Co-Designing #ProyectoMural
The design phase of ProyectoMural is underway! Since our last update, we’ve held two lively focus groups to help guide the mural’s design.
The sessions took place on Zoom and included a diverse group of nineteen Latinx residents of Central Oregon. The participants’ origins span from South to Central to North America. Some are high school students and others have adult children of their own. A common theme among the group was their generosity and desire to share elements of their cultures with the artists. Topics ranged from the power of art, to the Latinx experience in Central Oregon, to the specific elements they would like to see included in the mural.
Facilitated by art therapist Joann Lundberg, the first session began with introductions from both our artists: Carly Garzón Vargas and Melinda Martinez. Carly spoke of her passion for working with a variety of mediums, often incorporating a unique style of manipulating layers of paper into artistic scenes. She is often inspired by dreams, people, and community. Melinda told the group that her love for art was sparked at a young age when she watched and helped her father create paintings that highlighted indigenous themes. She is consistently working with a wide range of artistic styles and makes many of her own paints to use with her students at her program, Out of the Box Arts.
By The River, a piece inspired by music and community by Carly Garzon Vargas.
Serenity, by Melinda Martinez hangs in St. Charles hospital to prompt feelings of peace and healing.
The discussion then opened up to consider the importance of art. Many spoke about the value of murals due to their inherent inclusivity. Unlike at most museums or galleries, there are no fees to enjoy art when the canvases are city walls.
Two participants from Los Angeles connected over the role that street art played in their childhoods as a medium to showcase culture, tell stories, and highlight history. A father and son previously lived in Cholula, Mexico where the 2000-year-old Great Pyramid of Cholula stands (also known as Tlachihualtepetl), built to pay tribute to an Aztec God. They shared that, due in part to this exposure, art often relays a colorful history and that “todo el arte es visión religiosa” (all art is a religious vision).
For a mother of two from Oaxaca, Mexico, art projects have meant less screen-time for her young girls. She notices it empowering them and feels that it will play a role in their futures. One of the participants currently attending high school shared that creating art from a very young age has been an avenue to express her culture, which is ultimately the force that inspires her to continue painting.
Participants and artists agreed that the mural should depict things that spark feelings of familiarity, warmth and cultural pride.
Among the elements suggested were childhood games and traditional foods, toys, and instruments. There was a shared desire to include scenes that displayed intergenerational relationships along with uniting separated families. The importance of finding common ground between the various Latinx countries of origin was not overlooked. The students suggested depictions of a graduation ceremony to illustrate the increasing volume of Latinx graduates. And everyone was in agreement of the importance of illustrating the contributions that the Latinx community makes to society.
The artists voiced how excited they are to continue developing designs for the ProyectoMural. They each expressed their love for crafting murals because the scale allows the incorporation of so many different elements. After the first session, the facilitator invited each participant to draw ideas for what the mural could incorporate. Some of them are included below.
A word-cloud containing bright colors and Spanish words that translate to: family, history, resilience, change, values, hope, dance, Mother Earth, pride, diversity, culture, food, art, hard workers, folklore, hope, rhythm, color and flavor.
Translation of quote on the right: We want to express the unity in that we are all human and that there are always people and humanitarian organizations that support Latino populations.
“Queremos expresar la unidad que todos somos humanos y que siempre existen personas y organizaciones humanitarias que apoyan a las poblaciones latinas.”
“Are there foreigners at your school?”
"No, at my school there are just children”
“Queremos expresar que desde la niñez se pueden cambiar patrones de conducta que permitan evitar o disminuir el bullying y las etiquetas hacia las personas.” (We want to express that from childhood you can change patterns of behavior that can help evade or decrease bullying and putting labels on people.)
Illustration done by one of the high school participants. She envisioned a piece that centered around a multigenerational family sitting down to a meal composed of food from various countries. Surrounding the family are elements that make up Latinx culture that were brought up in the first discussion session. The sketches represent topics such as clothing, dancing, instruments, historical figures, hard work, birds, Latinx contributions, and a note at the bottom that reads “Sprinkles of American culture also. Maybe American food?”