA River. I was delighted to see the joy they brought people!’

Attendees at the Urban Garden Party selected their favorite LA River Cat and outlined their hand with their initials.

It was such a fun experience to see kids, adults, and everyone in between engage with léo Limón and his CatZ. These pieces of art will hang at the La Kretz Innovation Campus and will be open to the public to see throughout November.