Local artist designs Loteria style billboard with COVID-19 safety tips
Sacramento, Calif. (July 22, 2020) — Listos California, a campaign anchored in the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), has expanded its partnership with the California Department of Public Health to produce a Loteria card game to help increase awareness of how to stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The cards include safety messages in “Spanglish” — such as “La Mascarilla: Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth cover” and “La Distancia: Maintain a distance of 6 feet between people” — to remind those living in and traveling to Imperial County of the best ways to slow the spread of the virus.
The Loteria card game concept, designed by artist Mark Beltran, is popular in Mexican culture. Ads will be available in Imperial County and billboards have already been installed throughout the region to promote the cards while directing the public to visit ListosCalifornia.org for more helpful information. Listos California’s partner, Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego, will begin working with local partners across Imperial County to further outreach and promotion of the ads.
Mark Beltran, an artist who was born and raised in El Centro, designed both the Loteria cards and the billboards.
“As a San Francisco-based designer, who was born and raised in the Imperial Valley, I wanted to help the community that my family and friends are still a part of,” Beltran said. “I’m using my skills as a creative to help communicate the seriousness of COVID-19 to help inform everyone by creating a visual language that people can relate to, help inform themselves and their loved ones, and to stay safe to protect each other.”