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Location: 1547 S Zarzamora St.
Dimensions: 12' 2" x 100' 5" Date: July 2024 Lead Community Muralist: Doroteo Garza Assistant Community Muralist: Marco Vargas, Benjamin Soriano Mural Coordinator: Cassidy Fritts |
PROCESS
In celebration of San Anto Cultural Arts’ 30th Anniversary, we selected a theme for the mural that we believed encompassed the vision of what the organization represents: the Creative Spirit of the Westside. With this in mind, after a series of Community Meetings held at Guadalupe Lumber, the muralists created a visual representation of input collected from the community including mentions of popular Mexican and Mexican-American folklore, representations of the indigenous roots of the area, inclusion of local history, messages to the youth, symbols of local landmarks and organizations, and more.
Following completion of the design, we hosted Community Paint Days where community members of all ages and skill levels were invited to help paint the mural. With their help, most of the bottom half of the mural was painted by the community.
After fully completing the mural, we hosted a Dedication and Blessing event featuring music from El Tallercito de Son and a blessing performed by Rosalia Vargas.
Without our community’s input and efforts, this mural would not have been possible. We are eternally grateful for the energy put into this mural as well as the other murals created throughout SACA’s history. We are excited to continue our mission of fostering human & community development through community-based arts and continue creating community-minded and inspired public art throughout San Antonio.
Without our community’s input and efforts, this mural would not have been possible. We are eternally grateful for the energy put into this mural as well as the other murals created throughout SACA’s history. We are excited to continue our mission of fostering human & community development through community-based arts and continue creating community-minded and inspired public art throughout San Antonio.
NARRATIVE
La Llorona and the Virgen de Guadalupe can be seen at either end of the mural in a cosmic flurry of smoke stacks and drips. These feminine energies envelope the narrative of creation and creativity, sorrow and resilience.
La Llorona starts part of this mural’s story on the left side where her tears stream down into the celestial waters of Yanaguana; these waters break into 4 streams representative of the Alazan, Apache, Martinez, and San Pedro Creeks. These waters contain memories, ancestral stories, ancestral trauma. One stream stretches up and out of the celestial space and into the clouds where it is then knit by the hands of our elders and ancestors with fire and light and fed into the Mujer Araña.
Mujer Araña weaves the web of creation and births the sun/spider symbols, which reference the Codices Borgia and symbolize the origin of ideas and creativity. Below the suns/spiders are two portraits of creative spirits: Ramon Vasquez y Sanchez and Angela De Hoyos. The rope that connects these suns/spiders represents our responsibilities and duties to continue the flow of ideas and creativity; you can see the rope continue into the middle of our mural where it connects to a serpent in the tree of life, connecting to physical reality.
This tree of life is specifically connected to the Westside of San Antonio and the elements featured speak to many of the things our community expressed interest in seeing the mural. It includes symbols of important landmarks, organizations, food, creatures, animals, and people of the Westside.
Continuing from the middle of the mural to the right side, there are parrots flying in between the center and the right images. These parrots are another connection to Westside history, representative of the parrots that the Alazan Indians would capture and sell as their way of adapting to a new economic system.
This area where the parrots are is also where you see an interpretation of the Sun God, depicted as a young boy, whose likeness is that of the Lead Muralist’s own son. The boy’s arm in the mural is broken, but it is symbolic of the youth’s power to rise above the narratives that they may be born into. He’s also an answer to La Llorona’s calls for her children, he is the next generation reconnecting with who they really are. In this frame, you can also see young hands in the clouds playing with paper planes and a wooden bird, the wooden bird referencing the Bird Man who sells these birds currently on the Westside.
Lastly, is the Virgen on the far right side of the mural. Originally, there was a different mural on this wall with multiple depictions of the Virgen. As a way to honor the mural that was once here, an image of the Virgen was kept in the design and also echoed in the 5 portraits of Marias in the tree of life.
Throughout the entire mural, a gray serpent with eyes along its skin travels throughout the mural, creating the boundaries between the spiritual and physical.
La Llorona starts part of this mural’s story on the left side where her tears stream down into the celestial waters of Yanaguana; these waters break into 4 streams representative of the Alazan, Apache, Martinez, and San Pedro Creeks. These waters contain memories, ancestral stories, ancestral trauma. One stream stretches up and out of the celestial space and into the clouds where it is then knit by the hands of our elders and ancestors with fire and light and fed into the Mujer Araña.
Mujer Araña weaves the web of creation and births the sun/spider symbols, which reference the Codices Borgia and symbolize the origin of ideas and creativity. Below the suns/spiders are two portraits of creative spirits: Ramon Vasquez y Sanchez and Angela De Hoyos. The rope that connects these suns/spiders represents our responsibilities and duties to continue the flow of ideas and creativity; you can see the rope continue into the middle of our mural where it connects to a serpent in the tree of life, connecting to physical reality.
This tree of life is specifically connected to the Westside of San Antonio and the elements featured speak to many of the things our community expressed interest in seeing the mural. It includes symbols of important landmarks, organizations, food, creatures, animals, and people of the Westside.
Continuing from the middle of the mural to the right side, there are parrots flying in between the center and the right images. These parrots are another connection to Westside history, representative of the parrots that the Alazan Indians would capture and sell as their way of adapting to a new economic system.
This area where the parrots are is also where you see an interpretation of the Sun God, depicted as a young boy, whose likeness is that of the Lead Muralist’s own son. The boy’s arm in the mural is broken, but it is symbolic of the youth’s power to rise above the narratives that they may be born into. He’s also an answer to La Llorona’s calls for her children, he is the next generation reconnecting with who they really are. In this frame, you can also see young hands in the clouds playing with paper planes and a wooden bird, the wooden bird referencing the Bird Man who sells these birds currently on the Westside.
Lastly, is the Virgen on the far right side of the mural. Originally, there was a different mural on this wall with multiple depictions of the Virgen. As a way to honor the mural that was once here, an image of the Virgen was kept in the design and also echoed in the 5 portraits of Marias in the tree of life.
Throughout the entire mural, a gray serpent with eyes along its skin travels throughout the mural, creating the boundaries between the spiritual and physical.