And the Last Shall Be First

“And the Last Shall Be First” is a mural by Antioch artists Charlotte Downs-Siska and Kelly Fowler-Bates. It is a 125th Anniversary Celebration Mural that commemorates the original founding of the community in the 1800s.

Referencing the artwork’s plaque: The mural depicts the community’s founding in 1851, showing William Smith presiding at a community picnic where the town was named “Antioch.” It also shows Schooner Captain George W. Kimball sailing the “California packet” to Smith’s landing with his daughter, Adelia Kimball. Adelia was the first school teacher in Antioch at the age of 12. This mural also highlights the area’s original inhabitants, the Miwok Indians, and three species of plant, insect, and reptile that are now endangered.

The mural was commissioned in October 1997 by the Antioch City Council and the Antioch Civic Arts Commission, as a project of the Antioch Friends of the Arts.