#2 - Familia y Cultura es Vida
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Location: La Popular Bakery, 1225 El Paso St. Dimensions: 48'6.5" x 17'6" Original date: May 1995 Original artists: Debbie Esparza, Juan Ramos Restoration 1: Andrea V. Rivas, 2011 Restoration 1 crew: Angel Hernandez, Brandy Salinas, Eduardo Urbano, Enrico Salinas, Jessica Garcia, Juan Francisco, Ruben Serafin Restoration 2: Damien Salkin and youth team, 2016 |
Familia y Cultura es Vida depicts an evening on the West Side, with three men playing their instruments while two tejano couples dance and a young boy stares out the window. The couples are dancing to conjunto music, accordion-based ensemble music with deep San Antonio roots. Artists painted and numbered the steps to conjunto polka and waltz dances on the sidewalk next to the mural. On the left side of the mural, a man works on his car with the San Antonio skyline in the background. This mural was first housed on Guadalupe and Calaveras Street, on the side of a little gas station called Garachitos. For 80 years, this mom-and-pop ice house was a gathering place for families who came to dance, drink, play pool, use the pinball machines, and buy fresh fruit and penny candies. The city condemned the old Garachitos building in 2008, so the mural moved to La Chiquita bakery. Now the Westside Preservation Alliance is working to protect La Chiquita, a classic west side panadería that not only sells delicious pan dulce but also carries decades of West Side history.
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Mural Content and Design
Familia y Cultura es Vida is a tribute to to Westside life and culture. A little boy watches from a window as a trio plays conjunto dance tunes on the trumpet, guitar, and accordion and two couples dance. To the left, a man works on his lowrider, while the City of San Antonio glimmers in the background.
When Ramos began working on this mural, he was taking a Mayan mural and vase painting class at UTSA. Inspired by this course, Ramos imitated the Maya style in the way he drew the figures in the mural. The black and white border at the top and the bottom of the mural is an exact copy from a Maya vase found at Chama, a site in Guatemala. Some community members protested the overtly indigenous style of the mural, but most responded positively. The style of the mural is intentionally flat and simple, with black outlines and solid colors. This stylistic choice reflects the style of Mayan murals, as well as the young age of co-lead artist Debbie Esparza.
When Ramos began working on this mural, he was taking a Mayan mural and vase painting class at UTSA. Inspired by this course, Ramos imitated the Maya style in the way he drew the figures in the mural. The black and white border at the top and the bottom of the mural is an exact copy from a Maya vase found at Chama, a site in Guatemala. Some community members protested the overtly indigenous style of the mural, but most responded positively. The style of the mural is intentionally flat and simple, with black outlines and solid colors. This stylistic choice reflects the style of Mayan murals, as well as the young age of co-lead artist Debbie Esparza.
Mural history
The mural began when Manny Castillo saw 13-year-old Debbie Esparza sketch of a man working on his lowrider. Manny convinced Debbie and her parents to turn the image into a mural. Because Debbie had never actually painted before, Castillo pulled Juan Ramos in as a co-lead and teaching artist.
Ramos and Esparza originally painted Familia y Cultura es Vida on the Garachitos building, once a filling station on the corner of Guadalupe and Calaveras Street. For 80 years, the mom-and-pop ice house was a gathering place for Westside families who came to dance, drink, play pool, use the pinball machines, and buy fresh fruit and penny candies. On the weekends, the first owner of Garachito’s would play his accordion outside the ice house, and his friends would join him. Couples stopped to dance along the street. When Ramos and Esparza painted the mural, Garachitos had been closed for some time, but the building was still standing. In 2008, the City of San Antonio condemned the building. Although building owner Rose Orosco-Hayward, San Anto, and other Westside community organizations fought to preserve the historic building, the city continued with demolition.
In 2011, 19-year-old Andi Rivas lead the effort to restore Familia y Cultural es Vida on the side of La Chiquita Bakery, on Brazos and El Paso St. The restored mural was painted in vibrant Novacolor, but the design is essentially the same, down to the Maya vase border. Restoration artists painted the steps to conjunto polka and waltz dances on the sidewalk in front of the mural, inviting viewers to enter the lively scene. Rivas was overwhelmed with positive community response to her work: “It was just amazing. I loved it. We were able to be outside and talk to the community. Random people would come up and say, ‘God bless you: you’re doing a great job and you’re supporting us.’ It’s a great feeling that people are glad you’re doing something for the community.” Over 200 people attended the dedication of the restored mural.
Although Garachitos is gone, La Chiquita Bakery is a classic Westside panaderia that not only sells delicious pan dulce, but also carries decades of Westside history. Original owner Jesus lara welcomed the mural to prevent tagging and random graffiti on his walls. The Westside Preservation Alliance is working to protect the new site of Familia y Cultura es Vida.
