In Paint the Wind, Pam Muñoz Ryan uses two distinct American landscapes to mirror the protagonist’s psychological journey. Maya’s childhood unfolds in Pasadena, California, a setting depicted as a sterile prison of rigid order. Her grandmother’s house, with its plastic-covered furniture and eggshell-white paint, reflects a life of emotional suppression. Best known today as an international center for research, Pasadena is home to the California Institute of Technology, and is also known for its ties to the entertainment industry. The city experienced exponential growth during World War II due to the influence of a number of manufacturing and scientific companies. However, the city underwent economic decline in the second half of the 21st century, leading to efforts in the 1980s and 1990s to preserve and revitalize Old Pasadena, its historic center (“Heritage: A Short History of Pasadena.” City of Pasadena. 2026). Ryan’s depiction of the city alludes to what she calls the “refined Pasadena society” (7), and although vestiges of it still exist in places, this older vision has given way to a more culturally and economically diverse population today.

This environment embodies the confinement that Maya must escape, and when she experiences the vast, untamed wilderness of Wyoming, she is confronted by an “endless and cavernous sky” where there is “far more heaven above her than there was earth below” (113). This landscape represents freedom, risk, and the potential for self-discovery. One of the largest states yet the least populated, Wyoming is best known for its immense tracts of public land, its long-standing tradition of cattle ranching, and its rich Western history (Wyoming History. State of Wyoming, 2025). Ryan leverages this reality to create a space where Maya can shed the artificial constraints of her former life and connect with a more authentic version of herself.