¡#ProjectUnderpass is now #ProyectoMural!

#ProyectoMural has moved into its next stage and we are very excited to introduce you to our collaborators!

Janet Sarai Llerandi Gonzalez, Director of Mecca Bend

Mi Corazon. A piece by one of our selected artists, Carly Garzon Vargas. — *Mi Corazon.* A piece by one of our selected artists, Carly Garzon Vargas.

We have partnered with Mecca Bend, a local Latinx community organization that offers DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) services, to collaborate on the vision and direction for our next mural in the Franklin underpass. Janet Sarai Llerandi Gonzalez, the director of Mecca Bend, gathered a diverse group of Latinx stakeholders who live, work, and commute in the Bend Central District to provide direction on the project. From their input, we have updated the project name to #ProyectoMural!

This summer we made a Call to Artists. See our video below to understand the project and its selection process.

We received 10 excellent applications. The stakeholder group reviewed the applications carefully, considering

Artists relationship with the local Latinx community and willingness to work collaboratively with others
Artist skill level based on work shown
Artist understanding and rendering of Latinx culture and its meaning to the group.

Stakeholders weighed in with their questions, comments and feedback with a lively discussion on colors, images, and what art means and represents within the Latinx community. The group repeatedly circled back on the need to uplift or perhaps mentor the younger artists, as the stakeholders took note of their incredible talents and heartfelt bios.

The vision the following artists reflected in their work and words reflects the desire of the stakeholders group for this project to have a much deeper effect on our city, neighborhood, and community than it simply being just “arte en la pared” (paint on a wall). The artists selected are: Carly Garzon Vargas and Melinda Martinez.

Next, Joann Lundberg LPC ATR who is a bilingual (Spanish/English) Licensed Professional Counselor & Registered Art Therapist, will facilitate focus groups with the artists and the stakeholders to continue the candid and sentimental conversations about shared cultural elements within the Latinx community and how they might be translated into the artists’ design of the mural.

BACKGROUND:

To address the problem of connectivity, the BCD Initiative collaborated with the late Kaycee Anseth to reimagine the Franklin Avenue Corridor as a safe, welcoming, and vibrant public space. Together, we chose this corridor because it is a key east-west connection between Downtown Bend and the Third Street Corridor and Midtown Neighborhoods with more than 5,000 people walking, biking, and using other mobility devices through it on a weekly basis.

Before Kaycee passed away in March of this year, she and Moey developed the process for phase two of her project, which will be to install a mural on the other side of the underpass from where her Two for Joy mural is. Kaycee connected us to her friend Joann to facilitate the process using her art therapy and Spanish language skills. It was important to Kaycee to include the Latinx community and to lift up their cultural heritage for all Bendites to recognize and respect through public art. Kaycee is greatly missed, and her spirit lives on through her foundation and this project.

Once these meetings have taken place and a design is agreed upon, the artists will begin the creative process! Below are photos from our previous installation process in the Franklin Ave underpass.