San Anto Cultural Arts Community Mural Program

By: http://sananto.org/


Comprando y Prestando

Location: 1424 Guadalupe - Corner of Guadalupe and San Jacinto
Mural Dimension: 35’ X 16’
Lead Artist: Mary Helen Herrera
Blessing and dedication date: May 4th, 1996

Description of mural: As a single mother living in the Alazan-Apache Housing Projects, Mary Helen Herrera always had aspirations of developing and showcasing her natural artistic talents. After reading about the mural project in El Placazo Barrio News, Mary Helen was soon on her way to developing her first mural, Comprando y Prestando. Located on the west wall of El Parian, a Westside neighborhood mom and pop retail and service market, Comprando y Prestando depicts a culturally and environmentally rich people sharing, buying and trading with one another. The mural symbolizes the dream of an economically self sufficient community that relies and survives on the gifts granted to us by our mother earth and nurtured by the inhabitants of this land. This mural was featured in a music video by Tejana musician, Patsy Torres.


Education

Location: Corner of Chupaderas & Guadalupe St
Lead Artists: Cruz Ortiz & Juan Ramos
Mural Dimension: 18’ X 20’
Blessing and dedication date: July 16, 1994

Mural Description: Educacion was created as a response to the perceived gang violence and drive-by shooting epidemic of the Westside during the early ‘90s. As San Anto Cultural Arts’ first mural, this piece sends a message of hope and dignity through socio-cultural identity and education. This mural was restored by Juan Ramos and re-blessed on August 28th, 1999.


The San Anto Cultural Arts (San Antonio, TX) Community Mural Program (CMP) is a nationally recognized Mural/Public Art program that strives to identify, train and mobilize artistically inclined youth, adult and elder residents of our community to create murals / public art pieces within this impoverished community. The CMP is based on a crew system where a Laed Muralist / Designer is teamed with 4-6 Hard Core Crew Members. Lead Muralists / Designers are artistically talented community residents or are former Hard Core Crew Members who have gained enough experience to lead there own mural projects. The Hard Core Crew Members are area youth or adults with an interest in art who are recruited through word-of-mouth or at school presentations.

The crew system ensures that the mural project does not solely create murals for “art’s sake”, but teaches community artists the skills necessary to perpetuate this art form throughout their community. The mural process encourages participants of different ages, communities and socio-economic backgrounds to collaborate, develop friendships, and learn from each other while developing their humanistic, life, and art skills. The crew collaborates and works together on all stages of mural planning and preparation. Additional community members may participate in the presentation and painting stages. The mural process ensures that the mural project does not solely create public art spaces, but serves as a tool for fostering human and community development.