Note: This mural has since been painted over.
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Location: 626 S Zarzamora St.
Dimensions: 44.5' x 10' Date: February 2002 Lead Community Muralist: Mary Agnes Rodriguez Mural Crew: Ruth Buentello, Daisy Tovar, and Chris Muñoz Mural Coordinator: Alex Rubio |
Breaking the Cycle is a product of San Anto Cultural Arts’ long-time partnership with Patricia Castillo and the P.E.A.C.E. Initiative (Putting an End to Abuse through Community Efforts). Based on extensive research and notes taken at domestic violence prevention workshops, the mural raises awareness about teen dating violence and domestic abuse. Although lead artist Mary Agnes Rodriguez designed the mural as a brightly-colored cartoon, the mural is full of information about signs of abuse and ways to prevent it. With the right information and support, victims of domestic violence are their own best advocates. This mural empowers Westside community members to recognize and combat all forms of abuse.
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Content and Design
To compensate for the mural’s weighty subject matter, Mary Agnes designed Breaking the Cycle as a brightly-colored cartoon. A banner runs across the top of the mural, stating: “Break the Cycle of Abuse, Teen Dating.” Above the mural is the number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Words flow throughout the mural, naming forms of domestic violence such as verbal abuse, anger, intimidation, violence, emotional abuse, cyber harassment, peer pressure, strangulation, dating violence, child abuse, fear, sexual assault, economic abuse, physical abuse, control, violence, substance abuse, pet abuse, and elder abuse. The mural also contains messages of hope: respect, peace, hope, honestly, accountability, and communication. Mary Agnes used her characters’ t-shirts to spread her message, painting in messages like “Violence is learned” and “You can unlearn violence.”
HISTORY
Patricia Castillo, founder and Executive Director of the PEACE Initiative, approached San Anto Cultural Arts with the idea for a mural about teen dating violence. Because Patricia wanted to reach a youth audience, she first approached Lanier High School about hosting the mural on one of the school’s exterior walls. School administration rejected the idea, starting a long and stressful search for a wall. Community Mural Program (CMP) Coordinator Alex Rubio found that most home and business owners did not want images related to domestic abuse on their buildings. Finally, he found a small health clinic on San Fernando Street used to train medical personnel. The clinic has since closed, but the owners and clinic operators were willing to host the mural.
Patricia requested a female artist for the mural, and Mary Agnes was the perfect candidate. Her Nicho para la Virgen de Guadalupe mural had been a hit, earning places for herself and co-artist Janie Tabares-Ornelaz in a traveling Cheech Marin exhibition. Mary Agnes immersed herself in the research process, watching DVDs and reading books about domestic violence that Patricia provided. Mary Agnes found the content heavy and hard to watch, but also important for her community:
Patricia requested a female artist for the mural, and Mary Agnes was the perfect candidate. Her Nicho para la Virgen de Guadalupe mural had been a hit, earning places for herself and co-artist Janie Tabares-Ornelaz in a traveling Cheech Marin exhibition. Mary Agnes immersed herself in the research process, watching DVDs and reading books about domestic violence that Patricia provided. Mary Agnes found the content heavy and hard to watch, but also important for her community:
When Patricia gave me the videos I told her, ‘I watched them all and after I watched them all I went outside and looked at the trees and the birds.’ It’s a lot. It’s so much violence you know, abuse, and the people that are in it aren’t really aware of it until they start seeing images like the one on the wall. Maybe it might shine a light on them that this is not really the way it’s supposed to be, you can get help.” |
Mary Agnes and Alex Rubio also attended Patricia’s domestic violence workshops, taking notes and spreading the word about the mural project. These workshops targeted a female audience, helping women to recognize signs of domestic abuse and giving them the tools to respond. From 40+ years of working with victims of domestic abuse, Patricia knew that women are their own best advocates if they have right information. She envisioned Breaking the Cycle as another way to help people recognize signs of domestic abuse. Patricia remembers that Mary Agnes would sit in the back of the room during the meetings and sketch furiously.
After weeks of meetings and research, Mary Agnes designed the mural and presented her design first to Patricia and the San Anto staff and board, and then at community meetings. The original design was gory and graphic because Mary Agnes drew images pulled directly from her research. After getting feedback from Rubio, she switched to a cartoon style, telling the same story but in less disturbingly realistic images.
Mary Agnes painted the mural on-site with the help of three volunteers: Ruth Buentello, a high school student, Daisy Tovar, a middle school student, and Chris Munoz, an elementary school student. The artist painted with Pittsburgh paints and used the grid method, drawing out the design square-by-square and then painting inside the sketch. Even in the cold winter months, community members stopped to comment on and sometimes help with the mural. For some, the mural was controversial - one man climbed out of his car and yelled at Mary Agnes, “Why do you hate men?” Mary Agnes calmly explained, “I don’t hate men, I just don’t like people who are abusing people.” Eventually, the man drove away. Most people responded positively. Once, a local street walker stopped, looked at the unfinished mural, and said “I’ve been through that.” She picked up a brush and made her mark on the mural.
San Anto Cultural Arts couldn’t afford a street-closing permit for the mural blessing so Executive Director Manny Castillo closed off San Fernando Street with mural scaffolding and set up rows of chairs facing the mural. Artists and community members celebrated the new mural there in the middle of the street with food and live music. Youth artist Daisy Tovar read an original poem based on her own experience of domestic violence. The blessing happened on February 16th, shortly after Valentine's Day.
