Christine Sterling

[1] Her most notable works were as a preservationist who helped save the Avila Adobe and created Olvera Street in Los Angeles.

[5] "The booklets and folders I read about Los Angeles were painted in colors of Spanish-Mexican romance,...They were appealing with old missions, palm trees, sunshine and the ‘click of the castanets.’"— Christine Sterling, journal[6]Christine Sterling was born Chastina Rix[7] in Oakland, Alameda County, California[8] on 5 November 1881, one of four children of Edward Austin Rix[9][10] and Kate Elizabeth Kiteridge.

[11][12] Her father was a mining engineer[13][14] via UC Berkeley (Zeta Psi) and inventor of the "Rix Rock Drill",[11][15][16][17] later a vineyard planter.

[22] Chastina changed her name to Christine as a teenager, and briefly studied art and design at Mills College in Oakland.

"I closed my eyes and thought of the Plaza as a Spanish-American social and commercial center, a spot of beauty as a gesture of appreciation to México and Spain for our historical past."