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Location: 627 N Colorado St.
Dimensions: 382"x 148" (left side); 117" (right side) Date: November 2023 Lead Community Muralist: Diana Rocha Assistant Community Muralist: Raisa Meléndez Tardi Mural Coordinator: Cassidy Fritts |
PROCESS
San Anto Cultural Arts partnered with the City of San Antonio Office of Sustainability to create a mural for their Who Cares? We All Should campaign. Inspired by topics of sustainability in San Antonio, Lead Community Muralist Diana Rocha and Assistant Community Muralist Raisa Meléndez hosted Community Meetings at the beginning of Summer 2023 to collect community input for the concept of the mural. The community input received came from youth in the SACA After School Arts Program as well as the general community; their input included wanting to see examples of sustainability beyond just recycling, seeing tangible local examples of sustainability, as well as seeing a local to global connection in sustainability.
The Lead Community Muralist designed a concept that features 3 panels on the left side of the mural displaying scenes of sustainable actions in the 78207 community. The frames display scenes like picking up trash or recycling at Elmendorf Lake Park; walking, riding bikes, or taking public transportation in the Alazan-Apache Courts; and watering a household garden in a westside neighborhood. At the bottom of the left side of the mural, there is a whirlpool of water with local waste and litter getting stuck in it; to the right of the whirlpool is a community member picking up the waste from the water before it continues into a stream leading into the right side of the mural and ending on a spot on the globe meant to represent where San Antonio is located. The stream is meant to represent the San Antonio River, also known as Yanaguana. Several smaller swirls branch off of the mural into the skyline and other parts of the mural to represent the San Antonio creekways. The globe is heald in two hands meant to be the hands of our ancestors who once took care of the land and space we currently occupy. Above the globe is a scroll that reads "Who Cares? We All Should." to reference the Office of Sustainability's campaign. After designing this mural, the muralists hosted three Community Paint Days where we saw close to 60 community volunteers show up throughout the days to be part of bringing the mural to life. After the Paint Days concluded, Diana and Raisa worked on applying the final touches to the mural with assistance from several returning volunteers. While painting this mural, the artists were able to interact with passerbys including kids walking home from school, employees of Yeti Cooling & Heating, local law enforcement, our houseless community, and more to share about their experience and talk about sustainability in our communities.
Upon completion of SACA's 63rd Community Mural, the Office of Sustainability hosted a Mural Unveiling on Wednesday, November 15th featuring special guest speakers like the San Antonio mayor and City Council District 5 Representative Teri Castillo. Following Wednesday's event, SACA hosted a Mural Blessing on Saturday, November 18th where Rosalia Vargas joined our community to bless the mural.
NARRATIVE
A narrative from the Lead Community Muralist, Diana Rocha:
"During development of the design for the Sustainability Mural, “Strength Fosters Change,” we had several community meetings which had many residents of all ages who gave us their input of what they wanted to see in this mural, during this process we went through several iterations and had so many ideas that I wish I could have incorporated. However, I decided to combine the following suggestions: a comic book/panel style, gardening, recycling, public transportation, include river/creeks that run through and around the city of San Antonio, a cityscape, local and native plants, animals, and hands holding a globe in the palm of the hand. I wanted include places in District 5 that are often overlooked, this includes places I visit, where I lived, and the people I love. The three locations I picked were Elmendorf Lake Park, Alazan Apache Housing Projects and Home – which is a property in district 5 with an active garden, it is also my parents' home, which is about five blocks away from the housing projects and where I grew up after the age of eleven.
Through this mural I wanted to show our community that even though we live in a high poverty area and a difficult situation there is a sense of pride to be had because we are naturally doing what the rest of the city struggles with. We reuse glass containers, butter tubs, cookie tins, plastic grocery bags, we swap clothes we outgrew, we use public transportation, walk, and/or ride a bike everywhere. We have this natural resourcefulness and drive to work with what we have and sometimes it isn’t much but we continue to make it work. This tenacity is perseverance, it’s strength, and this resonates throughout the entire community. This mural is about the resilience of our community and through that strength we can positively influence and transform the future of not only our community but the world through sustainable efforts."
"During development of the design for the Sustainability Mural, “Strength Fosters Change,” we had several community meetings which had many residents of all ages who gave us their input of what they wanted to see in this mural, during this process we went through several iterations and had so many ideas that I wish I could have incorporated. However, I decided to combine the following suggestions: a comic book/panel style, gardening, recycling, public transportation, include river/creeks that run through and around the city of San Antonio, a cityscape, local and native plants, animals, and hands holding a globe in the palm of the hand. I wanted include places in District 5 that are often overlooked, this includes places I visit, where I lived, and the people I love. The three locations I picked were Elmendorf Lake Park, Alazan Apache Housing Projects and Home – which is a property in district 5 with an active garden, it is also my parents' home, which is about five blocks away from the housing projects and where I grew up after the age of eleven.
Through this mural I wanted to show our community that even though we live in a high poverty area and a difficult situation there is a sense of pride to be had because we are naturally doing what the rest of the city struggles with. We reuse glass containers, butter tubs, cookie tins, plastic grocery bags, we swap clothes we outgrew, we use public transportation, walk, and/or ride a bike everywhere. We have this natural resourcefulness and drive to work with what we have and sometimes it isn’t much but we continue to make it work. This tenacity is perseverance, it’s strength, and this resonates throughout the entire community. This mural is about the resilience of our community and through that strength we can positively influence and transform the future of not only our community but the world through sustainable efforts."