Not only was Breaking the Cycle a significant mural for the Westside community as residents confront the problem of domestic violence, it was also formative in the career of artist Ruth Buentello. Because of her background in community arts, Ruth went on to receive a full-ride scholarship to the Chicago Institute of Art, receive a Joan Mitchell grant for studio work, teach in San Antonio Schools, co-found the art collective Mas Rudas, and show her pieces in exhibits across the nation. Breaking the Cycle was one of the first murals she worked on. Ruth reflects,
After weeks of meetings and research, Mary Agnes designed the mural and presented her design first to Patricia and the San Anto staff and board, and then at community meetings. The original design was gory and graphic because Mary Agnes drew images pulled directly from her research. After getting feedback from Rubio, she switched to a cartoon style, telling the same story but in less disturbingly realistic images.
Mary Agnes painted the mural on-site with the help of three volunteers: Ruth Buentello, a high school student, Daisy Tovar, a middle school student, and Chris Munoz, an elementary school student. The artist painted with Pittsburgh paints and used the grid method, drawing out the design square-by-square and then painting inside the sketch. Even in the cold winter months, community members stopped to comment on and sometimes help with the mural. For some, the mural was controversial - one man climbed out of his car and yelled at Mary Agnes, “Why do you hate men?” Mary Agnes calmly explained, “I don’t hate men, I just don’t like people who are abusing people.” Eventually, the man drove away. Most people responded positively. Once, a local street walker stopped, looked at the unfinished mural, and said “I’ve been through that.” She picked up a brush and made her mark on the mural.
San Anto Cultural Arts couldn’t afford a street-closing permit for the mural blessing so Executive Director Manny Castillo closed off San Fernando Street with mural scaffolding and set up rows of chairs facing the mural. Artists and community members celebrated the new mural there in the middle of the street with food and live music. Youth artist Daisy Tovar read an original poem based on her own experience of domestic violence. The blessing happened on February 16th, shortly after Valentine's Day.
Not only was Breaking the Cycle a significant mural for the Westside community as residents confront the problem of domestic violence, it was also formative in the career of artist Ruth Buentello. Because of her background in community arts, Ruth went on to receive a full-ride scholarship to the Chicago Institute of Art, receive a Joan Mitchell grant for studio work, teach in San Antonio Schools, co-found the art collective Mas Rudas, and show her pieces in exhibits across the nation. Breaking the Cycle was one of the first murals she worked on. Ruth reflects,
I remember working really closely with Mary. Mary would pick me up from school and we’d work on the project. I remember her finished design and then her adding little details, kinda like a work in progress. She’s such a good illustrator and cartoonist that it was just so easy for her to make those additions...I learned a lot from her, from her work ethic. We worked until we got tired and Alex would come and check up on us. It was good working with a female and seeing how it was different.” |
Since Breaking the Cycle, both Ruth and Mary Agnes have continued to produce artwork that empowers women in their communities and around the country. Read more about the artists below.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Mary Agnes Rodriguez - One day in 1999, Mary Agnes went to eat at her cousin’s deli on South Alamo and Beauregard Street. While she waited for her food, she picked up a copy of El Placazo Community Newspaper and noticed a call for artists to submit designs for the newspaper’s header. Mary Agnes submitted four and was pleased to notice that one appeared on the header of El Placazo’s next issue. Mary Agnes kept submitting drawings to the newspaper for publication and people from San Anto Cultural Arts became curious about the identity of this reserved but prolific Westside artist. Finally, after Mary Agnes submitted an impressive large design to the newspaper, the current CMP Coordinator Cruz Ortiz insisted on meeting her. Mary Agnes met Manny Castillo, Cruz Ortiz, and rising CMP Coordinator Alex Rubio at the Inner City Development offices. When she showed them a drawing of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Rubio suggested a 3D mural as a nicho for the Lady of Guadalupe. Thus began Mary Agnes’ involvement with the mural program. Since then, Mary Agnes has lead or co-lead six murals: Nicho para la Virgen de Guadalupe, La India, Breaking the Cycle Seeds of Solidarity, Barrio Wellness, and El Poder de Muralismo: Cuentos Son Arte, but never stopped submitting to the community newspaper.
Outside of San Anto, Mary Agnes is an established multimedia artist. Her work has been featured in multiple museums and cultural centers, a major touring exhibition organized by Cheech Marin. Her work usually depicts her Westside community, with overarching themes of peace and social justice. Mary Agnes is a dedicated activist and community volunteer with organizations like the City of San Antonio’s Historical and Design Review Commission, the Public Art Commission, San Jacinto Senior Homes, Alamo City Community Marching Band, and the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Mary Agnes currently works at Mujerartes, a ceramics studio designed to train and employ women of the Westside.
Outside of San Anto, Mary Agnes is an established multimedia artist. Her work has been featured in multiple museums and cultural centers, a major touring exhibition organized by Cheech Marin. Her work usually depicts her Westside community, with overarching themes of peace and social justice. Mary Agnes is a dedicated activist and community volunteer with organizations like the City of San Antonio’s Historical and Design Review Commission, the Public Art Commission, San Jacinto Senior Homes, Alamo City Community Marching Band, and the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Mary Agnes currently works at Mujerartes, a ceramics studio designed to train and employ women of the Westside.
Ruth Buentello - Ruth got involved with San Anto Cultural Arts at age sixteen when she started writing for El Placazo, San Anto’s community newspaper. Ruth loved telling the story of her Westside community. She started volunteering on mural projects and became an official crew member for Alex Rubio’s Tradicion y Cultura/Sweet as Candy. Ruth went on to represent San Anto at the World Social Forum in Brazil at age 18, and to lead her own mural, Piedad, at age 19. Partially because of her work at San Anto, Ruth received a full scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago. After finishing art school, Ruth returned to San Antonio and served as San Anto’s Community Mural Program (CMP) Coordinator from 2009-2012. Since then, Ruth’s work has been featured in galleries and exhibits across the country and she has received multiple awards for her work, including a Joan Mitchell grant. See Ruth’s full bio on her website.