Ramos and Esparza originally painted Familia y Cultura es Vida on the Garachitos building, once a filling station on the corner of Guadalupe and Calaveras Street. For 80 years, the mom-and-pop ice house was a gathering place for Westside families who came to dance, drink, play pool, use the pinball machines, and buy fresh fruit and penny candies. On the weekends, the first owner of Garachito’s would play his accordion outside the ice house, and his friends would join him. Couples stopped to dance along the street. When Ramos and Esparza painted the mural, Garachitos had been closed for some time, but the building was still standing. In 2008, the City of San Antonio condemned the building. Although building owner Rose Orosco-Hayward, San Anto, and other Westside community organizations fought to preserve the historic building, the city continued with demolition.
In 2011, 19-year-old Andi Rivas lead the effort to restore Familia y Cultural es Vida on the side of La Chiquita Bakery, on Brazos and El Paso St. The restored mural was painted in vibrant Novacolor, but the design is essentially the same, down to the Maya vase border. Restoration artists painted the steps to conjunto polka and waltz dances on the sidewalk in front of the mural, inviting viewers to enter the lively scene. Rivas was overwhelmed with positive community response to her work: “It was just amazing. I loved it. We were able to be outside and talk to the community. Random people would come up and say, ‘God bless you: you’re doing a great job and you’re supporting us.’ It’s a great feeling that people are glad you’re doing something for the community.” Over 200 people attended the dedication of the restored mural.
Although Garachitos is gone, La Chiquita Bakery is a classic Westside panaderia that not only sells delicious pan dulce, but also carries decades of Westside history. Original owner Jesus lara welcomed the mural to prevent tagging and random graffiti on his walls. The Westside Preservation Alliance is working to protect the new site of Familia y Cultura es Vida.
About the Artist
Juan Ramos, Co-Lead artist
After earning his MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Juan Ramos began a now eighteen-year career of teaching at the college level at San Antonio institutions including UTSA, Our Lady of the Lake, Northwest Vista College, and Palo Alto College. He has also had residency at Artpace and his work has been exhibited in galleries across the nation. Ramos learned about mural painting when he worked as a mural workshop assistant for Dr. Jacqui Von Honts, a local artist who completed a dissertation on Mexican muralist David Siqueiros.
Ramos befriended San Anto founder Manny Castillo when their punk rock bands went on tour together in 1993. Ramos and Castillo were both drummers and Castillo was living in the volunteer house at Rod and Patti Radle’s Inner City Development. Castillo had a dream of launching a community mural project out of Inner City, but needed an artist on board. Ramos, then 21, had recently begun to contemplate issues of identity politics and to incorporate post-Chicano themes into his work, so the concept of a Chicano-themed public art project appealed to him. He helped put on the first fundraiser for what was then called Inner City Mural Project, a disco party at Tacoland. Along with the third co-founder Cruz Ortiz, Juan Ramos helped to launch what became the San Anto Cultural Arts Community Mural Program. He co-led the murals Educación, Familia y Cultural es Vida, and Mano a Mano, designed Tribute to Martin Luther King, and assisted on El Poder de Muralismo: Cuentos Son Arte, San Anto’s 50th mural project.
After earning his MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Juan Ramos began a now eighteen-year career of teaching at the college level at San Antonio institutions including UTSA, Our Lady of the Lake, Northwest Vista College, and Palo Alto College. He has also had residency at Artpace and his work has been exhibited in galleries across the nation. Ramos learned about mural painting when he worked as a mural workshop assistant for Dr. Jacqui Von Honts, a local artist who completed a dissertation on Mexican muralist David Siqueiros.
Ramos befriended San Anto founder Manny Castillo when their punk rock bands went on tour together in 1993. Ramos and Castillo were both drummers and Castillo was living in the volunteer house at Rod and Patti Radle’s Inner City Development. Castillo had a dream of launching a community mural project out of Inner City, but needed an artist on board. Ramos, then 21, had recently begun to contemplate issues of identity politics and to incorporate post-Chicano themes into his work, so the concept of a Chicano-themed public art project appealed to him. He helped put on the first fundraiser for what was then called Inner City Mural Project, a disco party at Tacoland. Along with the third co-founder Cruz Ortiz, Juan Ramos helped to launch what became the San Anto Cultural Arts Community Mural Program. He co-led the murals Educación, Familia y Cultural es Vida, and Mano a Mano, designed Tribute to Martin Luther King, and assisted on El Poder de Muralismo: Cuentos Son Arte, San Anto’s 50th mural project.