We did some prior work for Alex Salguero on the front and inside of the building for his family and business (Classico Auto Glass). After the last commercial project, he asked me to do a mural on the side of the building. When I asked him what he wanted he said something anti-violence promoting peace. With so much violence in the city (record 40 homicides in 2020 and 2021) I agreed. I called Jean Shadow and Stacy Heading at Isles to see if they could help get the community involved and find funding for the mural. I reached out to local artists Liz Amaral and Raven George to collaborate on the project. We worked with the students and within ourselves to come up with a design. We came up with the idea of the mural reading from left to right. You find yourself, then you reach your dreams (graduate), uplift your brothers and sisters, join the movement, increase the peace and protect our future (the youth). The dark areas are the negative thoughts and feelings that we are overcoming. The background is a mixture of my patterns (blue) and Liz Amaral’s patterns (orange), Raven George focused on the graduating family image. We worked with students from Isles and United Front to paint the mural. We outlined and touched up any errors to complete the mural. We hope that this is the first of many murals promoting peace in the capital area.
