#27 - Cultura y Revolucion
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Location: 1013 S. Trinity St. at San Patricio Date: August 2004 Lead artist: Raul Valdez Mural crew: Dimensions: |
This mural tells the story of Mexican-American struggle in the U.S. The images in the mural address incarceration, a broken judicial system, corporate greed, and lack of education. At the same time, the mural celebrates the power of family, tradition, and culture to resist oppression. Raul Valdez paints a joyful revolution, inspired by the words of Emma Goldman: “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Painted in the context of the George Bush presidency and military intervention in the Middle East, this mural is one of San Anto’s most politically charged pieces. Former Community Mural Program (CMP) Coordinator Gerry Garcia makes connections between the work of Raul Valdez and the “big three” of Mexican Muralism (Siqueiros, Rivera, and Orozco) because he paints in large, loose brushstrokes and incorporates traditional imagery like the sagrada familia.
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Content and Design
The far left of the mural features Xilonen, the Aztec corn goddess. Xilonen roots the mural in an indigenous past and represents life. To her right, a prisoner holds a pano, a kind of prison art created on a handkerchief. Inmates soak the cloth in milk, place it under a mattress to dry and stiffen, and then draw or paint detailed images onto the pano. This pano depicts tanks shooting dollar bills past flaming skulls, a critique of the corrupt relationship between arms suppliers and the military. Beneath the tanks, a child sits with a book. Instead of funding education, tax dollars are spent to kill. Further to the right are two young parents holding their boy, emphasizing the importance of caring for the next generation. This family of three evokes the sagrada familia, the holy family of Jesus. In the next image, a man with a twisted grin holds a broken scale. He lurks in shadow and the weights of justice fallen into a pool of magma. Next to him, doves symbolizing peace fly towards a grassy lawn where a little girl is hitting a pinata. The pinata is a conspicuously red, white, and blue pig. A young Chicana sends candy flying as she beats the pig. Her eyes are visible underneath the blindfold, telling viewers that she is not ignorant of her situation. In the far right corner, a golden accordion stretches under a bright sun.
A line of dancers winds throughout the mural, from the girl with the pinata to the embracing family. People dance alone and in pairs on a rainbow road to the music from the celestial accordion. This is a tribute not just to conjunto music, but also to the persistence and resilience of Mexican-American culture. In the midst of oppression, they dance. Valdez writes:
A line of dancers winds throughout the mural, from the girl with the pinata to the embracing family. People dance alone and in pairs on a rainbow road to the music from the celestial accordion. This is a tribute not just to conjunto music, but also to the persistence and resilience of Mexican-American culture. In the midst of oppression, they dance. Valdez writes:
We must not accept the ignorance and lies being perpetuated by this corrupt system that has taken advantage of our very lives. The welfare of our children is at stake. As we struggle through our daily lives we find love of family is the strength by which our community must unify, our only solution against the greed and lack of respect that ‘our’ co-opted government demonstrates...we celebrate and enjoy this dance of life as we have for generations and will continue to for generations to come. We have many more pinatas to break and ‘bajos sexto y accordion’ to dance because we will always be here.” |
History
Manny invited his long-time friend Raul Valdez to be San Anto Cultural Arts’ second Muralist in Residence, a program designed to bring visiting artists to San Antonio. Valdez had painted murals since 1975 and helped the formulate the community process used by organizations like San Anto and the Casa de Cultura in Del Rio. The mural crew conducted interviews with people in the neighborhood around Trinity Convenience Store, and these interviews supplied the content for Cultura y Revolucion. After finishing the interviews, artist began to work the ideas and requests of local community members into a single sketch.
Because the convenience store had two large windows facing Guadalupe Street, it would have been impossible to paint a mural directly onto the wall. Instead, Valdez showed the San Anto team how to construct and install wood panels. To make the wood panels look like part of the wall, Valdez primed the wood, spread sand on the wet primer, let it dry, and repainted the layer of primer and sand. He repeated this process as many times as necessary to give each panel a grainy, textured feel. Instead of sticking out from the original walls, these prepped wood panels look like masonry. When artist Gerry Garcia became San Anto’s Community Mural Program (CMP) coordinator, he used this technique to create the mural Brighter Days on a second-story wall.
Artists primed and painted the panels in Andy Benavides’ 1906 gallery. Each artist worked on different images in the mural and the crew collaborated under Valdez’ guidance to harmonize them all. Crystal Tamez painted the corn goddess, Gerry Garcia painted the hands and the pano, Mary Agnes Rodriguez painted the dancing figures, and Cardee Garcia painted the pinata, pinata stick, and candy. Jose Cosme and Diana also assisted with painting.
After installing the mural, San Anto Cultural Arts hosted a mural blessing that was truly a celebration of San Anto’s cultura. Father Marty from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church blessed the mural, Xinachtli, an indigenous youth leadership development program. Artist and songwriter Raul Valdez played with tejano-conjunto accordionist Juan Tejeda. The Latinx punk-rock band Mal Hecho also performed.
Because the convenience store had two large windows facing Guadalupe Street, it would have been impossible to paint a mural directly onto the wall. Instead, Valdez showed the San Anto team how to construct and install wood panels. To make the wood panels look like part of the wall, Valdez primed the wood, spread sand on the wet primer, let it dry, and repainted the layer of primer and sand. He repeated this process as many times as necessary to give each panel a grainy, textured feel. Instead of sticking out from the original walls, these prepped wood panels look like masonry. When artist Gerry Garcia became San Anto’s Community Mural Program (CMP) coordinator, he used this technique to create the mural Brighter Days on a second-story wall.
Artists primed and painted the panels in Andy Benavides’ 1906 gallery. Each artist worked on different images in the mural and the crew collaborated under Valdez’ guidance to harmonize them all. Crystal Tamez painted the corn goddess, Gerry Garcia painted the hands and the pano, Mary Agnes Rodriguez painted the dancing figures, and Cardee Garcia painted the pinata, pinata stick, and candy. Jose Cosme and Diana also assisted with painting.
After installing the mural, San Anto Cultural Arts hosted a mural blessing that was truly a celebration of San Anto’s cultura. Father Marty from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church blessed the mural, Xinachtli, an indigenous youth leadership development program. Artist and songwriter Raul Valdez played with tejano-conjunto accordionist Juan Tejeda. The Latinx punk-rock band Mal Hecho also performed.
About the Artist